Trump’s message of American decline resonates in pivotal state

At a United Auto Workers Union event where members watched the debate, I met one of the union organisers, Joe Losier. The UAW has pledged its support to Kamala Harris and much of the crowd in the room whooped and clapped with every put-down she threw Trump’s way. But dig a bit deeper and the fault lines of America’s political upheaval can be found here too. “My dad and all my uncles on both sides of my family, who are all UAW people, have become Republicans,” Mr Losier told me, unable to hide the incredulity in his own voice. “These are second generation immigrants who came over here, started working in the auto industry back in World War I and it blows my mind that a lot of my family are tradesmen who are supporting Donald Trump.” He’s even unsure which way his two adult sons are going to vote. Dinner times are “horrible” he said. With workers fearing further shift cuts and job losses, the union finds itself increasingly out of step with its members. There’s deep support here for Donald Trump’s promise of tough tariffs on imports, and disagreement with Kamala Harris’s argument in the debate that the policy would simply drive up prices. After the debate, I called Chuck Brenner to see what he’d made of it. He had some good news for Democrats. “I do believe Kamala was the shining star,” he told me. “And the bottom line is she’s won my vote. I was impressed by what she had to say, her delivery.” “With Trump,” he went on, “it was kind of what I expected. There were no surprises there. It’s kind of like the same. The same.” Rachel Oviedo, however, was still undecided, she told me, but now leaning more towards Trump. “I think he’ll do more for us up here,” she said. “You know, he did things he shouldn’t have done”, she added. “But you gotta forgive people.” And Jeremy Zehnder, the truck polisher, admitted to being slightly surprised by Harris’s performance. “She did much better than I thought she would,” he told me. “I think she won it.” But he’s sticking with Trump. It’s about policy, he said. Taxes, the border and the cost of living.