Joe Biden and Donald Trump continue without incident their race for the official nomination as candidates for the presidency of the United States, among the Democrats and the Republicans respectively. Yesterday's vote in the primaries of the two main American parties in Michigan, which ended in the Italian night, confirms the path of forced steps towards a “revenge” of the 2020 challenge. With 92% of the votes counted, Trump was indicated by only more than 68% of conservative voters in Michigan (GOP convention delegates are chosen). The only remaining challenger in the field remains at a long distance, former UN ambassador Nikky Haley, credited with 26.5% of preferences. However, Haley has already said she wants to hold out until at least next Super Tuesday, Tuesday, March 5, when votes will be held in 15 U.S. states and about a third of all delegates needed for the nomination will be designated. On the Democratic front, Biden's march is even less contested: the outgoing president, who in fact has no real internal competitor, collected 80% of the votes in Michigan (with 89% of the ballots counted). Still, this figure suggests that something did not go as planned. After sharing the crumbs between the flagship candidates Marianne Williamson and Dean Philips (both around 3%), the real signal for Joe Biden lies in the nearly 100 thousand ballots (13.8%) on which the voters of Northeastern State have written something. different: Uncommittedalias “not deployed”, or even “disengaged”.
The unease around Gaza “in black and white”
This is the feeling felt by a significant part of the Democratic electorate, who chose this path to send – the newspaper sings – a concrete signal to Biden and his administration. What is it about? Discomfort with the White House's line on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. As said above OpenIt is here in Michigan that we find the largest number of young voters and a significant share of Arab-Americans – around 300,000. A relevant constituency that, in the last election, brought in the first Palestinian congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib, in Congress, today at the forefront of denouncing the “genocide” underway in Gaza. The one whose capital is Detroit is one of the Swing States in which the real game for the White House is traditionally played. In short, very sensitive terrain. This is how a local mobilization within the progressive world, called “Listen to Michigan”, called on Democratic voters dissatisfied with the American line on Gaza – considered too accommodating towards Israel, incapable of asking (and obtaining) a ceasefire – to put their frustration in writing. . Appeal rewarded, judging by the results. Biden will find it difficult to ignore this nearly 14%. uncommitted — not for the damage done to his nomination race, but for the potential damage in the truly futuristic November vote. “This is a very significant result: Biden cannot win in November if he does not change path,” he commented overnight, speaking to the CNN one of the supporters of the campaign uncommittedformer Michigan Congressman Andy Levin.
Biden under pressure and signals from the White House
A signal which will become even stronger and clearer if the mobilization of the “non-aligned” extends and is repeated in other states soon to be called to vote in the Democratic primaries. Progressives on the same positions – for an immediate ceasefire and a review of military aid to Israel – have already launched the same campaign in Minnesota, where the vote will take place next Tuesday. If other states join in and the appeal is also successful, the issue could become decisive for Biden and influence the White House's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Which, coincidentally, just yesterday, with the opening of elections in Michigan, announced the allocation of an additional $53 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank. While Biden himself (while eating ice cream) released after months the objective of a “ceasefire” in Gaza, affirming that indirect negotiations between the parties supported by his White House could make it a reality even by next Monday. That is to say the day before the highly anticipated Super-Tuesday. The Israeli government and Hamas quickly called the bluff, making it clear that the ongoing negotiations, mediated by Qatar, are nowhere near that advanced. It remains to be seen whether the diverse Democratic electorate will believe it.
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