In Michigan, a race for U.S. Senate is not only testing the growing appeal of left-wing populism. It could also be a turning point in a long-running debate among Democratic voters about the importance of electability. Michael Kruse, who writes about politics for The New York Times, traveled to Michigan with the producers Asthaa Chaturvedi and Anna Foley of “The Daily” to speak to voters and campaign volunteers. Guest: Michael Kruse (https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-kruse) , a politics reporter for The New York Times. Background reading:  • Michigan’s tense Democratic Senate race poses a big test for a divided party (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/us/michigan-senate-primary-democrats-el-sayed-stevens.html) . • Can a progressive win in a purple state? (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/us/politics/el-sayed-michigan-senate.html) Abdul El-Sayed wants to find out. Photo: Nic Antaya for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.