Polls show Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump in a statistical tie here in the Great Lakes State as they seek the White House, and that has both candidates thinking they can win the state and claim Michigan’s 15 Electoral College votes.

In 2020, Democratic President Joe Biden won Michigan by a sliver-thin 150,000 votes out of some 5.5 million votes cast.

With both candidates sure Michigan will swing their way on Nov. 5, both they and their vice presidential picks, Democrat Tim Walz and Republican J.D. Vance, have spent a lot of time stumping in the state.

We’re glad for the attention, which gives voters more chances to meet the candidates and hear what they have to say, more chances to judge their character and weigh the ways the candidates’ plans might affect Americans’ lives.

We dislike the ways Americans have self-segregated into red and blue areas and red and blue states, which disincentivizes candidates from spending too much time in the states they’re sure they’ll win or are sure they’ll lose. So-called “flyover states” hardly ever see the candidates.

But we’re grateful for Michigan’s swing-state status and the attention the candidates have paid us.

Voters need every opportunity to learn about the people who want to govern them, and the many speeches given here have provided voters ample chances.

— The Alpena News