This week, all the action in presidential primary politics is on the Democrats' side, as President Joe Biden calls in all the cavalry to stave off any potential embarrassment in Michigan, where an organized campaign is begging Democrats to vote against him in the primary.
Here’s the problem: this is a meaningless virtue signal. The campaign, which is spearheaded by a group called Listen to Michigan, takes issue with “Biden’s funding war and genocide in Gaza.” As such, the group wants Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s primary, as opposed to voting for any of the other gadfly presidential candidates.
But opposing Biden in a primary where he’s hardly contested is fundamentally unserious–because the stakes are so low. This is why I reached out to three dozen local supporters of this purported movement to ask if they planned to back a Green Party presidential candidate in November, or if they would oppose Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s campaign for Senate, because she harbors virtually the same positions as Biden on Israel. Either of these would have potentially earth-shattering consequences – do these organizers believe their issue is worth handing the White House to Donald Trump or the Senate to Mitch McConnell?
Predictably, they haven’t gotten that far. Two responses I received are telling. One, from Hamtramck’s mayor, Amer Ghalib, misspelled his congressman’s name as “Shri Thenadar” and seemed to allude to the anti-Semitic trope of Jewish money controlling our government. The Michigan Democrat lamented to me that “our government's decision is abducted by a power structure that represents the will of a minority group.”
The other, from Dearborn City Councilman Mustapha Hammoud, showed that Slotkin doesn’t seem to be taking her base that seriously – even as she faces a potentially stiff primary challenger from newfound-Michigander and actor Hill Harper. “I’m not aware of any outreach efforts or endorsement requests received from her campaign to organizations or elected officials I personally know,” Hammoud told me.
But will he oppose Slotkin in November for the same reasons he opposes Biden in February? “It’s not a community discussion at the moment,” he said, especially given her lack of outreach. This seems to suggest that the White House’s neverending pilgrimages to Michigan to meet with angry activists are potentially backfiring. Slotkin is giving them the silent treatment and is getting away with it, for now.
The group Ghalib and Hammoud back is supported by some Michiganders, like Rep. Rashida Tlaib, as well as failed politicians like former Ohio state senator Nina Turner. Both Tlaib and Turner have extensive track records of trafficking in anti-Semitism – and in Tlaib’s case, support for Palestinian terrorists – so they are an odd couple to be trotting out.
Interestingly, the donate link on Listen to Michigan’s website — which leads to a page for Arab Americans for Progress — lists only 16 supporters, out of a goal of only 25. On the other hand, statewide Democrats like Governor Gretchen Whitmer have backed Biden, even arguing that the “uncommitted” campaign could help Trump.
What impact will this primary push have in November? Next to none, according to some Michigan political observers. One Republican strategist in the state predicted that “until they stop singling out Biden and protest similar candidates down ballot, I guarantee these folks will end up falling in line.” Fortunately for Michigan Democrats, that seems to be working. Slotkin, along with both senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, just ignore requests for comment about the “uncommitted” push.
The disconnect between the potentially temporary opposition to Biden and simultaneous support for Democrats with indistinguishable policy positions is notable. "It’s telling that many of the outspoken Uncommitted/#ListenToMichigan voices do not take issue with other candidates who share the exact same views as Biden and some have even been involved in some of these efforts in the Middle East," a Michigan Republican notes. "Elissa Slotkin, for example, has been supportive of Israel and campaigned for multiple cycles on her CIA credentials... Her foreign policy views are the polar opposite of the foreign policy views of these protestors, yet, she has avoided their ire leading us to the logical conclusion that this is just a meaningless and unsubstantiated effort to undermine support for Israel."
While Joe Biden runs zero risk of losing renomination to Dean Phillips or even to Marianne Williamson, the fact that he’s bending his foreign policy to cower to a few loud activists in Michigan should tell voters all across America where his priorities really lie – regardless of how many vote uncommitted in Michigan, they have the president’s ear, to the demise of America's relationships with our allies across the world.