Now that President Joe Biden has ended his re-election campaign, talking with Michigan voters disclosed two main takeaways: They aren’t surprised and their perception of Kamala Harris as the potential Democratic Party nominee is mixed.
In Mount Pleasant, Julian Noyola said Biden never should have run for re-election.
“I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “He’s not doing physically well. I don’t think he should have been running in the first place.”
George Zaravelis, from Flint, said he’s relieved.
“At least now people can get going and have someone that can talk straight,” he said. “(He) was a great man, and did a great job for four years.”
As far as widespread endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee instead, reviews are mixed.
Zaravelis says he sees her as a continuation of the Biden administration.
“Well, for the country it’s the smartest thing to do because she’s been there for the last four years and I’m sure a lot of the decency rubbed off on her,” he said. “And the team that currently helps these people make decisions would remain the same.
“So a lot of Biden’s decency and a lot of Biden’s stability that has occurred the last four years, hopefully, will continue to resonate.”
Trish Robinson from Milford shared that sentiment.
“I think they need to come up with the very, very best that that party has to offer,” Robinson said. “I don’t mind seeing Kamala Harris be president at all. I think she’d have a wonderful cabinet.”
If there was ever any doubt for Traverse City resident Denny Staddel as to whether he’s going to vote for former President Donald Trump in November, he said that doubt is gone.
“The Democratic party is in complete disarray,” Staddel said. “They’re not together anymore like they used to be. And I don’t know, maybe it’s just going to take a cycle here to get things changed. I probably lean more Republican and, this time around, I definitely will.”
Noyola said Harris is a decent presidential candidate, but that choice might not match his expectations.
“I think that that’s an OK option,” he said. “I definitely think it could be better. (What) I’m looking for is somebody who’s actually going to put in the time and the effort to combat issues that are genuinely going to help us in the next 20 to 30 years.”
The Democratic National Convention on August 19-22 is the official deadline for the party to decide on its presidential candidate, but that decision will likely be made much sooner. Then voters, if they haven’t already cast absentee ballots, will have about two months to make up their minds on their choice in the November general election.
