The president, Joe Biden, won the primary elections held this Tuesday in the state of Michigan, in which 117 delegates were at stake to secure the Democratic nomination for the White House, according to Noticias Telemundo projects.
Biden did not have a significant rival (the writer Marianne Williamson was on the ballot but withdrew her candidacy on February 7), and he will very possibly be the Democratic candidate, adding all or almost all the delegates at the end of the primaries, but in this election was met with a protest vote from Democratic voters (who used the "Not committed" option to not support Biden) much higher than expected and which could reinforce doubts about the strength of his campaign.
Biden has 78% of the votes with 11% of ballots counted;
16% of votes are "not committed", supporting the protest, according to Noticias Telemundo projects.
Arab and progressive voters organized this form of protest to show their rejection of Biden's management of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The relative success of his initiative raises the question of what may happen next Tuesday, 5th on Super Tuesday, when large states such as California and Texas, and other pendulum states such as North Carolina, vote in primaries.
US support for the Israeli offensive, which has left at least 30,000 dead (mostly Palestinian women and children), injured tens of thousands and displaced two million people in Gaza, has generated rejection among numerous groups and voters who were key to Biden's victory in the 2020 elections in Michigan against Republican Donald Trump.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party, represented by names such as the Palestinian-American representative Rashida Tlaib, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Beto O'Rourke or the former representative Andy Levin, has crystallized this rejection with a vote to punish Biden in these primaries. to launch your message.
Biden at the White House on February 23. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Two organizations, Our Revolution and Listen to Michigan, which bring together prominent politicians, activists and tens of thousands of people in the state, asked Democrats for an “uncommitted” vote, equivalent to a blank vote, in the primaries.
"We are very disappointed with the response that the Biden Administration has given to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and we are trying to send a message to Michigan that it needs to improve its position on this issue," explained Paco Fabián, deputy director of Our Revolution. to the Efe news agency.
It is no coincidence that this initiative began in Michigan: some 300,000 people of Arab and Muslim origin live there.
[Biden is hopeful for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas next week]
Fabián acknowledged to EFE that it was this solid Arab and Muslim community, partly affiliated with Our Revolution, that asked to join the blank vote campaign started by Listen to Michigan, a movement started by Layla Elabed, Tlaib's sister.
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 funding the war and genocide in the Gaza Strip,” his website says.
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 aspired to the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, and wanted to move the 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 in Gaza are demotivating voters ahead of the November presidential elections, which could lead to a victory for former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate.
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 the USA Today newspaper that “the Biden campaign desperately needs to wake up.”
10% of votes as goal
The goal of the movement in favor of blank voting was to reach 10% of the total ballots cast in the Michigan primaries.
The last time Michigan experienced a similar effort to vote blank was in 2008, when only Hillary Clinton's name appeared on the ballot and not that of her rival, then-young Senator Barack Obama, who would later become the Democratic nominee. and president.
At that time, some groups carried out campaigns
to encourage the “uncommitted” vote in those elections
;
40% of voters finally opted for that option to show their support for Obama.