Rashida Tlaib, one of the Far Left members of the “Squad”, is calling on her constituents to vote against Biden in the primary. This is due to his Administration’s middle of the road approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Tlaib commands large numbers of supporters among the Arab and Muslim community in Dearborn Michigan. This boycott of the primaries could send a strong message to Biden, but she has not called for her supporters to sit out the general election entirely. Fox News quotes:
“It is important as you all know to not only march against the genocide, not only make sure that we’re calling our members of Congress and local electeds and passing city resolutions all throughout our country – it is also important to create a voting block, something that is a bullhorn to say enough is enough. We don’t want a country that supports wars, and bombs and destruction, we want to support life,” Tlaib said. “We want to stand up for every single life killed in Gaza.”
”I want you to think of all of the amazing young children and the people, again, lives were lost in Gaza. This is the way you can raise our voices. Don’t make us even more invisible. Right now, we feel completely neglected and just unseen by our government. If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted,” she said.
Protest votes in primary elections are mostly symbolic, as Biden is not being challenged by any popular candidates. Trump supports did a similar maneuver when they beat Haley in the Nevada primary, despite there being no delegates in play. Biden is now stuck with a serious case of coalition balancing, but Democrats are generally skilled in managing their various interest groups. USA Today reports:
Arab Americans have bristled at Biden’s unbridled support for Israel since the war began. From the moment that Hamas staged a surprise cross-border attack that killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 and touched off the latest conflict, Biden has overtly expressed solidarity with Israel and provided some of the weapons Israel has used in its offensive against Hamas.
Though he has described the Palestinian lives lost as a tragedy and last week condemned Israel’s response as “over the top,” he has further infuriated Arab Americans by resisting their demands that he call for an immediate cease-fire and by raising doubts about the Palestinian death toll.
Michigan did vote for Trump in 2016, but his support has been waning in the state since then. Trump’s feud with Netanyahu could actually be a bigger problem for Israel in the short term before a deal can be hammered. The Arab and Muslim vote could be a deciding factor for the 2024 Presidential election.
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