In the Michigan city known as the capital of Arab America, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, came second in the Democratic primaries, in a vote described as “groundbreaking.”
Most Democratic voters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn chose “uncommitted” over the incumbent president, part of an organized effort to denounce his “unwavering” support for Israel's war in Gaza.
And it wasn't just Dearborn. Initial results, released early Wednesday, reveal that more than 101,000 people across the state joined the protest campaign at the polls.
Advocates said the numbers serve as a huge rebuke to Washington's support for Israel, not to mention a warning sign for Democrats heading into November's general election.
“It's huge,” Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf said of the “uncommitted” count.
But Arraf, who lives in the Detroit area, said Tuesday's 101,000 votes don't fully convey growing frustration with Biden's policies.
He noted that some voters chose to cast their votes for other candidates as well to show their displeasure with the incumbent president. Both Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, who challenged Biden for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, have previously called for a ceasefire.
Phillips received 20,000 votes, while Williamson, who dropped out of the race before Tuesday's vote, received more than 22,000. After the state primary, Williamson announced that he would relaunch his campaign.
Arraf added that many people chose not to participate in the process entirely. He explained that the “unengaged” campaign was operating with limited resources and began just weeks before the election.
“Tuesday's display of distrust in Biden, anger at Biden and people's willingness to use their vote to express that extreme discontent should have the Biden team and all Democrats very, very concerned,” he told Al Jazeera.
One of the groups behind the “uncommitted” voting effort, the Listen to Michigan campaign, celebrated the results in a social media post.
“Our movement was victorious tonight and far exceeded our expectations,” he said. wrote.
The group vowed to continue the pressure at least until the Democratic National Convention in August, when the party will officially choose its candidate after individual state primaries and caucuses. However, he has not released any announcements about his stance on the general election and whether he will encourage voters to boycott Biden then.
'Historic' vote
The saying “every vote counts” rings especially true in Michigan.
That's because in the November general election, presidential candidates compete in individual state races for Electoral College votes. Those Electoral College votes decide who wins the White House.
In the last general election, the winner has been narrowed down to just a handful of key “swing states,” which can swing either Republican or Democratic.
Michigan, home to more than 10 million people, is one of those states. You often win by small margins.
For example, in 2016, former President Donald Trump defeated his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes. The state was crucial to putting Trump in the White House.
In 2020, Biden beat Trump by about 150,000 votes in Michigan, roughly equal to the number of voters who did not support Biden in this primary election. Recent polls have shown an even tighter general election race in the likely event of a rematch between Biden and Trump.
Electoral math, according to Sally Howell, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, means the Biden campaign “has to worry about Michigan.”
Howell said the importance of Tuesday's vote cannot be understated, as the state's Arab American and Muslim voters show their electoral clout despite representing a relatively small proportion of total voters.
The Arab American community represents about 2 percent of the electorate in Michigan, he explained. Together with the Muslim electorate, which overlaps with the Arab American community, they make up about 3 percent.
“I think it's historic,” he told Al Jazeera. “And for Arab-American political participation, it's really groundbreaking. “I don't think they've ever gotten the attention of a presidential campaign like they have now.”
'It is not over yet'
In Arab-American and Muslim-dominated areas like Dearborn, the story is in the numbers.
For example, in Hamtramck, a Detroit-area city believed to be the only Muslim-majority city in the country, the “uncommitted” voting category received 61 percent of the vote, compared to 32 percent for Biden.
But even in areas without a significant Arab and Muslim presence, the uncompromising campaign was largely successful, underscoring that the movement has spread beyond individual communities.
For example, in Washtenaw County, west of Detroit (a liberal stronghold that is home to the main campus of the University of Michigan), 17 percent of Democrats voted uncommitted.
Overall, 13.3 percent of voters cast “uncommitted” ballots in Tuesday's state primary with nearly all votes counted, far outpacing Arab-American and Muslim representation in the state.
Howell explained that those results offer a forecast for other state races, particularly as Super Tuesday, the day with the most state primary contests, approaches next week.
“It's not over yet either,” Howell said. “There are other swing states with an Arab American community, a Muslim American community, or an African American community that stands in solidarity with the Palestinians, or a young, educated population.”
“All of these groups will have been paying attention to what's happening in Michigan.”
Advocates in nearby Minnesota, which has a large Muslim and Somali American population, have already stepped up efforts to urge residents to vote “uncommitted” in the state's Super Tuesday primary.
The Michigan campaign “just showed us that we CAN alter the course of Biden's actions with additional pressure,” wrote Asma Nizami, advocacy director for the Minnesota-based organization Reviving Sisterhood, in a social media post.
Still, what happens next remains unclear, as some “unengaged” voters say a political turn by Biden could still win their vote.
Others, including those who supported the Leave Biden campaign, have said the administration cannot undo the damage already done.
Palestinian-American comedian and organizer Amer Zahr was among those calling for continued efforts to deny Biden a second term. He described the Michigan vote as a “true rejection of Biden's disastrous policies supporting genocide in Gaza.”
“Now the work continues. We must stay the course of denying Biden our votes. For the martyrs of Gaza. For our dignity. Otherwise, we become Ted Cruz and nothing matters,” he told Al Jazeera in a statement, referring to the Republican senator who endorsed Trump even after he insulted Cruz's wife.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, speaking to CNN on Tuesday, said the Michigan results showed there needs to be a “dramatic shift in policy and rhetoric by the president on this issue and a new strategy to rebuild a real partnership with progressives in multiple communities who are absolutely key to winning elections.”
For his part, Biden did not mention the “uncommitted” movement or the war between Israel and Gaza in a statement praising the more than 618,000 votes cast for him in Michigan.
Instead, he thanked the influential United Auto Workers union, which called for a ceasefire while still supporting Biden. He also promised to boost the state's auto industry, repair crumbling infrastructure and support working families.
“This fight for our freedom, for working families, and for democracy will require all of us to come together,” he said in a statement. “I know we will.”
Biden's approach appears to align with an argument by some Democratic-aligned commentators who believe the war in Gaza will not be an issue in November. They maintain that the US news cycle will have moved on by then.
But Palestinian rights advocates said the Michigan vote should be a warning to Democrats not to assume voters have short memories. Human rights, they argued, are a central issue for many and the scale of the Gaza war has prompted warnings of “genocide,” including from United Nations experts.
“It's exhilarating and a success story of deeper consciousness in all communities: Arab, Jewish, black, white, politically engaged and apolitical,” Adham Kassem, an Arab-American activist, said of the vote.
“Voters are not stupid”
Advocates argued that Biden's unequivocal support for Israel, along with his questioning of the death toll in Gaza, has left a mark on many voters that will not disappear anytime soon.
Early in the conflict, Biden asked Congress to approve $14 billion in additional aid to Israel, a request that lawmakers are still working to fulfill.
On Tuesday, as people in Michigan voted “no compromise,” Biden met with congressional leaders to push the foreign aid bill that includes additional assistance to Israel. The measure would also ban funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), an aid group.
His administration vetoed a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council for the third time last week.
That's why the Biden administration's recent softening of tone has seemed hollow to many, according to Arraf.
Biden and his officials have recently called on Israel to minimize civilian harm in Gaza and acknowledge the “unimaginable pain and loss” of the Palestinians, but Arraf warns that this could come across as “double speak” because the administration continues to back the Gaza war. Loop.
“Voters are not stupid and therefore this type of rhetoric is even more insulting,” he told Al Jazeera.
Kassem added: “Each of these uncommitted votes is that of someone who took time off to vote against what we have all seen: a depraved indifference to life by an administration that hopes time will forgive.” .
“It's not like that, and these voters won't forget it.”
