About 100 people gathered at the University of Michigan on Tuesday to urge Democrats to reject President Biden in the state’s primary election. A political rally that illustrated both the passion and the limits of efforts to urge him to call on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
The rally, held by a group called “Listen to Michigan,” which urges voters to cast their vote for “Uncommitted” against Mr. Biden in next week’s primary, called on Democrats to reject the president in the primary.
Speakers in Ann Arbor and a crowd made up mostly of students showed energy and expressed anger over Mr. Biden’s stance on Israel, but when the event began there were so few participants that they could all stand in a circle and hold hands hold.
Former Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan, a progressive Democrat who attended the rally, said it would be Mr. Biden’s fault if his policies toward Israel and Gaza resulted in him losing the general election against former President Donald J. Trump, the likely Republican nominee, loses. Mr. Levin nodded to Michigan’s large population of Arab Americans, whose frustration with Mr. Biden as well as discontent among young voters and progressives have raised questions about the president’s standing in the state, a crucial presidential battleground.
“Don’t blame us,” said Mr. Levin, who, along with Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, has become one of the most prominent supporters of the Uncommitted movement. “He needs voices from Arab Americans, from people of color, from progressive Jews and from young people. He only won Michigan by 150,000 votes in 2020, so we have a moment politically to make our voices heard.”
Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan and sister of Ms. Tlaib, said the campaign’s goal is to attract “at least 20,000 votes” for Uncommitted.
“This is the number we will need to unleash our political power,” she said.
“We will make our voices heard at the ballot box,” said Abbas Alawieh, a former congressman and one of the group’s organizers. “Vote for Uncommitted, because a vote for Uncommitted is a vote for a ceasefire. A vote for Uncommitted is a vote against war.”
The Uncommitted push is supported by 39 elected state and local officials in Michigan, according to a tally by The Detroit News. Ms. Tlaib over the weekend became the first member of Michigan’s Democratic congressional delegation to distance herself from Mr. Biden and call for a non-binding vote.
The Biden campaign began sending surrogates to the state this week to urge primary voters to support the president. On the campaign’s first day of events on Monday, Mitch Landrieu, a former mayor of New Orleans and co-chair of the Biden campaign, said in Flint, Michigan, that he did not expect the conflict in Gaza to end “any time soon.”
“Michiganders need to be clear about the differences between Biden and Trump,” said Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party. “Our job will be to remind people that when it’s a choice between two people in November, they can only vote for Joe Biden.”
That could be a hard sell for activists and officials involved in the Uncommitted operation unless Mr. Biden brings about a significant change in American policy toward the Gaza war.
Rima Mohammad, an Ann Arbor school board member who spoke at the rally on Tuesday, said she could not imagine how Mr. Biden could expect people who are concerned about the death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza ” “feel horrified” to support him in the presidential election.
“President Biden has failed this community,” Ms. Mohammad said. “As violence continues in Gaza, people increasingly feel betrayed.”
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2024-02-21 02:04:21
www.nytimes.com
