ROOKE: Trump’s Latest Moves In Michigan Could Crush Harris’s Presidential Hopes

There is no sugarcoating the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris needs to win Michigan like we need to breathe air, but former President Donald Trump is mounting an effort in the state that could end her election chances.

Several issues are compounding against Harris in Michigan, making her path to victory in the state rocky.

Trump’s campaign is targeting “low-propensity” voters as part of a massive ground game operation to win back Michigan. Typically, “low-propensity” voters don’t vote in every election and have to be sought out and persuaded to show up. The campaign is working on getting this massive voting bloc involved in the 2024 election.

Over a dozen state Republicans in Michigan told the Detroit News that they’ve identified 200,000-500,000 voters they will try to convince to vote for Trump. Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, told the outlet that the Trump campaign’s strategy uses a ground-game approach through repeated contacts, like door knocking and phone calls, from Michigan Republican volunteers. (ROOKE: If State GOP’s Plan Works, Harris’s Path To Victory Becomes Road To Hell)

“With the number of people that we have out through the party and out through these other organizations … we’ve got the best ground game that we’ve had, probably, in decades,” Hoekstra said.

🚨 BREAKING: Trump campaign in MICHIGAN is eyeing 200,000-500,000 “low propensity” voters and is focusing on turning them out.

“The low propensity voter strategy involves repeated contacts, through door knocking and phone calls, from Republican volunteers over time…” pic.twitter.com/EFH2IXlHAs

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 23, 2024

Auto Workers for Trump Facebook page founder Brian Pannebecker, a Macomb County resident, told The Detroit News that their plan involves getting volunteers to repeatedly reach out to at least 10 of these “low-propensity” voters until Nov. 5.

“They’ve just tripled or quadrupled the power of their own vote,” Pannebecker said of the volunteers’ voter outreach. The goal is to get three or four of the ten to get out and vote.

Trump lost Michigan to President Joe Biden by about 154,000 votes in 2020. The latest Emerson College Polling shows Trump just two points (well within the margin of error) behind Harris in the state. In fact, Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball said Harris had lost support in Michigan since their last August poll. If he wins back Michigan, state Republicans believe it will largely be because of their ground game efforts with these voters.

NEW: Emerson College/The Hill poll finds Trump with edge in most swing states, but race remains tight

GA:
Trump 50
Harris 47

AZ:
Trump 49
Harris 48

WI:
Trump 49
Harris 48

PA:
Trump 48
Harris 47

NV:
Trump 48
Harris 48

NC
Trump 49
Harris 48

MI
Trump 47
Harris 49

9/15-9/18

— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) September 23, 2024

Another blow to Harris is the Teamsters Union’s refusal to back her campaign after years of dutifully supporting Democrat presidential candidates. While the union didn’t support Trump either, which would have solidified the blow against Harris, its internal polling shows that Trump is overwhelmingly the preferred candidate among its members. (ROOKE: Biden’s Problem Just Turned Into Harris’s Election Nightmare)

Michigan is a blue-collar state, with about 245,000 active and retired Teamsters Union members. The internal Teamsters poll shows her campaign is not turning these people into Harris voters. In fact, she’s losing ground that Democrats had gained over the past decade. The internal polling showed Biden had an 8-point lead over Trump in July. Harris is currently down almost 26 points to Trump in September’s poll.

TEAMSTERS RELEASE PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT POLLING DATA

“For the past year, the Teamsters Union has pledged to conduct the most inclusive, democratic, and transparent Presidential endorsement process in the history of our 121-year-old organization—and today we are delivering on… pic.twitter.com/CnFNN9uosx

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) September 18, 2024

Ameer Ghalib, the Democratic mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign Sunday in a Facebook post that has now gone viral.

“President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles,” Ghalib said. “Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time.”

“I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences,” he added.

Winning Michigan for either candidate means 15 Electoral College votes in a very tight race. Harris’s campaign strategy depends on her winning the “Great Lakes States,” which includes Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is already looking dicey for Harris, and if Trump manages to pick up Michigan through his concerted ground game efforts, Harris’s dreams of living in the White House are over.