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![](images/Layla%20Elabed%20892-022824_small.jpg) |
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Activist
Layla
Elabed
speaks
during
an
uncommitted
vote
election
night
gathering
as
Democrats
and
Republicans
hold
their
Michigan
presidential
primary
election,
in
Dearborn,
Michigan,
U.S.
February
27,
2024.
REUTERS/Rebecca
Cook |
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Michigan's
strong
'uncommitted'
vote
shows
Israel
impact
on Biden
support
By
Nandita
Bose,
and
Trevor
Hunnicutt
reuters.com
DEARBORN,
Michigan/WASHINGTON,
Feb 28
(Reuters)
- Joe
Biden's
campaign
and top
Democratic
officials
vowed to
double
down on
efforts
to win
over
voters
as the
U.S.
president
aims to
solve
conflicts
in the
Middle
East,
after
Michigan
registered
a
stronger-than-anticipated
protest
vote
over his
support
of
Israel.
About
13.5% of
Michigan
Democrats
cast a
ballot
for
"uncommitted"
in the
primary,
following
a
weeks-long
push by
activists,
an
Edison
Research
tally
showed
at
midnight,
EST.
With
about
half of
all
votes
counted,
the
uncommitted
vote was
already
over
61,000
votes,
suggesting
the
final
total
will be
many
times
expectations.
Turnout
for the
Democratic
primary
was also
high, at
some one
million
voters
overall;
about
81% of
those
votes
backed
Biden.
Biden's
campaign
will
continue
to "make
our case
in the
state -
to both
uncommitted
voters
and the
entire
Michigan
constituency,"
a senior
campaign
official
said as
the
results
were
tallied.
"The
President
will
continue
to work
for
peace in
the
Middle
East."
Biden's
staunch
support
for
Israel's
during
its
five-month
war with
Hamas
that has
decimated
Gaza has
sparked
outrage
and a
well-organized
backlash
among
progressive
Democrats
and Arab
Americans,
with
Michigan
as their
epicenter.
They
asked
Biden to
push for
a
permanent
ceasefire
in Gaza,
and for
sympathetic
Democrats
to vote
"uncommitted"
in the
primary
to
signal
Biden
could
lose
their
support
in the
November
general
election.
About
20,000
uncommitted
votes
were
cast in
Michigan's
2012
Democratic
primary,
the last
time a
Democratic
president
was up
for
reelection
in
Michigan.
Biden
won
Michigan
by a
less
than 3%
margin
in 2020,
and some
polls
show
likely
Republican
candidate
Donald
Trump
ahead in
a
head-to-head
match-up
this
time.
'NOT
AFRAID
OF
VOTERS'
Hamas
fighters
killed
1,200
people
and
captured
253
hostages
on Oct.
7,
according
to
Israeli
tallies,
triggering
Israel's
ground
assault
on Gaza.
Health
authorities
in the
enclave
say
nearly
30,000
people
have
been
confirmed
killed.
Michigan
Democratic
officials
vowed to
do more
to win
over
voters.
"Tomorrow
is the
first
day of
this
general
election,”
Michigan
Lieutenant
Governor
Garlin
Gilchrist
II told
volunteers
working
on
behalf
of Biden
as
results
rolled
in on
Tuesday
night.
“We are
not
afraid
of
people
participating
in
democracy.
We are
not
afraid
of
voters.
We are
not
afraid
of
people
who are
ready to
speak
out in
good
faith in
good
conscience
because
they
have
good
intentions,"
he said.
Biden
Michigan
campaign
manager
Mike
Frosolone
told
party
organizers
their
efforts
would
pivot to
the
general-election
effort
in the
state,
with
door-knocking,
phone-banking
and the
opening
of
several
offices
statewide.
"We know
when
voters
see
President
Biden
and
Donald
Trump's
record
side by
side,
they're
going to
choose
President
Biden,"
he said.
He said
Biden
would
lay out
this
case in
his
State of
the
Union
address
on March
7.
Biden,
81,
faces
low
general
approval
ratings
and
concern
about
his age,
as does
former
President
Trump,
77.
Trump
was
formally
ordered
to pay
about
$450
million
for
fraudulently
manipulating
his net
worth by
a New
York
judge
this
month
and
faces
four
unrelated
criminal
prosecutions,
in which
he has
pleaded
not
guilty.
Some 35%
of
Republicans
backed
former
South
Carolina
governor
Nikki
Haley in
the
Michigan
primary,
a
potential
sign of
weakness
for
Trump as
well;
some of
her
voters
have
said
they
won't
back
Trump in
a
general
election.
Any
permanent
solution
to the
Israel-Gaza
conflict
remains
long
off, and
the
death
toll
continues
to
climb,
with an
estimated
one-quarter
of the
population
close to
famine.
If Trump
is
reelected
he is
expected
to be a
strong
supporter
of
Israel
and its
right-wing
leader
Benjamin
Netanyahu.
A
Reuters/IPSOS
poll
published
Tuesday
found
"extremism"
is the
top
worry
for
American
voters
going
into the
2024
election,
besting
the
economy
or
immigration,
and that
most
judge
Biden
better
equipped
to deal
with the
issue.
In a
statement
Tuesday
evening
about
the
results,
Biden
contrasted
himself
to Trump
on
issues
like
abortion,
healthcare
and the
economy
but did
not
mention
of Gaza
or the
war in
the
Middle
East.
"Our
delegation
plans to
hold the
Democratic
nominee
accountable
to our
community’s
anti-war
agenda
at the
Democratic
National
Convention
in
Chicago,"
said
Listen
to
Michigan,
one of
the
groups
behind
the
uncommitted
campaign.
"See you
there."
Reporting
by
Nandita
Bose in
Dearborn
and
Trevor
Hunnicutt
and
Kanishka
Singh in
Washington;
Writing
by
Heather
Timmons;
Editing
by
Lincoln
Feast.
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