Michigan Matters: Trump vs. Harris for the money
(CBS DETROIT) - As Vice President and Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, who is vying for the office, continue to crisscross the Great Lakes States this week, the Michigan Matters roundtable weighs in on what's ahead in the most bombastic election in American history.
Michigan Republican Party Finance Co-Chair Lena Epstein, Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement Executive Director David Dulio and Denise Ilitch, CEO of Ilitch Enterprises, talk about the hits and the misses of the two campaigns.
They discuss what it will take to win Michigan voters who have shown their independent streak as monikers like "Reagan Democrats," coined a generation ago when auto workers in Macomb County who voted Democratic turned GOP as the Republican went on to win the White House.
The UAW remains an interesting factor in this race, too. Pundits point to Michigan as a critical battleground that the two camps are paying huge attention to.
Trump held a town hall in Flint Tuesday night while Sen. JD Vance, his running mate, was in Kent County. Harris will be joined by Oprah Winfrey, the influential entertainment TV host and executive, this Thursday night in Detroit for a streaming event with 140 grassroots organizations, while Minn Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate, was just in Grand Rapids and Lansing.
The roundtable weighed in on the open U.S. Senate race, which finds Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin in a heated contest with Republican Mike Rogers.
Also appearing on the show are Rod Alberts, Executive Director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which stages the Detroit Auto Show, and Becky Bixby, Interim General Manager of Huntington Place, where the auto event will be held in January.
They talked about the importance of the 100-year-old signature event long associated with the Motor City. Bixby discussed other big events coming to Huntington Place, which is the largest convention center in Michigan. They talked about the importance of a hotel being built at Huntington and how it will help the marketing efforts of Detroit going forward.
Watch Michigan Matters at its new time: 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit, noon Sundays on Detroit 50 WKBD).
(Carol Cain is the 13-time Emmy-winning senior producer and host of Michigan)
