This week's Michigan primary proved to be anticlimactic. Former President Donald Trump won easily on the Republican side; and Joe Biden, despite an effort led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), took care of business on the Democratic side. That effort by the Muslim lawmaker resulted in just more than 101,000 "uncommitted" votes (roughly 13% of the state's Democrats who voted) in protest of Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Some political pundits say that "uncommitted" bloc of voters could be problematic for the president in November. But Ron Armstrong, president of Stand Up Michigan, expects Muslim voters in the state will "come home" to Biden.
"If you don't believe that the Muslim population is going to vote Democrat in November, we're kidding ourselves," he tells AFN. "But could some of them stay home if they don't agree with it? It's very possible."
That, he says, could be a "big win" potentially at the Senate and presidential level, "but not really the congressional or district level, because they're too overwhelmingly Democrat."
But Armstrong argues it's possible Trump could win Michigan in November because of a couple of key issues.
"Immigration is one," he explains. "I also think that the EV [electric vehicle] situation and this whole green energy deal [could play a role in a Trump victory]. The incentivization from our tax dollars to people and to push these [EVs] on them. The gluttony of EVs that exist, the lack of infrastructure and electricity, the ridiculous electricity cost."
And Armstrong describes Michigan as very much a melting pot of independent-minded voters. "[So] I don't think the Democrats can cheat their way out of it. And if Biden is the nominee … I don't know that they can manufacture enough votes to defeat Trump. I think that we do have an opportunity there."
And then there's this wild card: What if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gets on the ballot? "If [he] is on the ballot, I believe in the end he will take more from the Democrats than he will from the Republicans," Armstrong states.
Michigan has 15 electoral votes in the presidential election – and the state is shaping up to be one of the all-important swing states in the final tally. Following his win this week in Michigan, Trump said: "We have a very simple task: we have to win [here] on November 5 … we win Michigan, we win the whole thing."
