As the votes were counted on election night 2016, the first big sign of trouble for Hillary Clinton came from Michigan, arguably the most Democratic of the presidential swing states. In 2020, Joe Biden flipped it back to the Democrats. Now, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump appear to be in a dead heat in Michigan, and it’s once again crucial for winning the presidency. For our latest Times Opinion focus group, we gathered a cross-section of Michigan voters to assess the race in the home stretch.

The takeaway isn’t especially positive for Ms. Harris.

Our five independents, four Democrats and two Republicans were clear on a few points: Most want significant change in America under the next president, and the bulk of them cite the economy as their top issue and care more about the candidates’ policies than their values. One voter was troubled by Ms. Harris’s support for arms to Israel and is leaning toward Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. Others thought Mr. Trump didn’t understand what it meant to struggle financially.

Perhaps most worrisome for Ms. Harris, nine of our 11 participants thought she would pursue policies similar to Mr. Biden’s. Muhammad, a 25-year-old software engineer and registered independent who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, said he was struck by a recent TV ad showing Ms. Harris on “The View” saying she could not think of a thing she would have done differently from Mr. Biden during their administration.

“I understand not pushing Biden under the bus, but she needs to be more authentic and actually take responsibility for the failures of her administration. She was the border czar, and that is a failure. All she needed to do was be authentic about that,” Muhammad said.

Some participants were enthusiastic about Ms. Harris’s energy and ideas and thought that as a woman, she represented change. But as for who will win Michigan and the presidency, these voters thought the race was trending toward Trump, even though several of them saw him as dangerous and unhinged.

In one word, how would you say you feel about the November election?

Anxious

Indecisive.

Exhausted.

I’d say “anxious,” too.

Motivated.

Excited.

Frustrated.

Kyle, you said “exhausted.”

It’s a nonstop barrage of political ads, political mailers. I just can’t wait for the election to be over.

The political ads are abrasive, and they kind of put you in a “What do you believe?” type of place. It’s hard to decide.

What is this election about?

Power.

It’s about democracy and about truth. Is there any kind of objective truth?

It’s a power struggle. Right now the candidates are saying: I’m better than this other person. They’re not actually giving us any information about what could change.

I think it comes down to America’s values. Freedoms, choices, honesty, integrity, immigration — how much is too much, or how much can we afford to offer?

The election is about change. Old guard to a new guard. We need to get back to individual choice, a little less intrusiveness from the government and more personal responsibility.

It’s about the truth behind a candidate’s words.

Tell me what matters to you when it comes to the economy.

How do we restart growth? What’s the path forward? We’ve been stagnant for quite some years. My job has been very stable. But there’s a lot of people out there that I’ve seen lose jobs or have to take lower-paying jobs or work in careers that they don’t like to do.

The cost of living might have affected me a little bit, but I have two daughters who have recently graduated and are out in the job market, and I see how difficult and how competitive it is to get a good job these days. You can go to college and still not be able to get the jobs that you were once promised were going to be out there, with benefits and health insurance.

I would just like to see some plan of action of moving forward with the economy. What is that clear path of how our economy is going to grow?

Muhammad, tell me why you said immigration was a major issue for you.

The American dream is becoming less and less of a reality for most people, at least in my generation. So we definitely need to do something about illegal immigration. One side is denying it’s a problem. You need to take care of Americans first rather than paying for their hotel just because they crossed illegally.

Peter and then Aaron, tell me a little bit more about democracy.

Jan. 6 was the big deciding factor for me. I’ve voted for plenty of Republicans. I’ve voted for Democrats. But he tried to overturn the peaceful transition of power. We have someone who just completely denies it. I don’t see how we move forward. I don’t.

Since when do we let felons run for jobs in the White House? I don’t understand it. It’s hard to even get beyond that. And the things that he says are just mean-spirited. I didn’t know that we could let people who act like children and hold top offices in our political government. A candidate openly trying to get unchecked power is just unsettling. And he’s clear. He’s not lying. He’s literally telling us what he wants to do.

Just because someone wasn’t convicted in a court of law of something doesn’t mean the other side isn’t just as guilty of crimes as well. It’s just really concerning that each side can use that power to abuse it and try to do whatever it is they want to do and lie so forthrightly about it, whether it was Covid or anything else.

Tell me why abortion is important to you.

No man can really tell you what to do with your body. And I feel like there could be so many reasons behind an abortion. It’s not always the common reason. And if they can’t have one in their own state, then, I don’t know, you’re kind of crazy to me.

I’ve been raised by all women. I would hate for any of them to be in a situation where they became pregnant and they don’t have any other options. That’s just a scary feeling to have the law governing a human being.

Let’s hear from the people who care a lot about foreign affairs and security.

They’re sending billions of........

© The New York Times