Biden and the Blank Space 

Progressive activists in Michigan are mounting a write-in campaign for ‘uncommitted.’

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President Joe Biden arrives to give remarks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 16, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In 10 days, President Joe Biden will face primary voters in Michigan and confront some familiar challenges: apathy among younger, nonwhite voters and outrage over Israel’s U.S.-backed war against Hamas, particularly in Michigan’s substantial Arab-American community.

But what he won’t have will be challengers. Gadfly Marianne Williamson has dropped her bid following a 2 percent showing in the South Carolina primary. Remarkably, the candidate who finished behind her, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who carded 2,240 votes out of more than 131,000 cast, is pressing on. Say what you will about a guy who keeps running after he loses to a write-in candidate and finishes third behind a faith healer, but you can’t accuse him of being a slave to public opinion.

Michigan might have been a good opportunity for Phillips, a young, energetic, self-funded congressman from a nearby state running against an unpopular, enfeebled incumbent. But Phillips, pro-Israel and proudly Jewish, seems a very unlikeley vessel for for the protest votes of the fellas in Dearborn chanting, “Intifada, intifada” at rallies. 

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  1. Brian The 2nd

    I sound like a broken record here, but the Vote uncommitted people are not necessarily Democrats, or The Democratic Party, Americans, or anyone other than pro Palestine activists. The Reuters article about this "movement" that seems like a source for this article ONLY quotes the younger sister of Rashida Tlaib who claims to speak for lots of folks who may not know she is speaking for them like the Mayor of Dearborn. The website listentomichigan.com colored in the Palestine (and Hamas colors) (note the lack of .org) is registered in Iceland. This is an international pro Palestine movement that knows they have no play with The republicans on this issue, but think they can try to bully the Democrats into concessions out of their traditionally anti war, never met a ceasefire they didn't like crowd. I live where I hear the Islamic call to prayer five times a day, my muslim neighbors are good, decent people, respectful, and frankly inspiring when it comes to the utter commitment to their religion that would put almost any "devout" christian to shame. They really do pray 5 times a day, and get dressed up for it on special days, sacrificed a lamb, actually fast during all of Ramadan, not merely a fish on Fridays during lent thing... I could say a number of positive things about my neighbors, but one thing that doesn't naturally come to mind when thinking about them? That they are Democrats. Honestly, I have no idea their political habits, and thankfully it has never come up when talking over the fence in the backyard in summer.
    There was a Palestine protest march through my town yesterday. I took a glance, 95% Muslims/Arabs, maybe some Bangladeshis, and the regular handful of white teenagers and the old professional protestor communist types and some black mask anarchists. They were chanting "end the colonization", "Colonizers get out!", by which they seemed to mean "Jews out of "Palestine"(?!), that would be the supposed colonizers, right?
    I wonder if I would have been susceptible to this narrative if I were 18 right now, or if I was a young hippyish liberal would have said to other 18 year olds "well, you know, Israel is the only liberal democracy in the whole region..."
    Anyway back to the Icelandic "Vote Uncommitted Movement", I also notice that the instructions are for how to register as a democrat to vote so you can vote uncommitted. This is not evidence of a widespread movement among registered democratic voters is all I am saying. This article and ones like it seem to be grasping at straws that point to Democrats disliking Biden as much as these conservative writers dislike Trump. I think it just soothes the damaged ego for people whose party gave us Trump.
    The Mayors of Dearborn and Hamtramck didn't meet with Biden, but do you know who the Mayor of Hamtramck and the entire city council met with? Michael Flynn.
    The narrative of Democrats don't want Biden (or Israel support) is wishful thinking from folks who publicly say how much they dislike Trump so as not to look like uncouth anti democratic anti liberal morons, but silently support him anyway as one degree better than Biden or any Democrat.
    When I think of the political dynamic as it concerns liberalism, Democrats and Muslims, this article is the dynamic I am more familiar with: https://michiganadvance.com/2023/10/03/how-some-michigan-muslims-united-with-extremist-republicans-against-lgbtq-rights/

    There may be a small kernel of truth to this Democrats don't like Biden/are pro Palestine narrative, but it sets off my "someone is trying to manipulate how I think" defenses, every time I hear it.
    As the kids say, stop gaslighting me!"

    Now, All of that said, voting "uncommitted" isn't the craziest thing I can think of, It could light a fire under the Democratic Party who just seems to be hoping for the best with their fingers crossed. The more I hear about Dean Phillips, the more I like him, he can forget about the Muslim vote by being Jewish though.Show lessShow lessExpand full commentShow lessShow less

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  2. Dplorins

    Sorry I missed the Cutline contest. My entry; "President Biden explains that Israel's response has been over the top because Hamas is hiding in tunnels."

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  3. R. James

    Can we vote for "none of these candidates" in the general election too? Asking for a friend.

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  4. Hartzlk

    I have shared the "whippersnapped" section with several people.

    The more history I learn, the more alarming it is to me when people in positions of power don't seem to know the relevant history.

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    Simon J. Dodd

    "The national co-chairs for No Labels [claim] the group is speaking with ‘several exceptional leaders’ about serving on a unity ticket.”

    Fixed it.

    And, I doubt it. I hope I'm wrong, but I have yet to hear a single credible name from anyone aligned with NL.

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  6. Mmorrissey001

    "The Summer of Forty-nine" by David Halberstam has a lot of good stories about Don Newcombe.

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  7. Michael.Terrien

    Say what you will about Dean Phillips, but if you've ever taken the time to listen to him you know he'd be a major upgrade over President Failing Memory and former President Sociopath.

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    1. Zephyrus

      I agree that he'd be a major upgrade, and I know literally nothing about him except the name. That really isn't saying much though. A rotten tuna sandwich would be a major upgrade over Trump or Biden.

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      1. Michael.Terrien

        Seek out an interview if you get a chance. He really does sound like a bright, decent public spirited guy. Exactly who you'd hope would be drawn to public service.

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    Ben Connelly

    I always assumed Geddy Lee wrote that line!

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      Addicus

      Neil (RIP) wrote all of Rush's lyrics after the first album.

      Line is from Freewill, Permeant Waves album, 1980. And yes, I'm a TOTAL Rush fan.

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        Ben Connelly

        I didn’t know that!

        Knew a guy in college who was exclusively a Rush fan and saw them in concert like 20 times

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          Addicus

          Yep. Can relate to that. And for Rush fans a 20x concert veteran is almost par.

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    Ben Connelly

    Does anyone else make sure to take note every week of what adjective Chris uses for Nate (and for his assistants before that)?

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  10. Kittyecws

    I’m already tired of election speculation and tired of primary ads. In North Carolina it seems that all the Republican candidates from dogcatcher to Congress are throwing in their lot with Trump. Today is the first day of early voting. It’s going to be a long few weeks.

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      Ben Connelly

      Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re tired of election speculation, have you considered cutting back on reading certain newsletters? Stirewalt’s is always going to be election speculation, for instance.

      I, too, get bored by the horserace election coverage stuff. I still read this newsletter, but I skim some of the excerpts from other publications. And as much as I think the folks at Dispatch Politics do a good job, I decided I needed to cut back on reading that newsletter and now I only glance at the headlines to see if I’m interested and have bandwidth this week. (I used to read literally every piece of content TD published and listen to every episode of every podcast, but I decided I had to cut back in the new year.)

      If you’re already dispirited with Republicans lining up behind Trump and you’re dreading the rest of this election, you’re in good company. Most readers here feel the same. When the campaign coverage is too depressing, at least we can take solace in the philosophizing and ruminating of those newsletters and podcasts which (mostly) ignore campaign news. I’m here at the Dispatch for Jonah to go deep into a weedy rabbit hole of ideology (i.e., when you see the solo Remnant is close to two hours because he got bogged down in 19th century German romanticism for forty-five minutes), Scott to give extended treatises confirming my economic priors (i.e., the only problem with free market capitalism is that it’s never really been tried), and Kevin to drop some line for the ages (“I go into the DMV an Eisenhower Republican and walk out eight hours later ready to join a militia in Idaho”). And then every once in a while, Steve will go on a rant on the Dispatch podcast that’s just fantastic.

      And even if those aren’t your cup of tea, at least the readers here are (mostly) sane and just as fed up with election ads as you.

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        Citizen60

        I sampled and stayed with The Dispatch for the comments.

        A great , sane, and civil community

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        1. Mary Stine

          TD has saved my sanity on more than one day...or night. As a history buff, one of things I love most about TD writers is their depth of historical knowledge, and their ability to recall history pertinent to our current mess. And I love that it sidles in with a hefty dose of humor.

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      2. Kittyecws

        I agree about The Dispstch. It’s the only one I read. That’s why I’m here — for the sanity. If only it were that easy to avoid the political ads. I can’t even watch the local TV news without seeing Trumpy Republican ads. I don’t watch that much TV, but I also get mailers from both parties, but mostly from Republican candidates. I wouldn’t mind if they just took their stance and moved on, but their stance is interwoven with how the other side is awful and has handled it badly. I guess I’ll do what my mom used to do, mute the TV every time a political ad comes on.😉. I am unaffiliated, so their spiel doesn’t help much with me.

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          Ben Connelly

          Yeah can’t really help you there. I don’t watch TV.

          You were the commenter who asked Luis about training for a race, right? How is that going?

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          1. Kittyecws

            Haha. No!

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