The battle for union voters in Michigan has taken center stage this year, as Joe Biden and Donald Trump seek to sway this large and important voting bloc in a key battleground state. And for many of these voters, their political affiliation comes well before their union affiliation. That was the takeaway from the latest NBC News Deciders Focus Group series with union-affiliated voters in the state, conducted with our friends from Engagious, Syracuse University and Sago. Polling shows Biden with a slight edge among union-affiliated voters nationwide after he won them by double digits in 2020, and he’s earned endorsements from leaders of major unions, including the United Auto Workers. But our focus group participants were almost evenly divided between Biden and Trump.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive it weekdays. Not one of the 15 focus group participants said Trump’s policies were pro-union. That didn’t matter to the former president’s backers, some of whom argued their candidate was pro-worker, not pro-union. “I think he’s pro-get-people-back-to-work, it doesn’t matter if you’re union or not. … He wants companies to make money, and then their workers work and they make money.” – Larry P., a 66-year-old retired UAW member from Livonia The Biden supporters in the group had some positive things to say about the president’s work on student debt relief and backing unions. But many said they sided with Biden because of their dislike of Trump. “He’s a better alternative than the one that’s running against him, because he’s not trying to cause violence within the country, he’s not turning the people against each other as Trump is.” – Paul B., a 66-year-old retired UAW member from Detroit Two of the voters in the focus group, one Republican and one Democrat, said they wouldn’t vote for Trump or Biden — and one spelled out the extreme apathy and frustration many voters have with the choice this fall. “It’s going to be a dumpster fire either way, but I don’t think my vote’s going to matter. ... It’s just going to be another politician. It’s like choosing between a bag of garbage and another bag of garbage.” – Colleen T., a 38-year-old registered Democrat from Grayling whose father is a UAW member Read more → |