On this week's full program, Phil Tower welcomes back Chad Livengood, the politics editor and columnist at The Detroit News.
In our second visit this year with Chad Livengood on the West Michigan weekend program, we covered a wide range of topics related to the presidential race, Michigan politics, and, specifically, the tight Senate race between Mike Rogers and Elissa Slotkin.
Former President Trump, in a widely covered speech before the Detroit Economic Club on October 10th, everyone was talking about a comment Trump made when he asked what could happen if Vice President Kamala Harris were to win.    Trump was quoted as saying, “It will be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Many people in Detroit and beyond expressed understandable outrage. Still, Trump’s supporters said the national media seized upon that comment and took it entirely out of context. 
Chad attended the Detroit Economic Club speech and shared his views on what happened that day.

Both candidates, former President Donald Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris, have made numerous trips to Michigan and are likely to make several more as the presidential race becomes more important and magnified as we approach election day.

Chad also discussed the key Senate race between Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R).  As we recorded this program, the polls showed that both candidates  are in a virtual dead heat in their effort to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D) seat in the U.S. Senate

Additionally, we talked about absentee ballots and the importance of early in-person voting, which Chad felt could have a major impact on the election here in Michigan.

Finally, we ended our conversation by discussing the importance of trusting the election outcome, precisely the idea of election integrity.
A September survey by the Gallup organization found that 57% of Americans say they are very or somewhat confident that the votes for president this year will be accurately cast and counted. The Gallup research noted that this percentage of voters aligns with how Americans have viewed the election results most years since 2008. However, the research noted that only 28% of Republicans have faith in the accuracy of the vote.

Gallup Survey On Election Trust.



You can read Chad’s stories here in The Detroit News.



TOPICS ADDRESSED:  the presidential election 2024, presidential politics, election integrity, get-out-the-vote efforts, absentee voting, early in-person voting, election safety, and media coverage of the presidential race.