Critics of Biden's handling of Israel-Hamas war push for protest vote in Michigan primary
President Joe Biden’s most serious opponent in Michigan’s Democratic primary isn’t Rep.Dean Phillips, his nominal rival for the party nomination.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — President Joe Biden’s most serious opponent in Michigan’s Democratic primary isn’t Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, his nominal rival for the party nomination.
It’s “Uncommitted.”
Angered by Biden’s refusal to force an enduring cease-fire in Gaza, unhappy Democrats in Michigan are pushing others to cast protest votes in Tuesday’s primary by checking the “uncommitted” box rather than vote for the president from their own party.
Organizers don’t expect the gambit to deprive Biden of victory, but they’re hopeful the “uncommitted” vote will be sizable enough that he gets the message and uses his leverage to rein in the Israeli military. A strong “uncommitted” showing would be a blow to Biden, revealing how the war has strained a Democratic coalition he needs to keep intact, particularly in the key swing state of Michigan.
“You’re seeing just horrifying images and reports of civilians being murdered” in Gaza, Marshall Clabeaux, 30, said after a meeting of the Ingham County Democratic Party last week at a Mexican restaurant in Lansing. “I’m broken.”
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