Michigan voters turn away from campaign noise toward gas, grocery and health care costs
Voters in Michigan told NPR they are weary of campaign rhetoric and reluctant to discuss their political views in public.
By Madison Lewis ·
President Trump campaigned in Michigan on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, sharpening his attacks against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed to the point of calling him a "jihadist."
The escalating rhetoric is not what voters told NPR they were thinking about, according to Michel Martin, who reported from Ann Arbor for Morning Edition. "Our Member station colleagues who live here told us that that is not top of mind," Martin told host Steve Inskeep. Voters she and others spoke with pointed instead to prices at the pump, the grocery checkout and the pharmacy counter. "And I got to tell you, a lot of the voters we talk to here are just burned out," Martin said.
The exhaustion shows up in behavior. Some voters are discarding stacks of political mailers. One woman told Martin she cast her early ballot simply to get the process behind her.
Dissatisfaction with the two-party system adds to the fatigue. At a University of Michigan football tailgate, Nick Janosi said he plans to vote for El-Sayed but wants more options on the ballot. "I would love to see more independent, middle-of-the-road candidates that kind of take the best of both parties," Janosi said. At a Detroit Lions tailgate, Josh Snell voiced similar frustration. He said he would probably vote for Rogers, pointing to Rogers's opposition to Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods.
Martin also reported a reluctance among Michigan voters to discuss their political views with others. "A lot of people are afraid because of the violence involved," Snell said. Inskeep noted similar behavior from voters in North Carolina who avoided speaking Trump's name. Martin called the caution across Michigan "worse than I've ever seen it," across both parties. In Ann Arbor, more people were willing to state their support for El-Sayed, though Martin said she could not determine whether that reflected enthusiasm for El-Sayed or quieter support for Rogers.
The web version of Martin's reporting was written by Majd Al-Waheidi and edited by Treye Green.
