SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
NPR's Don Gonyea spent some time earlier this month speaking with voters in the key swing state of Michigan. Don's focus was on voters that President Biden would need to win if he wanted to serve a second term in the White House. And then everything changed. So Don called them back to see how they feel now.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Aileen Pettinger is the Democratic Party chair in Saginaw County, Mich. We first talked to her two weeks ago after Biden's terrible debate performance.
AILEEN PETTINGER: People are concerned, understandably. And we tell them look at his history. What has he done for you compared to Trump? It is night and day difference. There is no doubt of who we want as a candidate, and that is President Biden.
GONYEA: That same week, we spoke with Reverend Charles E. Williams II, a political organizer and pastor of a Baptist church in Detroit. Biden's debate worried him as well, but his complaints were even broader, that Biden wasn't really connecting with voters on social media, and that could lead to lower turnout in places like Detroit.
CHARLES WILLIAMS II: Black baby boomers, my mom, my dad - you don't even have to guess about that vote. That Black vote is there. But the vote that sat on their hands in '16, that's the vote you've got to be working on.
GONYEA: Again, all that was before Biden's exit from the race. This week, we called them back to see how things have changed now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee. The word both used repeatedly was energy. Pettinger, the local Democratic chair, cited a surge of donations and enthusiasm.
PETTINGER: People have even been cutting the Biden-Harris signs just to have the Harris sign in their yard until we get the signs with whoever her VP pick is.
GONYEA: Meanwhile, Reverend Williams says he's seeing a groundswell for Harris and the Black community. He believes she can connect where Biden struggled.
WILLIAMS: She's got health. She's got strength. She's got vitality. She can walk in the streets. She can get around. She can do five cities in a day and take a nap and get up and do another three or four cities. I mean...
GONYEA: And he's thrilled by Harris' embrace of social media and her well-established popularity on TikTok and other platforms.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Madam Vice President, are you on TikTok?
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Well, I've heard that recently I've been on the For You page.
GONYEA: A key demographic to win Michigan is suburban voters. We met 34-year-old Kathleen Rosen (ph) as she pushed a baby stroller in the suburb of Ferndale. In our first conversation, she said she sees herself as a Democrat. She voted for Biden in 2020 but still wasn't sure about this year.
KATHLEEN ROSEN: I can't vote for Trump, personally, but I'm having a very hard time backing Biden due to his age, mostly. I don't think that he's mentally fit.
GONYEA: After this week's events, she's more optimistic and plans to vote for Harris, but she also has new worries.
ROSEN: You know, I think that being a Black woman is incredibly difficult in our world and in our environment. I think people will be afraid that she can't win, and that kind of mentality is a bit of a, like, defeatist mentality.
GONYEA: In another suburb, Birmingham, we met 19-year-old Arthur Lebidinsky, enjoying an afternoon in a park with friends. Asked then who he supports, he answered Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ARTHUR LEBIDINSKY: I just don't have enough respect or trust in either of the major political parties to cast my vote in either of their directions.
GONYEA: But fast forward, and things have changed. Now his choice is Kamala Harris.
LEBIDINSKY: You know, my largest complaint with Biden was his age and mental function. And the fact that he's deciding to put his country first and stepping down, that was pretty good for me to hear.
GONYEA: So Democrats in Michigan are now trying to capitalize on this new energy while still working to engage working-class voters, especially union members they'll also need to win.
Don Gonyea, NPR News, Detroit.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
