Michelle Obama Could Damage Donald Trump By Siphoning Suburban Voters, ‘Politico’ Correspondent Says
Politico‘s chief political correspondent, Tim Alberta, appeared on MSNBC on Wednesday and argued that Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention could cause significant damage to Donald Trump’s re-election chances by siphoning a key voting bloc, Raw Story reported.
“I thought her speech the other night was really relevant to the wooing of one particular group of Republican voters, and that’s suburban women,” he said.
“And stop me if you have heard this before, but this is the single voting demographic that we have seen the most movement with over the past four or five years. And the numbers of these voters, who broke away from the Republican party after voting for Trump in 2016 are not insignificant.”
According to Alberta, a “continuation” or “acceleration” of the trajectory that has been observed in “affluent, college-educated suburban white women” between Trump’s election and the midterm elections could create a “mathematical obstacle” that he says would be tough for the president’s campaign to overcome.
Per CNN, network host Van Jones noted that one of the main goals of Obama’s speech was to engage disaffected Americans and connect with the suburban females that led Democrats to their 2018 midterm victory. According to Jones, Obama’s call to action was a “master class” that did not try to bring down Trump but instead aimed to bolster the country. The CNN host added that suburban women were the crucial bloc that helped Democrats in 2018 and said he believes that Obama successfully appealed to this population in a motivating fashion.
Per NPR, polls have shown Trump losing support among suburban voters. The publication highlighted that he narrowly won the suburbs in 2016, which helped him defeat Hillary Clinton. However, he has since reportedly lost support by a historic margin.
NPR linked Trump’s declining suburban backing to his recent appeal to the demographic. But the publication claimed that this appeal — which suggested that Democrats would impose via fair housing initiatives — seemed “outdated.” NPR also linked Trump’s attempt to tie pushes for defunding the police to Joe Biden and claimed he is trying to use fear to regain his lost suburban support.
As The Inquisitr reported, Washington Monthly columnist Nancy LeTourneau — like Jones — noted that 2018 Democratic wins were driven by success in the suburbs. She also pointed to recent polls showing Biden leading Trump in this demographic by historic margins. The writer argued that Trump’s mistreatment of immigrant children and approach to the current cultural moment has created pushback from mothers that could come back to haunt him in November.
