Washington: It was a moment of truth for Joe Biden.
More than three years after voters in Michigan helped propel him to the White House, many Democrats in the Midwest state turned against the president over his stance on the bloodshed in Gaza.
In a Democratic primary race to determine who should be their presidential candidate, tens of thousands of Michigan voters marked “uncommitted” on their ballot paper in a potent symbol of the seething anger they felt about the Israel-Hamas war.
A volunteer holds a sign outside a polling station at Oakman School in Dearborn, Michigan.Credit: Bloomberg
The protest vote was pushed by residents forming a sizeable part of the Democratic base, including Arab-Americans, young people, and black voters.
For months, they have raged against Israel’s scorched-earth campaign in Gaza and demanded a ceasefire, but in the absence of one, they formed a grassroots campaign – aptly titled “Listen to Michigan” – to send a message to the president.
The White House has now heard this message loud and clear.
Biden did not have a serious challenger in this race and was always expected to win the primary. But with almost 60 per cent of the vote counted by 11.30pm on Tuesday night (US time) more than 57,000 voters – or 13.5 per cent – had chosen the uncommitted option on their ballot paper.
Mona Marwari, of Dearborn, calls a voter for the Listen to Michigan uncommitted vote campaign in Detroit on Tuesday.Credit: AP
To put this in context, this represented far more than the 10,704 votes Trump needed to win Michigan from Hillary Clinton in 2016, and much more than the 10,000-vote threshold the activists had set themselves for the ballot.
Uncommitted Arab-Americans send strong message to Biden in Michigan
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28.02.2024
Washington: It was a moment of truth for Joe Biden.
More than three years after voters in Michigan helped propel him to the White House, many Democrats in the Midwest state turned against the president over his stance on the bloodshed in Gaza.
In a Democratic primary race to determine who should be their presidential candidate, tens of thousands of Michigan voters marked “uncommitted” on their ballot paper in a........
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