Uncommitted in Michigan

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 29th of February, 2024. Thanks for listening to WORLD Radio. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. First up on The World and Everything in It: The White House has a Michigan problem.

On Tuesday, President Biden won the Democratic primary with over 80% of the vote, but a slice of the votes he didn’t get raises questions about whether Biden can win the state in November.

World’s Washington Bureau Intern Clara York has the story.

CLARA YORK: Rashida Tlaib is the only Palestinian American member of Congress, and on Tuesday she urged Michigan Democrats to do something unconventional.

TLAIB: I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted … this is the way we can use our democracy to say “ Listen. Listen to Michigan.’’

Just over 13 percent of Michiganders who voted on Tuesday followed Tlaib’s example. While President Biden won the primary with 8 out of 10 votes cast, more than 100,000 people checked the “Uncommitted” box on their ballot. That’s more than any previous challenge to an incumbent who isn’t facing a serious opponent for the nomination. When former President Barack Obama faced a similar protest vote in 2012’s Michigan primary, only 10 percent checked the uncommitted box on the ballot.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, Democrats have been divided over Biden’s continued military and moral support for Israel. Some Democrats like Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman stand with the President.

FETTERMAN: Nothing changes what I just said. That I’m always going to stand on the side of Israel. Always.

But self-titled progressive lawmakers like Tlaib oppose Biden’s support for Israel’s ground war in Gaza.

Their constituents, largely Arab-American communities and younger voters in New England and the Midwest, are also turning on the president. That includes Palestinian American Organizer, Adam Abusalah.

ABUSALAH: You know, when we look at it, we helped this guy get over the finish line. We supported him. We donated to him. We knocked on doors for him. And right now, as our family is being bombed, he can't even say that they deserve to live in peace and dignity…

Arab Americans claim Biden is complicit in a Genocide of Palestinians by supporting Israel.

And in recent weeks, a campaign called Abandon Biden, spread mostly through social media, has encouraged dissatisfied voters to send a protest message to Washington. Here’s campaign chair, Samraa Luqman addressing Biden at a news conference in Dearborn, Michigan on February 1st.

SAMRAA LUQMAN: We would ask that you return to the White House or to Israel, where you belong. And don't show your face in Michigan until a ceasefire is called, at minimum.

The day before Tuesday’s primary, President Biden told reporters in New York that a ceasefire deal could be settled by early next week…but leaders in Israel and Gaza have since said that’s not true.

Meanwhile, the “Abandon Biden” campaign garnered significant support with Arab communities in Michigan.

For example, in the heavily-Muslim community of East Dearborn, Biden won only 13% of the vote…while 84% went to the “uncommitted” option. Overall, 56% of Dearborn voters chose “uncommitted.”

Another region with a high concentration of uncommitted votes was Washtenaw county…home to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

WIELHOUWER: Not that students have massive voter turnout, but in an environment where there are more students ... that's a place where uncommitted is doing better.

Peter Wielhouwer is professor of Political Science at Western Michigan University. He says social media played a role in spreading pro-Palestinian messages among young people.

WIELHOUWER: I mean, even just talking to my students, I know a large chunk of them get their news through the social media platforms like TikTok or X or something like that….I mean, TikTok’s the new Walter Cronkite.

A Pew Research poll last year found that nearly a third of adults ages 18-29 say they regularly get news on TikTok…including from videos like this one posted by user Sofia from Texas on Tuesday.

SOFIA-TIKTOK: So, I went over to the Michigan Voter Information Center, and for them, they have an option to pick “uncommitted.” And this is a super, super important option that people should pick.

Wielhouwer says algorithms tend to feed people content they already agree with. And TikTok may not convert many voters to another party, but it can garner a lot of movement behind #AbandonBiden.

In a swing state like Michigan, that could be a problem for the President. While the state consistently leans Democrat, Republican Donald Trump flipped the state in 2016…going after blue collar workers in particular.

TRUMP: We are going to bring back the automobile industry to Michigan, bigger and better and stronger than ever before…

Wielhouwer says Trump didn’t mobilize a massive group of new voters. Instead, many democratic voters just didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton. That scared the party.

WIELHOUWER: As we look at 2024, if the Democrats can't mobilize an uninterested or alienated base, that's a problem for them. And that's the kind of thing that Donald Trump could leverage. The relative excitement of Republican voters versus the relative apathy of the Democratic voters.

Less than 750,000 Democrats voted on Tuesday, well below 2020’s record 2.3 million.

One of those voters was Detroit resident Hira Khan.

KHAN: People felt like there were not any candidates that really represented what we were asking for. And I think given the 'uncommitted' option on the ballot has really empowered people. It's really activated people. I think people are very motivated to come out and have an outlet to really raise their voice on this issue.

Voters like Khan aren’t likely to cast a ballot for Trump come November. But if similar movements build momentum in other swing states, Biden may be pressured to pull back from his long-standing support for Israel in order to shore up this part of his base.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Clara York.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misidentified the university where Peter Wielhouwer works.

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