Our Revolution, the political organization that Sen. Bernie Sanders launched in 2016, is supporting the movement to vote Uncommitted in Michigan’s Democratic primary and is trying to push President Biden to change his approach to the Israel-Israeli war and Hamas to change.
On Wednesday, Our Revolution plans to send an email to 87,000 members in Michigan and about 225,000 supporters in other states, encouraging them to vote “Uncommitted” in the state’s Feb. 27 primary to “commit to Biden.” urging it to change its course on Gaza now.”
Former Rep. Andy Levin, a Democrat from Michigan and a signatory to the letter, said Mr. Biden was at risk of voters sitting out the November election in protest at U.S. policy toward the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He warned that Mr. Biden could lose the state in the general election to former President Donald J. Trump without any fundamental change in Israeli policy.
“I work with some people who feel like they will never vote for Joe Biden, but there are many, many, many who I think will vote for Joe Biden on November 5th if he changes course ” said Mr. Levin in an interview Tuesday evening. “This is the best way I can help Joe Biden.”
Our Revolution’s push to support Uncommitted includes phone banking, text banking and events on Michigan college campuses. The group’s efforts join those of a group of Arab American Democrats from Dearborn, Michigan, which has since garnered the support of a few dozen local elected officials.
Larry Cohen, the chairman of Our Revolution, said he hoped such a push could win the support of at least 10 percent of Michigan’s Democratic primary electorate, which he estimated would require about 20,000 votes, given the turnout Competition is expected to be low. There are no other major elections on the state’s Feb. 27 ballot.
Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a top Biden surrogate, urged the state’s voters to support the president in the primary; She warned that massive support against him in November could backfire.
“There’s a lot at stake in this upcoming election and I just want to encourage people not to lose sight of that either,” she told reporters on Thursday. “A possible second term for the former president would be very hard on all communities still affected by events abroad, and that should not be discounted from people’s calculations.”
Mr Biden’s campaign declined to comment.
Mr. Biden is unlikely to be challenged by fellow Democrats in the Michigan vote. Marianne Williamson paused her long-term campaign last week. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota failed to win more than a hint of support outside New Hampshire, where he was 40 points behind Mr. Biden, who was not on the ballot there.
The Biden administration has expressed concern about the decline in support from Michigan. Last week, a delegation of officials met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Dearborn, where a senior official acknowledged mistakes in the government’s response to the war in Gaza.
The last time there was a significant attempt to get Michigan Democrats to vote for Uncommitted was in 2008. After Michigan defied Democratic National Committee rules by moving its primary up the nomination calendar this year, Barack Obama’s campaign, which was not on the ballot, urged supporters to vote for Uncommitted as a proxy against Hillary Clinton agree. About 40 percent of Democratic primary voters this year chose “Uncommitted” against Mrs. Clinton and three other candidates.
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2024-02-14 10:04:00
www.nytimes.com
