GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — West Michigan has been thrown into the political spotlight this week, with planned visits from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President/Republican Nominee Donald Trump.
Harris will be in Kalamazoo on Wednesday, taking part in a moderated conversation with Olivia Troye, who served as a national security official for former President Trump, and Amanda Stratton, a Michigan mother and former Republican voter who has a personal reproductive health story.
Trump, meanwhile, will be in Grand Rapids on Saturday, exactly one week since surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Some believe these visits, especially Harris', have the potential to shake up the rest of the election cycle.
“Everything feels very different from four years ago," said Dante Chinni, political researcher and director of the American Communities Project.
The political landscape in Michigan is almost unrecognizable since the last Presidential election after significant redistricting and a major shift in voter trends.
“What's happened over the past, really, 20 years, is the parties have traded places," Chinni said. "The Republican Party used to be the party of college-educated voters. Democrats were the blue-collar party. Those two bases have switched.”
Forget the last 20 years. How about the last 20 days?
President Joe Biden has been ripped apart for his debate performance on June 28, and former President Trump dodged a literal bullet last Saturday.
"Whipsawed, really, in the last two or three weeks in this campaign," Chinni said. "It just feels like there are many more twists and turns to come on this thing.”
Chinni said, all things considered, especially with Trump's health in mind, the Republican Party is in a strong spot ahead of the planned rally at Van Andel Arena on Saturday.
“The (Republican National) Convention is going on, you generally get a bump out of a convention, a little bit of a bump in your approval numbers," Chinni said. "So sure, as of right now, if you're the Trump campaign, I think you're feeling pretty good about the situation in West Michigan.”
That might be why Vice President Harris scheduled a trip to Kalamazoo for Wednesday. Chinni called it an attempt to reconnect with younger voters (ages 18-29), where Biden has struggled as of late.
“Can somebody re-energize younger voters?" he asked. "Democrats need younger voters. Younger voters are probably going to vote Democratic, but they need them by big margins.”
Chinni's political crystal ball said even more might be at stake, guessing this could be a test run for Harris to potentially replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“If Biden steps aside, Harris is the next person up," he said. "I think Democrats may be testing to see how she does. How is she as a campaigner? How is she out in a place like Kalamazoo, that's kind of — it's got a real college-town atmosphere? I'll be kind of curious to see what she has to say.”
For such a swing state, voters in Michigan have been pretty clear when it comes to their Presidential desires. The Democratic nominee has won seven of the last eight Presidential elections dating back to 1992.
The only Republican to win? Donald Trump in 2016.
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