United Mates: Voters in Melbourne, Florida rate Donald Trump, Kamala Harris before US election

Voters in Australia’s twin city of Melbourne in Florida have not held back in their scathing assessments of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Watch the next video in our United Mates series.

It is less than 100 days until Americans vote in one of the most consequential elections in their history.

And it has already been a campaign like no other. Donald Trump staged a shocking political comeback, was charged and convicted of crimes, and survived an assassin’s bullet. Joe Biden melted down in a debate and had to drop out of the race amid a fierce internal rebellion. Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee almost overnight.

Last week, we asked ordinary voters in Brisbane what they make of this. This week, we speak to those living in Melbourne, and over the next month will chat to people in Hobart, Perth, Adelaide and Sidney.

All of our state capitals have twins somewhere in the US, albeit with an unfortunate typo for Sydney.

They represent a remarkable cross-section of the country: tiny towns and big cities, urban neighbourhoods and regional areas, Democratic strongholds and Republican powerbases, as well as some of the key battlegrounds that will decide this year’s election.

Welcome to United Mates.

MELBOURNE TWIN CITY

As Florida goes, so goes the presidency.

For 20 years and six elections, this was a reliable rule of American politics, with the Sunshine State serving as the nation’s biggest battleground as it helped elect Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

But only the most optimistic Democrats believe Florida will do the same for Kamala Harris. This is Trump’s turf now – politically, because he won it when he lost to Joe Biden in 2020, and literally, because the former president calls his Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago home.

Speaking to voters a couple of hours up the coast in Melbourne, you can understand why.

The entry to Melbourne, Florida in the United States. Picture: Saul Martinez

This city of about 85,000 people is nothing like its twin in Victoria, the state John Howard famously dubbed “the Massachusetts of Australia” for its progressive leanings.

These Melburnians are older, less diverse and more conservative. And they want Trump back in the White House – even if he is a “loudmouth a***hole”.

“He really kind of is, but what’s critical for us is his policies,” says retiree Loring Crepeau.

“All his policies while he was in worked for me and worked for America … security, domestic energy, all the economic policies, inflation was down, the border was secure, we were energy independent at the time and we were approaching energy dominance.”

Loring and Laurie Crepeau want Trump back in the White House. Picture: Saul Martinez

Mr Crepeau reels off this list as he and his wife Laurie tinker with their firearms at a busy shooting range that doubles as a restaurant they enjoy. A fortnight after the former president was shot, there is little indication the shocking event has altered America’s gun culture.

“Honestly, I’m afraid sometimes to use a weapon,” Laurie says, “but I know how to use it and I want to get better with it.”

Mr Trump’s pro-gun stance is important to them, but it is his economic record – before inflation soared under Mr Biden – that matters most to the self-described “ordinary, everyday people”.

It’s the same story for Valerie Carroll as she chats in Melbourne’s historic downtown area. (It was bestowed its name in 1888, inspired by the Australian city where its first postmaster Cornthwaite John Hector spent much of his life.)

Carroll, a mother of six with 25 grandchildren, says she just wants “a good, well-run country”.

“I don’t care about all the craziness that everybody talks about,” she says. “I want my country – that’s my safety, my money – run by somebody who’s an amazing businessman.”

Mike Alderton is not convinced with Trump’s election campaign. Picture: Saul Martinez

Down by the beach, construction worker Mike Alderton says he felt similarly during Trump’s first two presidential campaigns. This time around, however, he’s not convinced.

“I felt like it was something different … In the same sense, I voted for Obama,” he says.

“If you asked me to vote right now, I think I’d go to lunch.”

But it is not the historic slate of criminal charges against Mr Trump – including over his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat – that has soured Mr Alderton’s view of him. Instead, he has grown tired of the Republican’s reckless habit to “shoot from the hip” on important issues.

“I’ve had times I’ve made bad choices, I’ve had times I’ve made good choices. I think it shows me a flawed human but a human nonetheless,” Mr Alderton says of Mr Trump’s legal peril.

“I think Trump would be great running the business of our government, just not the face of it.”

Computer repair shop owner Ricardo Alvarez Jr is far less forgiving. He reckons Mr Trump is “the most despicable man on the planet” and that his re-election would be “the end of democracy as we know it”.

“I mean this guy’s Hitler, basically, all wrapped up in a pretty bow,” he declares.

The lifelong Florida resident laments how an influx of conservative voters from other states – spurred particularly by Covid lockdowns – has changed the fabric of his community.

“In Brevard County, you’re practically a criminal if you’re a Democrat,” Alvarez Jr. says of the area that covers Melbourne, where 57 per cent of voters backed Mr Trump four years ago.

“They’ve destroyed my state.”

Liam Collen says the cost of living is turning Democrats into Republicans. Picture: Saul Martinez

University student Liam Collen is no fan of Mr Trump, either, but he is more understanding of his appeal. Sipping coffee with his girlfriend at a cafe that would not be out of place in the original Melbourne, he suggests the cost of living is turning Democrats into Republicans.

“In terms of the economy here in Florida, it’s very, very strong towards the top, but the lowest population here doesn’t really feel like they have many options,” Mr Collen says.

“A lot of people see the promises of the conservatives, and they see that as some kind of change, and so they go in that direction rather than sticking with the status quo.”

Skateboard shop owner David Dunlap thinks voters are being conned by those promises. He says Mr Trump is a “billionaire that has billionaire interests as his main interest”.

Mr Dunlap, who also runs a halfway house for people struggling with addiction, reckons the two major parties “should just be abandoned completely”. He plans to vote for Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver, or even Vermin Supreme from the US Pirate Party.

David Dunlap won’t vote for either of the two main parties. Picture: Saul Martinez

For Mr Collen, while the Democrats are not “progressive enough for my tastes”, he still plans to vote for Ms Harris, although he would have preferred a competitive process to replace Mr Biden.

Other Melburnians are mostly unenthused about the Vice President, and say the prospect of electing a female leader for the first time in US history will have no bearing on their vote.

Mr Crepeau worked for the Department of Defence’s Equal Opportunity Management Institute, where he says the focus was on finding “the person for the job” – as he does when he votes.

“I’ve got no problem voting for a female, I’ve got no problem voting for a black, I’ve got no problem voting for a black female,” he says.

Tracey Dean supports Donald Trump. Picture: Saul Martinez

Back at the beach, Trump supporter Tracey Dean also has little regard for a potential president’s gender. Religious beliefs, however, are more important to her.

“And quite honestly, with the assassination attempt, I think God saved him for a reason,” she says.

“We need him back in there.”

Asked to consider that prospect at his computer repair shop, Democratic voter Mr Alvarez Jr. replies: “If Trump wins, Australia might be looking pretty good.”

Originally published as United Mates: Voters in Melbourne, Florida rate Donald Trump, Kamala Harris before US election