Race to Milwaukee: Michigan Field Report

The Sun has a Michigan Man

Submitted by Young Dutchman

As I stand here amidst the buzz of the 2024 primary election in Michigan, I am a changed man from the college kid of 2016. No longer does my heart swell with pride and excitement as a dedicated Trump voter. I am a grisly veteran now. It feels like a lifetime ago when I was a college student, volunteering tirelessly for the Trump campaign in 2016, back when the primary win in Michigan was far from certain. Those were the days of uncertainty, of grassroots activism, of fighting tooth and nail for every vote. As I look around now, I can't help but feel a sense of triumph. We've come a long way since then, and the enthusiasm among Trump supporters is palpable albeit changed. Too much has happened to simply say “Let’s Make America Great Again.” We all were naive and the mission is now more nitty gritty with how much we have to overhaul and what the methods may involve for us to enjoy that ignorance is bliss feeling of 2016.

Reflecting on my experience volunteering in 2016, I recall the passion and determination that fueled our efforts. We were a group of students from the Grand Rapids area, united by our belief in President Trump's message of economic prosperity, America-first policies, and stopping the flood of immigrants that no one else seemed to care about on the RNC stage. Trump’s comedic approach and a no-nonsense approach to politics helped. We knocked on doors, made phone calls, and attended rallies, all in the name of securing victory for our candidate. And when the results came in on primary night, and later in November when Michigan turned red, it was a moment of sheer exhilaration – proof that our hard work had paid off.

Fast forward to 2024, and the landscape has shifted as Trump’s win was not just a simple exchange of power. Similar to many Americans, I learned what the Deep State was. I saw the Left burn down America. Every norm was trashed, and continues to be trashed just to stop a candidate who wants to slow immigration, reshore manufacturing and avoid unnecessary wars. Trump’s manufacturing push is embraced by more in DC, so the real anger is over the immigration angle.

I report that Trump has a massive base of support in Michigan, but cannot help but shake my head at the weird holdouts who are going to vote Haley. These are not just philosophical hair splitters. That was an issue in Western Michigan in 2016 as our area was strong for Cruz. These seem to be old voters who really want a return to Mitt Romney 2012 era politics. These fools forget that Trump closed the gap that Romney could not in Michigan, and also fail to see that a Michigan born and raised Romney left the state and considered his chances strong running for statewide office in Massachusetts. But there are also older Republicans, holdouts from a bygone era, who have seen the world pass them by and remain steadfast in their support for outdated models despite all we have seen.

Yet, amidst the sea of Trump supporters, there are also those who harbor reservations – bitter establishment voters yearning for a return to the Tea Party days of Governor Snyder. These individuals, often older and more traditional in their political beliefs, long for a return to a time when the Republican Party adhered more closely to conventional conservative principles. Snyder did win two terms as a nerdy accountant type. We do not need that now. They view President Trump as a disruptor, a figure who has upended the status quo and challenged the establishment at every turn. They fail to see that the status quo is fine with destroyed cities overrun with homeless and criminals, an open border that will reshape American society and a political system with no reservations showing its tyrannical side.

Michigan has a unique experience, and it is worth discussing. First off, we need to reshore manufacturing. All the new businesses in Michigan the last decade seem to be marijuana dispensaries. Beyond economics, the 2020 antics were insane. It felt like they screwed up the count they needed to swing the election for Biden and had to come up with even more than they anticipated in the middle of the night. It does not end with 2020 either. Gov. Whitmer manipulated the gubernatorial election of 2022 to remove her most difficult challengers. She was trailing the former Detroit Police Chief, James Craig, who built a campaign on not being a lockdown psychopath like Whitmer and also being a police chief who kept Detroit quiet during the Summer of Floyd riots. He was no nonsense. Detroit did not suffer. Procedures were manipulated, and he was deemed ineligible per signature fraud. The next in line for the GOP ran into legal issues for January 6th activity that somehow the FBI was alerted by via anonymous tips. Amazing! Of course, she won re-election versus a hand-picked opponent who had barely any time or momentum to build a campaign.

This is partly why for me, and many others like me, President Trump represents a beacon of hope – a leader who isn't afraid to shake things up and put America's interests first. We want him to wipe away a lot of this corruption. We do not know how, but the days of ridiculous shenanigans need to end. His simple defiance is enough of a start. His unapologetic stance on issues like immigration, trade, and national security resonates deeply with voters who feel marginalized by the political elite. And while his detractors may paint him as divisive or controversial, to us, he's a champion of the forgotten men and women of this country: the hardworking Americans who fuel the engine of our nation's economy. We know we make the nation work. It sure as hell is not what we see in the cities.

Michigan holds a unique position as a swing state worth a large chunk of electoral votes. It would be nice to be the new Ohio for a few elections, where politicians can pretend to care about our needs. I know that after the primary is over that the general election signs will roll out. I fully expect most of the Haley voters to slide back behind Trump. I do wonder what goes through their minds. Is it simply sports team style my guy/my gal support and they move on without a thought? I hope not. I hope that with everything we as a nation have seen from our ruling elite has pierced through their normal mental defenses and shown that there is no going back. We cannot go back to a 1950s Michigan, but we need a vision that’s more than a busload of African immigrants and a weed shop in every town.