By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose
DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden faces two long-shot opponents in Michigan's Democratic primary race on Tuesday, but his biggest challenge comes from a group of previous supporters who are asking voters to mark "uncommitted" on their ballots.
The protest vote is part of a nationwide movement hoping to push Biden and elected Democrats to back a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and halt military aid to Israel in Gaza. The battleground state of Michigan has the largest Arab American population, per capita, of any U.S. state. Here is why these voters are upset:
ADAM ABUSALAH, ORGANIZER, NEW GENERATION FOR PALESTINE
"In 2020, 75% of Muslims in Michigan voted for Biden. We put him over the top ... Right now, as our families are being bombed, he can’t even say that they deserve to live in peace and dignity, but rather than that he’s sending more bombs, more weapons to bomb Palestinian children."
ABBAS ALAWIEH, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, EX-CONGRESS STAFFER
"What I want is better from the Democratic Party ... Unless something changes drastically, then it’s possible that the Democratic Party and this president are risking losing an entire generation of voters, Arab Americans, Muslims and young voters."
"There are far-right elements that have captured too much influence in Democratic politics."
HUWAIDA ARRAF, HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEY
"It doesn't matter what the party says. It's got to be actually fighting for what you believe in and fighting for these rights we deserve. I think we're failing and we're losing young people because of that."
"Biden is supporting a genocide. I know that maybe if Trump was in power now (he) probably [would] do the same thing. But it's a lot different when it's coming from someone who claims to be the empathetic president."
GERMINE AWAD, PROFESSOR, U. MICH ANN ARBOR
"I'm a social justice person, and Biden has failed tremendously. And the alternative is terrifying."
ANTONIO COSME, MEXICAN-PUERTO RICAN ACTIVIST BACKING ABANDON BIDEN CAMPAIGN
"The Democrats had a chance with Bernie (Sanders) to really consolidate the Democratic Party and strengthen it in so many ways, but they gave that away. There is an overwhelming sense in my generation that we are not headed in a good direction."
"It's been horrifying. Every single day, we're watching our news feed and seeing kids slaughtered in hospitals, people crying, holding their babies."
LAYLA ELABED, 'UNCOMMITTED' ORGANIZER
"What's happening in Gaza, and this genocide that is happening right before our eyes, is our litmus test, and we are failing as a nation, and we're failing as Democrats."
JOSEPH GEEVARGHESE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OUR REVOLUTION
"We are making sure that the progressive base doesn't sit it out in November...Does the uncommitted vote mean these voters wholesale reject Joe Biden? No, not necessarily, but they are registering a protest vote on the issue that is most salient to them."
ABDULLAH HAMMOUD, MAYOR OF DEARBORN
"The word I hear used most often is betrayal. You know, in 2020, we were promised a president who was going to bring decency back to the White House, who led with humanity, and what we found since the events unfolding October 7 isn't that...Our lives should matter, just as anybody else's."
"For us, this is not something we will ever forget because we have personally bid farewell to family members and to friends, who are watching the villages of our parents and our grandparents being wiped off the map."
"The Democratic Party leadership is in shambles."
BERNIE PORN, POLLSTER AT EPIC-MRA IN MICHIGAN
"Biden is underperforming right now and this uncommitted movement could hurt him in November.
In the end, if it gets Trump elected, that is not going to be something they will be happy with. They must ask themselves are they fired up about having Trump back in the White House given his history with everything and especially with him being a bigger supporter of Israel than Biden has been thus far."
AMANDA SAAB, CHEF, 'CHEFS FOR PALESTINE' ORGANIZER "Thirty thousand people lost their lives for no reason under the Biden administration. How can you redeem yourself from that?"
"The US does not have to continue in this way. For those that say, 'Oh, you know, if you don't vote for Biden, you're voting for Trump.' No, we're voting for humanity. And that's where we stand firmly, unequivocally. If that means somebody else becomes president, because we can't trust the leadership that we currently have, then I put it back on everybody else to give us better options."
WALEED SHAHID, SENIOR DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, ADVISER TO 'LISTEN TO MICHIGAN' CAMPAIGN
"Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by only 10,000 votes in 2016. This November will look a lot like 2016 in terms of how close the election is, and what this multi-faith coalition of voters is trying to show is, we hold the margin of victory for Joe Biden in November, and he needs to earn our votes."