March 5, 2024 (EIRNS)—In response to the Minnesota Democratic primary results yesterday, in which 19% of Democratic voters chose “uncommitted,” Biden felt compelled to issue a campaign statement attempting to assure voters that he is committed to bringing peace to the Mideast, perceiving that anger over his support for Israel explains the vote. His campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt wrote, the New York Times reported, “The President believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans. He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end.”
The Times warns that the uncommitted vote exposes a weakness in Biden’s reelection campaign. Many of those who supported him in 2020 now say that his policies haven’t helped them. Voters in Minnesota who are upset about Gaza add that Biden has done nothing on jobs, gas prices and the border. Analysts also point out that if the “uncommitted” vote is moving beyond Muslim or Arab Americans into progressive and student layers, that is a problem, as Biden is counting on votes from both those sectors.
Reflecting panic, after Michigan’s Feb. 27 primary in which “uncommitted” won 13.3%, Way to Win, a group of wealthy progressives, sent a memo to its members “to not try to argue ourselves out of the fact that Michigan is a major warning signal that something needs to change.” Way to Win’s cofounders wrote that “the energy behind `uncommitted’ is not something that should be ignored, taken lightly or dismissed as isolated to Michigan. Michigan 2024 is not an anomaly, just as Michigan 2016 was not”—when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by only 11,000 votes, NBC News reported.
