Democrats are discovering that Kamala Harris isn’t the candidate they hyped her to be.
Alarm bells are ringing about the state of the race.
And Democrats are worried sick about this bad problem wrecking Kamala Harris in November.
Democrats start to panic about turnout in a crucial state
Democrats and their media allies built Vice President Kamala Harris up as a generational political talent in the mold of former President Barack Obama after she entered the race.
But the Democrat Party’s base hasn’t gotten that tingle in their leg about her in Detroit, Michigan.
Michigan has almost become a must-win state for Kamala after she began to slip in the polls in the Sun Belt swing states.
Detroit is 80% black but there are signs that black voters in the city aren’t excited about her.
Her path to victory in Michigan relies on running up a massive margin in the city to swamp former President Donald Trump’s base in the rural areas.
Politico reported that black politicians, religious leaders, political operatives, and voters have sounded the alarm on Kamala’s outreach to black voters in Detroit.
There’s also concern that Democrat messaging is too focused on women in the suburbs.
Former Kamala communications director Jamal Simmons, a Detroit native, warned that the problems for his old boss are real.
“I am worried about turnout in Detroit. I think it’s real,” Simmons said. “There are concerns and they’re not insignificant.”
He wondered if Kamala had the political machine that could turn out black voters.
Detroit could decide who wins Michigan
Kamala is going to win Detroit by a massive margin but turnout could determine whether she wins Michigan.
50% turnout in the city is the magic number that Democrats are looking for.
Hillary Clinton only had 48% turnout in Detroit when she lost Michigan to former President Donald Trump by about 11,000 votes.
President Joe Biden got 51% turnout when he won the state by 150,000 votes in 2020.
Kamala is leaning on celebrities like Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson and actress Kerry Washington in Detroit for outreach.
Another complication for Kamala is that Donald Trump has made inroads with black men.
An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 18% of black men had a favorable view of Trump.
Even a small increase in black support for the former President could be catastrophic for Kamala in a close race.
Magic Johnson tried to nag Kamala supporters at a rally in Flint, Michigan about reaching out to black men.
“Kamala’s opponent promised a lot of things last time to the black community that he did not deliver on,” Johnson said. “And we gotta make sure we help black men understand that.”
Trump’s message on illegal immigration has hit home with some voters in Detroit.
“As they letting us go, they’re getting a bus load of temporary workers — they’re all Mexican, none of them speak English. So they don’t care if we go on strike or not. We’ve been training these people to do our jobs,” Detroit manufacturing worker Eric Mays said.
The warning signs are there that Kamala Harris has a problem with a key part of her base.
