President Joe Biden and Gov. Whitmer
In October, shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement about the situation but did not include the word "Israel." That made Jews in the state angry. Then she said she supported Israel, which made Arabs in Michigan very unhappy. She ultimately decided to cancel an appearance in Dearborn, home to a big Arab populaton, after some people let her know she was not welcome.
The New York Times mentions that predicament in a story published Sunday titled: Gretchen Whitmer’s Biggest Electoral Test: Can She Deliver Michigan for Biden?
Mitch Smith of the Times writes:
That leaves Ms. Whitmer, one of eight national co-chairs of Mr. Biden’s campaign, who is seen by many Democrats as a future contender for the presidency, facing perhaps the biggest electoral test of her career even though her name is not on the ballot. Ms. Whitmer is particularly strong with moderate voters and suburbanites, and has forged deep ties with Black leaders in Detroit. But it remains to be seen whether she can help much with those most frustrated with Mr. Biden, including voters further to the left and Arab Americans.
“She’s going to have to carry him on her back past Election Day,” said Richard Czuba, a pollster who found Mr. Biden losing by 8 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup with Mr. Trump in a survey last month of Michigan voters for The Detroit News and WDIV-TV. “She’s going to have to use her popularity to bring back those Democrats and those independents.”
If Ms. Whitmer helps deliver Michigan for Mr. Biden in November, it would further cement her status as a rising Democrat who, at 52, qualifies as youthful in the realm of national politics.
Other polls tells a bit of a different story than the one by WDIV/Detroit News. A poll published nore recently in the Detroit Free Press shows Trunp leading Biden in Michigan 45-41 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points. Another 14 percent are undecided.
And Deadline Detroit last month published the results of a poll by Target Insyght of Lansing which showed Biden leading Trump 45-41 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
To read the complete NYT story click here (It is behind a paywall)
