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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, November 7, 2016 — 3A

MAX KUANG/Daily

Ypsilanti resident Orin Kennedy and his family examine fossils from the Bristle Mammoth at the University of 
Michigan Museum of Natural History Saturday.

MUSEUM FINDINGS

in this iteration of the survey 
continued to identify themselves 
as Democrats, at 54 percent, 
with 
students 
identifying 

as Republicans forming less 
than half of that at 19 percent. 
Remaining 
respondents 

identified as Independent, Green, 
other or had no identification.

In comparison to previous 

Daily 
polls, 
more 
students 

identified 
themselves 
as 

Democrats or Republicans rather 
than third party supporters. 
Students continued to follow 
a national trend of millennials 
overwhelmingly 
supporting 

Democratic nominees.

When 
asked 
who 
they 

would vote for given the choice 
of 
Democratic 
presidential 

nominee 
Hillary 
Clinton, 

Republican presidential nominee 
Donald 
Trump 
and 
third-

party 
candidates 
Libertarian 

presidential 
nominee 
Gary 

Johnson 
and 
Green 
Party 

presidential nominee Jill Stein, 
76 percent said they would 
vote for Clinton — a 6-percent 
increase for Clinton since the 
most recent polling on Oct. 26.

LSA senior Lauren Gallagher, 

president of Students for Hillary, 
wrote in an email interview that 
she thinks student voice can be 
a powerful determinant in this 
election.

“Compared 
to 
other 

generational blocks, millennial 
turnout is typically extremely 
low, but, with that being said, 
we’ve seen in past elections how 
powerful the student voice can 
be,” Gallagher said. “Big name 
surrogate visits to our campus is 
the campaign sending a message 
that our voices matter, that the 
decision about what direction 
this country is headed in is up 
to us. It’s my hope that students 
don’t take this lightly and turn 

out tomorrow, it’s our future’s 
that are on the line right now.”

Support for Trump remained 

the same at 13 percent while 
support for Johnson and Stein 
continued to drop, with support 
for Johnson dropping 7.3 and 
support for Stein dropping 2.4. 
The majority of respondents 
were confident Clinton will win 
the election, at 87 percent.

In response to Clinton’s high 

unfavorability among the general 
public, Gallagher said she has 
seen passion and excitement for 
Clinton among fellow students 
and hopes that the narrative of 
the “millennial problem” will be 
a thing of the past.

“We value a leader who 

supports 
the 
rights 
and 

potential 
of 
all 
individuals, 

regardless of their race, gender, 
religion, nation of origin, sexual 
orientation, or socio-economic 
background,” 
Gallagher 
said. 

“Clinton 
is 
the 
progressive 

choice in this election, her vision 
for the United States is a country 
that continues to build on the 
diversity that makes us great, 
not take us back to a time where 
divisions hindered our progress.”

However, plurality of students 

responded that this election 
season only had a moderate 
influence on their confidence 
in the Democratic process at 30 
percent. The rest of the responses 
were polarized, with respondents 
saying it had either a lot of 
influence on their confidence or 
none at all.

This presidential race has 

set itself apart from previous 
campaigns in that the two 
major 
candidates 
are 
the 

most 
unpopular 
in 
election 

history 
after 
beating 
out 

multiple 
competitors 
during 

the primaries. In addition to 
the general unfavorability of 
the candidates, many incidents 
throughout the campaign have 
left not just students but the 
general 
population 
stressed 

about 
the 
outcome 
of 
this 

election.

47 percent of respondents also 

said they view Clinton favorably 
or very favorably rather than a 
neutral stance or dislike for the 
candidate. 38 percent also said 
they were neutral when asked if 
they were excited at the prospect 
of a Clinton presidency.

In comparison, 76 percent 

of respondents said they had a 
strong dislike for Trump, and 76 
percent also said they were not 
enthused at the prospect of a 
Trump presidency.

For 86 percent of respondents, 

this is their first time voting in a 
presidential election. Capturing 
first-time voters has been a 
major push in this election as 
millennials now outrank baby 
boomers as the largest generation 
and thus the largest voting 
electorate. Especially for the 
Clinton campaign, convincing 
millennials to both vote for 
her and participate on Election 
Day has been a large part of her 
campaign, with President Barack 
Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 
(I–Vt.) making visits on her 
behalf to college towns including 
Ann Arbor. 

Despite low support from 

University students, Michigan 
as a whole is at play and has 
been 
frequented 
heavily 
by 

both campaigns. LSA junior 
Enrique Zalamea, President of 
College Republicans, said that 
he believes this could be the first 
time since the election of George 
H. W. Bush in 1988 that Michigan 
could cast its electoral votes for a 
Republican candidate. 

“Clinton’s campaign manager 

Robby Mook described how 
Michigan has gotten so close 
it can now be considered a 
battleground 
state,” 
Zalamea 

said. “With the incredible uptick 
in Republican campaign speakers 
across Michigan, I truly believe 
that this election may be the first 
time since 1988 that Michigan 
may vote red.”

“I’ve now spent half my life 

trying to help people get a job, 
get a pay raise, save a business, 
save a farm, get a business loan, 
get health care for their kids,” 
Clinton said. “It’s what I’ve done 
with my life.”

Several speakers highlighted 

Michigan’s auto manufacturing 
industry in particular, a key 
component 
of 
the 
state’s 

economy. Several years ago, amid 
the recession, multiple large 
automakers in Detroit declared 
bankruptcy and were bailed 
out by the federal government. 
Unemployment 
in 
Michigan 

reached 14.9 percent in 2009, 
though it has shrunk considerably 
since.

Former Michigan Gov. James 

Blanchard (D), who introduced 
Bill Clinton, criticized comments 
Trump has made about the 
decline of auto manufacturing. 
Blanchard said Trump’s view of 
the state of auto manufacturing is 
inaccurate, citing a recent record 
number of auto sales.

“We’re dealing with many 

people who have an alternate 
view of the truth,” Blanchard 
said. “For example, a few weeks 
ago, (Trump) stood out here and 
said ‘manufacturing is a disaster 
in Michigan’ … that same week 
we announced record auto sales 
in the United States of America.”

Blanchard 
added 
that 
he 

thought life for workers during 
Bill Clinton’s presidency was 
much better than the view 
Republicans paint.

“When 
Bill 
Clinton 
was 

president, 
the 
Republicans 

have said it was a difficult era,” 
Blanchard said. “They are playing 
the American people for suckers: 
When Bill Clinton was president 
we had 24 million new jobs.”

Echoing 
Blanchard’s 

sentiment, Clinton acknowledged 
manufacturing 
workers’ 

frustration 
after 
the 
2008 

financial crisis He reminded the 
crowd that his time in office was 
one of the only times in history 
when income rose.

“When I was president, it’s 

the only time in 50 years when 
we all rose together; the bottom 
20 percent’s income increased in 
percentage terms, even more than 
the top 20 percent,” Clinton said. 
“It was the first time since the 
advent of trickle-down economics 
when we grew the economy from 
the middle out and the bottom 
up.”

Clinton added that he thought 

Trump’s rhetoric of anger and 
division would only lead to 
greater hurt for the middle class.

“I spent a lot of time doing 

this. It worked out pretty well for 
you when I was there,” Clinton 
said. “I actually believe that 
answers are better than anger, 
that empowerment is better than 
resentment, that cooperation is 

better than endless conflict.” 

He also charged that Trump’s 

policies would be regressive and 
would lower taxes for the wealthy 
and 
corporations, 
contrasting 

them with Hillary Clinton’s plan 
to create jobs through investment 
in infrastructure.

“What we need is first to create 

a lot more jobs that pay above 
average wage,” Bill Clinton said. 
“We need a major infrastructure 
program. Flint, Michigan is not 
the only place in America that 
needs new water pipes.”

Speaking to Trump’s tax plan, 

he said the businessman would 
cut taxes on big business, enabling 
business owners, while Hillary 
Clinton would impose penalties 
on businesses that unnecessarily 
move manufacturing jobs out of 
the United States.

“(Donald Trump) wants to 

cut taxes for all corporations; 
(Hillary Clinton) says not so fast,” 
Bill Clinton said. “I would not cut 
taxes on people who are making 
money and they leave the country 
anyway, I would raise them … I 
wouldn’t let them send stuff back 
to America.”

Expressing 
confidence 
in 

his wife’s record, Clinton said 
he was confident the economy 
would strengthen under a Hillary 
Clinton presidency.

“I have been knowing this 

woman a long time,” Bill Clinton 
said. “She has never touched 
anything she did not make 
better.”

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) visited 
Detroit.

The high number of visits from 

candidates the day prior to the 
election is somewhat unusual 
considering polls in Michigan have 
consistently shown Clinton beating 
Trump and the state has not voted 
for 
a 
Republican 
presidential 

candidate since 1988.

Communications 
Assistant 

Prof. Josh Pasek said a few weeks 
ago, following the presidential 
debates and scandal surrounding 
the tape recording of Trump 
using lewd language speaking 
about women, that Michigan 
would not have been in play, but 
due to the renewed Clinton email 
investigation, the race in Michigan 
is much closer.

“That shifted the map back in 

many respects to where it had 
been before the debates,” he said. 
“From that perspective it is not too 
shocking that Michigan is in play 
because, given what we expect 
in a traditional election between 
Democrats 
and 
Republicans, 

Michigan would be in play.”

Pasek said he thinks one of the 

main reasons the candidates are 
hosting rallies in the state so close 
to Election Day is the lack of early 
voting opportunities. Michigan is 
one of 16 states that does not offer 
no-excuse early voting, which 
Pasek said means candidate visits 
just prior to the election have a 
greater impact.

“Those states are much more 

dependent on the vote on Election 
Day than any other vote that 
happens before,” he said. “So 
attempts to sort of reach out in 
Michigan and Pennsylvania in 
particular right before the end 
have a chance to make a particular 
impact.”

Pasek said for both candidates, 

the state of Michigan’s electoral 
vote is essential to securing victory.

“If Hillary Clinton wins in 

Michigan, she is basically locked 
in to win, save the possibility that 
Pennsylvania goes the other way,” 
he said. “But if Trump wins it then 
he has a pretty good chance at 
getting into this race.”

LSA junior Collin Kelly, chair 

of the University’s chapter of 
College Democrats, wrote in an 
email interview with the Daily that 
though he believes the surrogate 
visits indicate the prominence of 
Michigan in this election, Michigan 

will still support Clinton.

“Michigan is a blue state — it has 

been solidly Democratic for the past 
two decades — and we don’t think 
that will change,” he wrote. “The 
amount of surrogates in Michigan 
just 
signifies 
how 
important 

Michigan is to the election, but 
the polls have been consistently 
favoring Secretary Clinton and we 
do not expect the results to be any 
different.”

According to Pasek, the main 

motivation for candidates this close 
to the election is to encourage those 
who support them but are less 
enthusiastic to actually get out and 
vote. Additionally, young people 
traditionally have low voter turnout 
rates and tend to lean toward 
Democratic candidates.

Pasek said, given the popularity 

of Obama, he has a notable ability to 
encourage students to vote, which 
would benefit Clinton.

“There is a substantial goal 

around trying to mobilize a bunch 
more students to try to vote than 
might do so otherwise,” he said. 
“Sending Barack Obama in, who 
is very popular among the student 
body, is probably a really good 
surrogate move in terms of trying 
to wring some more voters out of 
the student community.”

DATA
From Page 1A

CLINTON
From Page 1A

SWING
From Page 1A

immigration, according to the 
Detroit News.

“In two days, we are going to 

win the great state of Michigan,” 
he said. “We will stop the jobs 
from leaving your state.”

Statewide polls previously 

gave Clinton a comfortable lead 
in Michigan, but the most recent 
averages by RealClearPolitics 
place her only five points ahead 
of Trump.

Clinton’s drop in the polls 

came at the same time new 
information was disclosed by 
FBI Director James Comey nine 
days ago investigating possibly 
classified emails that could 
have included some of Clinton’s 
emails. This information was 
released 
during 
a 
separate 

investigation of former U.S. 
Rep. Anthony Weiner, who is 

married to top Clinton aide 
Huma Abedin. Sunday evening, 
however, Comey published a 
new letter declaring the FBI 
found no criminality in the new 
emails, reaffirming the FBI’s 
verdict in July exonerating 
Clinton 
of 
any 
criminal 

behavior.

Nonetheless, 
Trump 
still 

continued to criticize Clinton 
on the email issue Sunday night.

“It’s a totally rigged system,” 

he said. “You can’t review 
650,000 new emails in eight 
days. You can’t do it, folks.”

Trump 
also 
criticized 

incoming 
refugees 
and 

immigrants. 
25 
percent 
of 

Sterling 
Heights 
residents 

were born in another country, 
according to The Detroit News, 
and Michigan was the top 
destination for Syrian refugees 
as 
of 
August, 
NBC 
News 

reported.

“Here in Michigan, you’ve 

seen firsthand the problems 

caused 
with 
the 
refugee 

program,” 
Trump 
said. 
“A 

Trump administration will not 
admit any refugees without the 
support of the local community 
where they are being placed.”

Trump’s visit comes amid a 

flurry of last-minute campaign 
events in Michigan by both 
major party candidates. Donald 
Trump Jr. will be in Detroit and 
Warren on Monday on behalf of 
his father, while Trump Sr. will 
make a last stop in Grand Rapids 
in his campaign’s last official 
rally.

Democratic 
presidential 

candidate Hillary Clinton is 
also focusing her efforts on 
Michigan. Surrogate President 
Barack Obama will be in Ann 
Arbor today alongside Chelsea 
Clinton, while Clinton herself 
will be at Grand Valley State 
University in Grand Rapids on 
Monday afternoon in her first 
visit to western Michigan in the 
presidential race.

to those interested in donating or 
committing to traveling out to the 
protest site.

“Our two main goals are to get 

bodies out there to North Dakota 
from Michigan and to gather 
supply donations, and then I guess 
there’s a third aspect too and that’s 
to get the word out there” he said. 
“There are still people who don’t 
know what’s going on out there.”

Ferland said they didn’t have an 

exact number of committed names 
of those interested in joining the 
efforts in North Dakota, but said 
he has personally spoken with 
about 100 people who expressed 

interest.

“We have had probably 30 

people who were like, ‘I’m not 
even waiting for the rally. I’m 
heading out so get ready for us at 
the host tent,’ ” he said.

He added that he returned to 

Michigan to galvanize support 
for the protests because he has 
seen a decrease from the 8,000 
protesters who were at the site this 
summer.

Several people in the crowd 

expressed their commitment to 
travelling out to North Dakota, 
including Zahra Ahmad, a senior 
at Central Michigan University 
who said she and five other 
students who are planning on 
raising money to take supplies 
with them to the Standing Rock 
site.

“A big part of it is that we just 

want to deliver that money to 
them, we want to show them that 
we are standing with them, that 
CMU is supporting them,” Ahmad 
said.

Madison Clayford, a CMU 

junior who is a member of that 
group, said they are raising money 
for heating equipment rather 
than a more traditional clothing 
drive because they were told 
by organizers that was lacking 
among the protesters.

“One of the challenges that 

people face is probably the cold, 
and that’s where the generators 
come in to keep people warm,” she 
said. “We were initially thinking 
about doing a coat drive but they 
said ‘Do not send clothes,’ they 
have more than enough. ”

PROTEST
From Page 2A

TRUMP
From Page 1A

knocking on the windows and 
yelling Palin’s name, prompting 
her to respond directly.

“I wish you had the guts to 

come in here and say that to my 
face,” she said to the protesters 
through an open window.

The 
direct 
engagement 

between Palin and the protesters 
led several patrons to leave the 
establishment and confront the 
protesters. One man at the event, 
according to the eyewitness, used 
pepper spray.

“The guys who were put outside 

were beating on the window, 
and some guys went outside,” 

the eyewitness said. “Then the 
protesters were trying to come 
back in but then the next thing I 
knew there was pepper spray. Me 
and the rest of the people sitting 
near the door couldn’t breathe all 
of a sudden. Of course the man was 
trying to spray it at the protesters, 
but the wind took it back inside.”

Shortly thereafter, two police 

officers arrived at the tavern and 
dispersed the protesters. Palin 
then conducted the interview in 
front of a small crowd of about 50 
supporters without further issue.

Palin also made stops in 

Cheboygan, Alpena and Midland 
during the weekend.

In her interview for “The 

O’Reilly Factor,” Palin said she 
was confident in Trump’s ability 
to win Michigan given the state’s 

industrial history.

“There is no reason why 

(Trump) wouldn’t win here,” Palin 
said. “There are these ‘Reagan 
Democrats’ here, these blue-
collar, hard-working Americans 
here. Maybe they are registered 
as Democrats, but they so want 
these positive changes for their 
businesses and for that industry to 
be ushered in.”

Palin 
also 
voiced 
her 

ambivalence toward polls, which 
show 
the 
Clinton 
campaign 

maintaining their statewide lead.

“As I’ve said before, Bill, polls 

are only good for strippers and for 
cross-country skiers,” Palin said.

Following her interviews, Palin 

left the Town Pump Tavern after 
shaking hands and taking photos 
with supporters.

PALIN
From Page 1A

