Battleground Michigan: The Divided Political Trajectory of the American Working Classes

The political behavior of core demographic voting blocs in critical swing states can be elucidated by Marxist class analysis. Through 22 interviews, participatory observation, novel analysis of statistical data and a review of extant literature, we argue that it is possible to construct a tentative sketch of the class dynamics operating within the state’s electorate today. We find, whereas downwardly mobile white workers are the core demographic group who can connect with Donald Trump’s campaign message, it is upwardly mobile workers of all races who are the mass base of Kamala Harris’ campaign, while Muslim immigrant workers with their unique relationship to American imperialism are at the core of Judith Stein and the Green Party’s voting base. Beyond this basic analysis, we also assess the contradictions between different class-inflected demographic groups within the Harris coalition that had to be overcome for the Democratic Party to carry this November. We argue that political economists should watch and study the November 2024 election as a test of American worker acceptance of the neoliberal superstructure, as would be evidenced by a Harris victory.