In the Michigan city known as the capital of Arab America, US President Joe Biden came second in the Democratic primaries, in a vote hailed as “revolutionary”.
Most Democratic voters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn chose “uncommitted” over the outgoing president, part of an organized effort to denounce his “unwavering” support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
And it wasn’t just Dearborn. Initial results, released Wednesday morning, reveal that more than 101,000 people across the state joined the protest campaign at the polls.
Advocates said the numbers were a huge rebuke to Washington’s support for Israel, not to mention a wake-up call for Democrats ahead of November’s general election.
“It’s huge,” Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf said of the “unconfirmed” count.
But Arraf, who is based in the Detroit area, said Tuesday’s 101,000 votes did not fully convey the growing frustration with Biden’s policies.
She pointed out that some voters chose to vote for other candidates as well to express their dissatisfaction with the outgoing president. Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, who challenged Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, have already called for a ceasefire.
Phillips won 20,000 votes while Williamson, who withdrew from the race before Tuesday’s vote, received more than 22,000. The day after the state primary, Williamson announced she would relaunch her campaign .
Arraf added that many people chose not to participate in the process. She explained that the “no-strings-attached” campaign was operating with limited resources and began just weeks before the election.
“Tuesday’s distrust of Biden, anger at Biden, and people’s willingness to use their votes to express extreme discontent should be of great concern to Biden’s team and all Democrats,” she said. told Tel Aviv Tribune.
One of the groups behind the “no-strings-attached” voting effort, the Listen to Michigan campaign, celebrated the results in a social media post.
“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and far exceeded our expectations,” he said. wrote.
The group has vowed to keep up the pressure at least until the Democratic National Convention in August, when the party will formally choose its nominee after each state’s primaries and caucuses. He has not, however, released an announcement on his stance on the general election — or whether he would then encourage voters to boycott Biden.
“Historic” vote
The adage that “every vote counts” rings especially true in Michigan.
Indeed, in the November general election, presidential candidates compete in individual state-level contests for Electoral College votes. These Electoral College votes then decide who wins the White House.
In recent general elections, the winner has come down to a handful of key “swing states” that can tip the scales between Republicans and Democrats.
Michigan, home to more than 10 million people, is one such state. It is often won by small margins.
For example, in 2016, former President Donald Trump defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes. The state played a crucial role in putting Trump in the White House.
In 2020, Biden beat Trump by about 150,000 votes in Michigan, roughly the number of voters who did not support Biden in that primary election. Recent polls have shown an even closer general election race in the likely event of a rematch between Biden and Trump.
The electoral calculus, according to Sally Howell, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, means the Biden campaign “needs to care about Michigan.”
Howell said the importance of Tuesday’s vote cannot be understated, with the state’s Arab American and Muslim voters showing their electoral influence despite making up a relatively small proportion of overall voters.
The Arab-American community makes up about 2 percent of Michigan’s electorate, she said. Together with the Muslim electorate, which overlaps with the Arab-American community, they make up about 3 percent.
“I think it’s historic,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune. “And for Arab American political participation, this is truly revolutionary.” I don’t think they’ve ever gotten the attention of a presidential campaign like they do now.”
‘Not finished yet’
In majority Arab-American and Muslim areas like Dearborn, the story is in the numbers.
For example, in Hamtramck, a Detroit-area city that is considered the only Muslim-majority city in the country, the “uncommitted” category received 61% of the vote, compared to Biden’s 32%.
But even in areas where there is no significant Arab and Muslim presence, the noncommittal campaign has proven successful, highlighting that the movement has expanded beyond individual communities.
For example, in Washtenaw County, west of Detroit — a liberal stronghold that is home to the University of Michigan’s main campus — 17 percent of Democrats voted uncommitted.
Overall, 13.3 percent of voters cast “no-strings-attached” ballots in Tuesday’s state primary and nearly all votes were counted, far surpassing Arab American and Muslim representation in the state .
Howell explained that these results offer a forecast for other state races, especially as Super Tuesday – the day with the largest number of state primaries – approaches next week.
“It’s not over yet,” Howell said. “There are other swing states with an Arab American community, a Muslim American community or an African American community in solidarity with the Palestinians or a young, educated population. »
“All of these groups will have been paying attention to what’s happening in Michigan.”
Advocates in neighboring Minnesota, which has a large Muslim and Somali population, have already stepped up efforts to urge residents to vote “no strings attached” in the state’s Super Tuesday primaries.
The Michigan campaign “just showed us that we CAN change Biden’s stock price with added pressure,” Asma Nizami, advocacy director of the Minnesota-based organization Reviving Sisterhood, wrote in a social media post .
Still, what happens next remains unclear, with some “uncommitted” voters saying a change in Biden’s policies could still win their vote.
Others, including those who rallied behind the Leave Biden campaign, said the administration cannot undo the damage already done.
Palestinian-American comedian and organizer Amer Zahr was among those calling for continued efforts to deny Biden a second term. He described Michigan’s vote as a “true rejection of Biden’s disastrous policy of pro-genocide in Gaza.”
“Now the work continues. We must continue to withhold our votes from Biden. For the martyrs of Gaza. For our dignity. Otherwise, we become Ted Cruz, and nothing matters,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune in a statement, referring to the Republican senator who supported Trump even after he insulted Cruz’s wife.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, speaking to CNN on Tuesday, said the Michigan results showed there needed to be “a dramatic change in policy and rhetoric from the president on this issue and a new strategy to rebuild a real partnership with progressives from several communities who are absolutely essential to winning the elections.
For his part, Biden did not mention the “uncommitted” movement or the Israel-Gaza war in a statement welcoming the more than 618,000 votes cast in his favor in Michigan.
Instead, he thanked the influential United Auto Workers union, which has called for a ceasefire while supporting Biden. He also pledged to boost the state’s auto industry, repair crumbling infrastructure and support working families.
“This fight for our freedom, for working families and for democracy will force us all to come together,” he said in a statement. “I know we will.”
Biden’s approach appears to align with an argument made by some Democratic-aligned commentators, who believe the war in Gaza will no longer be an issue in November. They argue that the American news cycle will then have evolved.
But Palestinian rights advocates said the Michigan vote should be a warning to Democrats not to assume voters have short memories. Human rights, they say, are a central issue for many and the scale of the war in Gaza has prompted warnings of “genocide”, including from United Nations experts.
“It’s energizing and an achievement of deeper consciousness within communities – Arab, Jewish, black, white, politically involved and apolitical,” Adham Kassem, an Arab-American activist, said of the vote.
“Voters are not stupid”
Supporters have argued that Biden’s unequivocal support for Israel, coupled with his questioning of the death toll in Gaza, has left a mark on many voters that won’t disappear soon.
Early in the conflict, Biden asked Congress to approve an additional $14 billion in aid to Israel, a request that lawmakers are still working to fulfill.
On Tuesday, as Michiganders cast “no-strings-attached” votes, Biden met with congressional leaders to advance the foreign aid bill that includes additional aid from Israel. The measure would also ban funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a humanitarian group.
His administration vetoed a ceasefire resolution at the U.N. Security Council for the third time last week.
That’s why the Biden administration’s recent softening of tone rang hollow for many, according to Arraf.
Biden and his officials recently called on Israel to minimize harm to civilians in Gaza and recognize Palestinians’ “unimaginable pain and loss” – but Arraf warns this could come across as “doublespeak” because the administration continues to support the war in Gaza.
“Voters are not stupid and therefore this kind of rhetoric is even more insulting,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Kassem added: “Each of these uncommitted votes is someone who took the time to vote against what we have all observed – a depraved indifference to life from an administration that hopes time will forgive. »
“That’s not the case, and these voters won’t forget.”