Let me start off this post by saying we are just 99 days away from the election, so this news from a focus group is a good albeit small sign in a swing state like Michigan. If you take this to be meaningless you are wrong. Also, if you think this means Trump wins Michigan again, you are also wrong. There is a long, three-month battle ahead of this country before election day, and all sides better prepare for it.

However, one of the first substantive focus groups done in Michigan just released their results and the news is favorable for President Donald Trump.

From Axios…

Some swing voters in Warren, Mich., question Joe Biden’s ability to lead the country — calling him a “puppet” who’s not “mentally capable of being president” — while admitting they haven’t paid much attention to his events, platforms or speeches.

Why it matters: President Trump’s branding of Biden is defining him with these voters, particularly Trump’s insinuations about senility (though the cognitive swipes have gone both ways between these rivals).

Many of these voters prioritize the economy as their #1 issue in this election and continue to trust Trump on that issue, saying the economy was doing well before the pandemic.

In addition to improving the economy and trying to bring more jobs to the U.S., Jeff O. said he’s picking Trump because “I don’t think that Biden is mentally capable of being president.”

Matt T. described Biden as “up there in age” and “showing signs of dementia” as well as “a puppet” who is “controlled by a lot of people in the deep state.” He went on to define that term as “the lobbyists, the people that have the big money, the people that have an influence on a lot of the politicians.”

Warren Michigan is the third-largest city in the state with approximately 134,000 people as of 2010. Warren borders the City of Detroit on the south side and stretches out for about 34 sq miles bordering a number of other cities including the 4th largest city in the state Sterling Heights. One of the key factors of Warren though is it also sits in Macomb County which in 2016 went to Trump by 44,000 votes. The whole state went to Trump by just 11,000 votes, which shows how valuable a focus group in Macomb Counties’ largest city is.

Once again this is not to say that Trump will win the state again. There is opposition in this traditionally blue-collar democratic stronghold. Once again from Axios…

Vicki S., who will vote Biden over Trump because of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, said: “I don’t want either of them. It’s the lesser of two evils in my book.”

A recent poll from Hill/HarrisX found that 56% of people thought that Biden was “mentally fit” to be President. However, that is done with the background of Joe Biden not doing ANY interviews and just staged media appearances where he has been protected. Even if he continues with this strategy until after the convention, he has agreed to face Donald Trump three times on a debate stage and that will literally make him or break him.

Donald Trump has no easy path to victory in 2020 but he did not have an easy path in 2016. Can he do it once again and defy the expectations?

Possibly.

This news from a strategic county in a swing state he won in 2016, shows there is a path for him to take.