Midwest Dems Fear Harris Not Connecting With Working Class

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Democrat officials in the Midwest — particularly Michigan — are growing concerned that presidential nominee Kamala Harris is failing to resonate with working class voters and are urging her campaign to course correct, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The so-called “blue-wall” states are vital to Harris’ path to victory on Nov. 5 but she’s up against two key challenges in polls — Republican nominee Donald Trump’s hold on non-college-educated voters and his record on the economy, according to the Journal.

It also hasn’t helped Harris that two key unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Democrat stalwarts, refused to make an endorsement for president. Harris also has to own the economic record of the last 3 1/2 years.

As a result, Trump and Harris are essentially tied in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and an internal poll by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., found that Harris trails Trump in Wisconsin by 3 points, the Journal reported. Meanwhile, Baldwin was up by 2 points, according to the report.

Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has reached out to Harris’ campaign looking for a better economic message and more face time in the Wolverine State, according to the Journal.

Other Democrats want Harris to focus on the administration’s emphasis to grow the auto industry, for example, and new plants, according to the Journal. Harris, however, has pivoted to campaigning on costs rather than jobs, the Journal reported earlier this week.

But in the end, they say, Harris needs to be more accessible.

“True persuasion of the last group we need, people who may vote for Republicans elsewhere on their ballot, I think is going to require more unfiltered messaging by the vice president. Town halls, interviews, etc.,” former Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., told the Journal.

Said former Michigan Democrat Gov. James Blanchard, “The big thing is people don’t know her — they need to see more of her,” he told the Journal.

Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski sees a different problem for Harris, telling the Journal that voters see the vice president as “the most radical, dangerous nominee of a major party in the history of our country. The people of Michigan know it. The people who work in the auto industry know it.”