Dem Activist Laments Harris’ Declining Appeal in Battleground State

There is a lot of concern among some liberals that support for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is waning, especially in key battleground states such as Michigan.

The BBC issued a report this week that included a discussion with Marcie Paul, an activist for Democrats. She’s been working hard in recent months trying  to convince people in Michigan to vote for Harris in next month’s election.

But, while Harris’ presidential campaign got “off like a rocket” in Michigan when she became the party’s presumptive candidate back in July, things have come back down to earth recently.

That’s a major concern for Paul, and many other Democrats, as Michigan is considered to be one of the three “blue wall” states that could be critical to Harris’ chances to win the White House.

Together with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Michigan sided with Democratic President Joe Biden during the 2020 election. It’s projected that if all three go the same way this time around, Harris would have a good chance at becoming president.

The honeymoon period for Harris in Michigan seems to have ended, though, and the timing could not be worse — with about three weeks left before the election. If she isn’t able to recapture that luster, and ultimately loses Michigan to GOP nominee Donald Trump, it might be hard for Harris to win the White House.

A recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University showed that Trump was ahead of Harris by three points in Michigan. Harris still has the edge over Trump in polling averages overall, but her lead has dwindled to less than 1%.

That’s something that’s very concerning for Paul and others. As the activist, who is the co-founder of the Fems for Dems advocacy group,  told BBC:

“To keep that pace for the whole race — even though it’s seriously abbreviated — would be really unrealistic for anyone. But, I thought that we’d be a little more comfortable.”

Many liberal lawmakers and organizers in the state have said recently that they’re surprised that the Michigan race is as tight as it seems to be. Most say that one thing that Harris has done well there is heed the lessons that the party learned during the 2016 presidential election, when failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton simply assumed she would win Michigan — but ended up losing it, and the entire election, to Trump.

Before that election in 2016, Michigan was considered reliably blue. But, it’s now become a battleground state, thanks in large part to Trump. It holds extra weight, seeing as it carries 15 Electoral College votes.

At this point during the election cycle in 2020, President Joe Biden held what looked like a comfortable lead over Trump in polls. And while he did win Michigan, the margin of victory was only about 150,000 votes.

That’s one main concern for Democrats, along with the fact that there’s “no obvious solution” for how Harris can break ahead of the pack, according to Matt Grossmann, a professor of politics at Michigan State University.