Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan’s primary on Tuesday

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.

“It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,” she said on Sunday during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. “A second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.”

Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Biden’s 2024 campaign, also said she wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to the protest vote.

Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who is the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, urged Democrats last week to vote “uncommitted” in Michigan’s 27 February primary.

  • Guntrigger@feddit.ch
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    9 months ago

    As an outsider looking in, it feels really odd that this could even be a firm issue for any voter. Like that high horse sailed so long ago, how can you possibly blame the current president for what has been a national policy for 75 years?

    Sure, push for a candidate that doesn’t support Israel and dissent as much as you can. But every time I read a comment about “Genocide Joe” it screams Russian propaganda farm.

    • Metacortechs@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I feel like this is just another division tactic to split the vote to favor Republicans.

      I have friends who were rabidly for Democrats and their agenda for decades, decrying single issue conservative voters, now acting the same way toward Biden over Gaza as if he single handedly orchestrated this and didn’t inherit years of foreign policy.

      I fucking hate what’s happening there and don’t want to support it in any way, but my vote doesn’t change what’s already established and the alternative is so much worse.

      I keep asking for a viable alternative and all I get is vote third party or stay home which solves exactly nothing.

      • lettruthout@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        This kind of comment is why I’m on Lemmy. I abhor the policy of the US to support Israel without question, and feel that Biden has let the world down by not calling out the crimes being committed now. But I hadn’t considered how this might be used by Republican supporters to divide Democratic support. It sure makes sense. Thanks for posting this viewpoint.

      • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I keep asking for a viable alternative and all I get is vote third party or stay home which solves exactly nothing.

        Have you ever asked the Democratic party why they don’t put other candidates up for us to vote for? Especially with so much doubt for Biden going on right now?

        Votes are not owed, they are given.

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          Running a Primary against the President would almost certainly guarantee a Democratic loss. It’s like admitting failure and asking to try again. Furthermore there is no clear alternative waiting to run. “Votes are not owed, they are given” is kinda bunk. Someone is going to win the election whether you like it or not. If you treasure the ability to vote at all, there is only one person on the ballot that is going to ensure that moving forward. The GOP is actively talking about overturning democracy at CPAC. Especially in a topic about Israel, which the GOP has stronger support for than the DNC. If you’d rather see the US Military help Israel, by all means vote Republican, because they have been trying to find an excuse to go to war with Iran for ever, and starting another war in the middle east would be their we dream.

          • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            “Votes are not owed, they are given” is kinda bunk.

            Citizens took bayonettes to the chest, and watched their body parts fly apart in opposite directions on foreign beaches, for our sacred right to choose who leads us. The alliegance is to the country, not any party.

            Running a Primary against the President would almost certainly guarantee a Democratic loss. It’s like admitting failure and asking to try again.

            Its so obvious at this point that a new candidate is needed, the “failure” is already visible. And he’s losing in the polls to Trump.

            Furthermore there is no clear alternative waiting to run.

            You’re making Gavin Newson cry.

            • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              Citizens took bayonettes to the chest, and watched their body parts fly apart in opposite directions on foreign beaches, for our sacred right to choose who leads us. The alliegance is to the country, not any party.

              No idea what you’re tying to say here. Republicans are welcoming this shit.

              You’re making Gavin Newson cry.

              I don’t think he’s as universally liked as you think. There’s so weirdness with one of his exes now being involved with one of Trumps kids too, so that’s another thing that they’d hold against him.

              • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Citizens took bayonettes to the chest, and watched their body parts fly apart in opposite directions on foreign beaches, for our sacred right to choose who leads us. The alliegance is to the country, not any party.

                No idea what you’re tying to say here.

                The fact you don’t understand is a problem in and of itself. Go back and learn your (?; assuming you are a U.S. Citizen) history.

      • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        I keep asking for a viable alternative and all I get is vote third party or stay home which solves exactly nothing.

        That’s wrong too. Voting for Biden keeps it the same. Voting third party or staying home makes it worse. Making it better isn’t on the ballot.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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      9 months ago

      Now is worse than any time in my adult life. Maybe the original displacement of Palestinians in 1948 is worse, but the US wasn’t a close ally then and there’s no reason a current day voter would have to think that the decisions of past voters were somehow constraining on their current beliefs.