There are seven swing states in the 2024 election, and the path to victory for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump runs through at least a few of them. Harris's most straightforward path depends on winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, a traditional Democratic trifecta of industrial states that have been key to winning the presidency in the past. Harris and Trump are in a dead heat in these states. In September, we published a focus group with 12 Pennsylvania voters on the race; today, we're publishing a group with 11 Michigan voters on how they see Trump and Harris. One of the more interesting moments in the group came toward the end, when my colleague Patrick Healy asked our participants how much change they wanted to see from the next administration. On a scale of one to five, with one being no change at all and five being an awful lot of change, all of our participants were at three or above. Most were at a four. They, and millions of other voters across the country, are eager for something different. That could be a problem for Harris, considering almost all of our group's participants said they thought she'd pursue policies similar to those of Joe Biden. But on the flip side, she would certainly be a change from Trump, who has been a central part of American political life for nine years and is looking to add another four to the equation. Presidents and former presidents don't usually dominate our politics for so long. One more thought about change: Across our three years of conducting Times Opinion focus groups, we've seen the phenomenon of double haters — voters who didn't like Trump and Biden. Will the most evident qualities that distinguish Harris from Biden — her age, her race, her gender — be enough to overcome her association with the incumbent president? We'll soon find out. Here's what we're focusing on today:
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2024/10/29
Opinion Today: What 11 Michigan voters are saying about Trump and Harris
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Keep a civil tongue.