Delegates bound to the uncommitted votes in Michigan and Minnesota appear to be willing to hear Vice President Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, out — if she distances herself from Biden’s foreign policy stance on Israel.
Minnesota and Michigan’s uncommitted delegates have not pledged to support Harris until they see if her stance on Israel and the war in Gaza differs from that of President Joe Biden. Abbas Alawie, one of the two “no” votes from Michigan, told Axios the national uncommitted movement is trying to schedule a meeting with the vice president to discuss her gaining their support.
“Our uncommitted national movement will do everything in our power to mobilize the 730,000 people who voted uncommitted to vote for Vice President Harris,” he told Axios.
Harris’s public statements surrounding Israel and the war have not differed that much from those of Biden, but Harris has expressed more public sympathy toward the loss of life in Gaza and questioned some Israeli military strategy, while still condemning Hamas.
While on a call during the vote to send Michigan delegates to Harris, Alawieh said he was told to “shut up, a**hole” while he was discussing a more humane policy approach to the war.
“To have Democratic elected officials in the state on the call and not a single one speak up and say, ‘Hey, Abbas is one of us, or ‘Uncommitted voters matter to us,’ it was a slap in the face,” Alawieh told Axios.
Minnesota has the largest “uncommitted” voting bloc with 11 delegates, but organizers there have said the change at the top of the ticket has meant little to them. Asma Mohammed, co-chairwoman of the state’s uncommitted delegation, said delegates are prepared to withhold their endorsement of Harris until she commits to the end of sending military aid to Israel and supports a permanent ceasefire in the region.
“We are Democrats,” she told Axios. “We do not want a Trump presidency.”
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Because the “uncommitted votes” were against Biden’s candidacy, Mohammed said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the change at the top of the ticket gives a chance for a reset.
Of the nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates across the country, 36 are uncommitted.
