United States | Commitment phobia

Does Joe Biden’s re-election campaign have a Gaza problem?

The Michigan result would make Donald Trump president if it’s repeated in November

Protesters hold placards urging voters to vote uncommitted instead of for Joe Biden in Michigan's Primary election.
Not falling in linePhotograph: Alamy
|DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

IT IS NEVER nice for a campaign when a steadfast constituency turns irate and threatens to withhold their votes; it is the stuff of nightmares when they happen to reside in a swing state that may decide the next presidential election. Incensed over the Israeli military campaign in Gaza—which is fast approaching 30,000 Palestinian deaths—Muslim-American and Arab-American voters staged a campaign to withhold their votes for President Joe Biden in Michigan’s Democratic primary. Rashida Tlaib, a prominent Palestinian-American congresswoman representing the heavily Muslim western suburbs of Detroit, encouraged her fellow Democrats to vote “uncommitted”, as did most prominent Muslim officials in the state. Over 100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted”, representing 13.3% of the total vote.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Commitment phobia ”

From the March 2nd 2024 edition

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