As of: February 28, 2024, 11:39 a.m
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The Middle East conflict is testing the unity of the Democrats.
In the primary elections in Michigan, US President Biden fought with protests.
Lansing – President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary in Michigan on Tuesday.
But he faced some voters who chose the "uncommitted" option in protest at his handling of Israel's military activities in Gaza - a possible sign of Biden's vulnerability among grassroots Democrats.
Many voters don't want to commit to the primary election in Michigan
The Democratic leadership in this state expected tens of thousands of “uncommitted” votes.
Meanwhile, Biden's advisers sought to allay the concerns of those who wanted to warn the president that he could lose the crucial state in November if he does not change course and push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
After about 18 percent of the ballots were counted, there were about 25,000 “uncommitted” votes.
Among the Republicans, former President Donald Trump continued his winning streak in the primaries.
But South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appeared poised to capture a significant share of the vote - an indicator of Trump's own potential vulnerability in the November general election.
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Protest against Biden's position in the Middle East conflict
In the weeks leading up to the Democratic primary, Arab-American and liberal activists launched a concerted effort to pressure Democrats to vote "uncommitted" as a protest against Biden's handling of the Israel-Gaza war;
particularly against his decision not to call for a ceasefire.
The group Listen to Michigan declared victory shortly after the polls closed, noting that it had surpassed its stated goal of 10,000 uncommitted votes.
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“Our movement triumphed tonight, far exceeding our expectations,” Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan and sister of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said in a statement Tuesday.
“Tens of thousands of Democrats in Michigan, many of whom voted for Biden in 2020, did not commit to his reelection because of the war in Gaza.”
She added: “We don’t want a Trump presidency, but Biden has put [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu above American democracy.
We cannot afford to foot the bill for the disregard for Palestinian lives when it comes due in November.”
Trump and Biden are neck and neck in Michigan
But Biden campaign officials said the group's goal of 10,000 votes was artificially low because in each of the last three Democratic primaries in Michigan, 20,000 people cast their votes as "uncommitted" without being asked to do so.
The president's allies also cited statements by some of those supporting the campaign that they plan to vote for him in November despite their anger over Biden's policies.
US President Joe Biden.
© Pool/ABACA/Imago
Michigan is a crucial swing state and Biden's path to the presidency would be much more difficult, if not impossible, if he loses it in November.
Trump won Michigan in 2016 by nearly 11,000 votes.
In 2020, Biden won the state by about 154,000 votes.
In a February Fox News poll, 47 percent of registered voters in Michigan said they would support Trump in a Trump-Biden matchup, while 45 percent would prefer Biden.
Biden stands firmly on Israel's side in the war
Even before Tuesday, leading Democrats had begun to worry about the president's path to victory in Michigan, which has the largest Arab-American and Muslim populations in the country.
The reason for this is deep anger over his unwavering support of the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which, according to the Ministry of Health, has killed almost 30,000 Palestinians.
Israel launched its military campaign after Hamas militants murdered 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and took about 250 others hostage.
Israel's tactics in Gaza - including the siege of the enclave that has cut off access to most food, water, electricity and essentials such as medicine - have been widely condemned.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at risk of hunger and disease.
Biden continues to support Israel's argument that it has the right to defend itself by destroying Hamas and its deep roots in Gaza.
Still, the president has expressed increasing public unease about the Israeli attacks, saying they are "excessive" and that "many innocent people are in trouble and dying."
But such words are viewed by many Arab-American activists as woefully inadequate.
Ivan Diaz, center, is assisted by a poll worker at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School in Grand Rapids as he casts his vote during Tuesday's Michigan primary election.
© Matt McClain/The Washington Post
Broad support for “uncommitted” votes
“Listen to Michigan” received a number of high-profile endorsements in the final days before the primary, extending beyond the Arab American community and including some prominent Democratic Party liberals.
Former Michigan lawmaker Andy Levin threw his support behind the push to vote “uncommitted.”
He said he hopes this shows Biden that he needs to change course to win the state in November.
Our Revolution, a successor to the organizing efforts behind Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) presidential bid, is also committed to this.
Other notable Democratic lawmakers, including former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and former Sen. Nina Turner of Ohio, have also supported the movement.
The “uncommitted” option
In addition to the option to cast a direct vote for a candidate, American ballot papers also have the option to vote “uncommitted”.
“Uncommitted” means not deciding on one of the candidates.
The vote is then only counted for the party for which it was cast.
If there are enough “uncommitted” votes, this can send representatives to the nomination party conventions who do not belong to a specific candidate.
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Biden said this week that he hopes Israel and Hamas can agree by Monday on a long-awaited deal that would halt fighting in the Gaza Strip for several weeks while also providing for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel .
But activists and Arab and Muslim American voters have said Biden must at least demand a permanent ceasefire before considering whether to vote for him in November.
US President Biden is having a difficult time in Michigan
Two political protest movements have formed in Michigan in recent weeks to protest against Biden's handling of the Gaza war.
“Listen to Michigan” focuses on “uncommitted” voters in the primary.
Elabed, the group's campaign manager, said the goal is to pressure Biden to change his policies and that she would be willing to support him in November if he drastically changes course.
A second movement called "Abandon Biden" is pushing to deny the president a second term outright because he supports Israel's attack on Gaza and lacks compassion for the suffering of Palestinians, according to the movement's supporters.
That group also supported the “uncommitted” campaign, but its members do not plan to vote for Biden in the fall.
Biden campaign officials said the number of "uncommitted" votes in Michigan will not change their strategy for the 2024 US election in November.
The president has sent senior aides in recent weeks to meet and hold hearings with members of the Arab American and Muslim communities, and campaign officials said those meetings would continue over the next few months.
But organizers hope their appearance in Michigan will boost similar movements that have emerged in other Democratic primary states.
The Republican Party argues, Trump celebrates
Trump did not travel to Michigan for the primaries on Tuesday.
He held a rally there earlier this month.
Trump traveled to the state last fall amid a United Auto Workers strike to argue that he represents workers' interests far more than Biden.
(Biden had joined a picket line in support of the strike and the UAW supported him in January, although it is not clear whether rank-and-file members will support the president).
A campaign official said Trump plans to appear on local radio stations and at his victory party Tuesday night.
He also held a virtual rally on Monday, the official said.
The Michigan Republican Party has been in turmoil in recent months.
Tuesday's primary was relatively straightforward for Democrats, but the Michigan GOP's role in selecting its delegates to the Republican National Convention is complicated.
A total of 16 delegates will be awarded on the Republican side in the primary, with the remaining 39 delegates being allocated at a state GOP caucus on Saturday.
However, due to an internal party dispute, there will be two separate Republican conventions and it is not clear which slate will be recognized at the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee.
To the authors
Yasmeen Abutaleb
is a White House reporter at The Washington Post.
She joined The Post in 2019 as a national health policy reporter.
Yasmeen Abutaleb is co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration Response to the Pandemic that Changed History.
Marianne LeVine
is a national political reporter for The Washington Post.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on February 28, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.