In this first special deep dive episode of the Strength in Numbers podcast, Elliott sits down with Joy Wilke, senior director of polling at BlueLabs, to discuss a set of focus groups she conducted in Michigan among independent, politically disengaged Americans — the exact kind of affordability voters who swung toward Trump in 2024, and who Elliott has been writing about over the last year. BlueLabs’ focus groups show that many voters are economically desperate, distrust both parties, and have a deep hunger for leaders who actually get them.
Here are the big takeaways:
The focus groups reveal a level of economic desperation that polls can't fully capture. BlueLabs' detailed interviews surfaced gut-wrenching stories from voters. Some described working two jobs, skipping meals so their kids could eat, and spending hours managing coupon apps just to afford groceries. One participant in a Republican-leaning focus group, a woman in her mid-50s, put it simply: "We shouldn't have to work so hard to survive." This is the type of resolution you can’t get with quantitative polling data.
Both parties are seen as out of touch, but in different ways. Trump voters in the focus groups called the Republican Party “embarrassing” and “too radical,” while Democrats were labeled “weak” and unable to follow through on promises — even by their own supporters. Corruption was seen as a universal weakness of federal lawmakers, something voters say is particularly bad with Donald Trump but not specific to him. The divide in the focus groups wasn’t left vs. right, it was working class vs. political elites.
Voters don’t want policy platforms — they want someone who’s actually struggled. As one woman put it: “I would want somebody that’s for us and understands what it’s like to struggle.” And mobilization is a big concern for both parties. In these focus groups, Democrats are still seen as “for the working class” in theory, but convincing disengaged voters that showing up is worth their time remains the party’s biggest challenge.
If you’re on email or the Substack app, you can read the transcript of our conversation by clicking the headline of this article to take you to the web version of the podcast, then clicking the button just below the byline that looks either like a piece of paper or is labeled “Transcript,” like so:
You can also subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app to listen on your own time. And if you do listen via one of those apps, please drop us a five-star rating and review if you feel we’ve earned it — it really helps people discover the show!
