By Julio César Rivas - EFE
Arab and progressive voters have planned, during the Democratic primary to be held this Tuesday in Michigan, a protest against the Joe Biden Government's support for the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip and a prelude to the pain that they may inflict in the elections. November presidential elections.
US support for the Israeli offensive, which has left at least 30,000 dead (mostly women and children), injured tens of thousands and displaced two million people in the Gaza Strip, has generated rejection among numerous groups. and voters who were key to Biden's victory in the 2020 elections in Michigan.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party, represented by names such as the Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Beto O'Rourke or the former representative Andy Levin, has crystallized this rejection by requesting a vote of punishment for Biden in the Michigan primary taking place this Tuesday.
The president, Joe Biden, in the East Room of the White House on February 23, 2024.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
A grassroots movement
Two organizations, Our Revolution and Listen to Michigan, which bring together prominent politicians, activists and tens of thousands of people in the state, have requested that Democrats cast an “uncommitted” vote this Tuesday, equivalent to a blank vote, in the primaries.
“We are very disappointed with the response that President Biden's Administration
has given to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and we are trying to send a message in Michigan that it needs to improve its position on this issue,” Paco Fabián, deputy director of Our Revolution.
It is no coincidence that the movement to punish Biden for his position in the war in the Gaza Strip began in Michigan: some 300,000 people of Arab and Muslim origin live in the state, one of the largest in the country.
[Biden is hopeful for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas next week]
Fabián acknowledged to EFE that it has been this solid Arab and Muslim community, partly affiliated with Our Revolution, that has asked to join the blank vote campaign initiated by Listen to Michigan, a movement initiated by Layla Elabed, sister of the congresswoman Tlaib.
With a budget of $250,000, Listen to Michigan's message is clear and direct:
“Tell Biden not to count on me for genocide.”
“We are checking the 'not committed' box because we fundamentally reject Biden financing the war and genocide in the Gaza Strip,” the movement insisted on its website.
The Democratic Left
However, it is Our Revolution that possesses the power to mobilize voters.
This organization was founded in 2016 by Senator Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, and who tried to move the Democratic Party to the left on issues such as migration, wages, the environment or health coverage.
The organization is present throughout the country and, in Michigan specifically, it has 87,000 members and about 225,000 followers.
In recent days, everyone has received a letter from Our Revolution requesting blank votes to express their disappointment with Biden.
Our Revolution believes that Biden's policies towards Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip are demotivating voters ahead of the November presidential elections, which could cause Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate, to win the elections.
According to the latest poll published by Emerson College, Biden would lose in Michigan with 44% of the vote to Trump's 46%.
Taking these numbers into account, the director of Our Revolution, Joseph Geevarghese, considered this Monday in an opinion article published in USA Today that “the Biden campaign desperately needs to wake up.”
10% of the votes
The goal of the movement in favor of blank voting is to reach 10% of the total ballots cast in the Michigan Democratic primaries.
The last time Michigan experienced a similar effort by voters to vote blank was in 2008, when only Hillary Clinton's name appeared on the ballots and not that of her rival, then-young Senator Barack Obama, who later resigned. would become the Democratic candidate and president.
At the time, some groups ran campaigns
to encourage “uncommitted” voting in those elections
, and voters ultimately opted for that option by 40%, thus demonstrating strong support for Obama.