Trump campaign goes quiet in Michigan as one-time battleground slips further away

Donald Trump's campaign strategy in Michigan has been a thing to behold. His months-long assault on the state included insulting nearly every female state official, mocking its iconic companies, and repeatedly threatening to shortchange it in the middle of a global pandemic. 

It appears that unique approach has not paid off—unless you consider not needing to direct any advertising dollars there a cost savings for the campaign. Then it was aces.

In recent weeks, the Trump campaign has quietly pulled all its ads from the airwaves in the Great Lakes State, according to the New York Times. Instead, the campaign has poured more resources into states like Iowa and Nevada, which are worth a combined 12 electoral votes compared to Michigan's 16. Not to the mention the fact that Iowa is a normally reliable red state that Trump won handily in 2016. 

In terms of spending, the Times calls the Biden campaign's edge there the "most lopsided" of any swing state, adding that Trump hasn't run any local ads in the state's largest media market, Detroit, since July 3. That doesn't include national buys that happened to appear there.

Trump is reportedly taking a beating from three key demographics—people of color who enthusiastically want to oust him, suburban voters who are running the other direction, and even less educated white voters whose support for Trump is sagging. He’s trailed Joe Biden in nearly every reputable poll this month. 

All that being said, the Trump campaign is still doing grassroots work there while pushing digital advertising on platforms like Facebook. It also continues to hold more than $11 million in reserved TV ad space starting in September, but ad reservations aren't a lock either as priorities shift.

Still, Michigan Democrats aren't taking anything for granted. “The biggest danger for us is to be overconfident,” Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell told the Times.

While some pro-Trump super PACs continue to advertise in the state, the biggest among them, America First Action, also exited in early July, diverting funds to Arizona and North Carolina instead. None of that bodes well for Trump, but we wouldn’t mind if he hurled a few more insults at Michigan, just for good measure.

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