Michigan Radio’s Steve Carmody has had a busy two weeks. He covered the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week, after covering the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week.
He joined us on Stateside to debrief after the DNC, and provide his take on how the two conventions compared.
“I think each convention had a targeted audience in Michigan and each reached that audience,” he said.
Republicans spoke to white, male, blue-collar Michiganders, he said, while Democrats spoke to gay, Muslim, and female people in Michigan.
While the Carmody says the Democratic Party did reach its audience in Michigan, it may also have left some party members behind.
Some Bernie Sanders supporters did walk out of the convention, many saying they won’t support Hillary Clinton moving forward.
“It’s not good for your party if people who are there as delegates to your national convention are openly talking about voting for a third party candidate,” Carmody said. “And there were quite a few Bernie Sanders delegates who were saying just that.”
He said Democrats will have to focus on bringing those Bernie Sanders supporters back to the party.
“It’s a lot of work that the Democrats are going to have to do to heal these divisions and make the case that they can continue to support Bernie Sanders by voting for Hillary Clinton.”
Carmody also talked about how each party, at its convention, used Flint as a symbol for something different. Hear the rest of that conversation above.
GUEST Steve Carmody is a reporter for Michigan Radio. He was stationed in Philadelphia this week to cover the Democratic National Convention.
