President Biden quickly sailed to victory in Minnesota, but he was once again vexed by considerable defections as tens of thousands marked themselves “uncommitted” on Super Tuesday.
With three-quarters of the total vote counted, 69.6% backed Biden while 19.8% went uncommitted, according to a tabulation by The Associated Press.
Disgruntled progressive activists and organizations have embarked on a campaign to push voters to mark themselves “uncommitted” in protest of Biden’s policies toward the Israel-Hamas War.
This marks the continuation of a trend for Biden. Late last month over 100,000 Michiganders — 13% of the Democratic primary — went uncommitted in protest of his policies in the Israel-Hamas War.
The Gopher State, which is home to a sizeable liberal population in its Twin Cities, marked the largest defections against Biden on Super Tuesday.
But activists have plans to take their mini-revolt against Biden elsewhere such as in Washington state.
In addition to Minnesota, Biden faced sizable blowback in North Carolina on Super Tuesday as well. With 97% of the vote in, he notched 87.3% while “No Preference” scored 12.7%.
Biden has been making overtures to disaffected progressives, sharpening his language on Israel, calling its retaliation against Hamas for the bloody Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack “over the top.”
Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris called for a temporary six-week ceasefire during a speech in Selma, Alabama to mark the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday.
“People in Gaza are starving, conditions inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said Sunday. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.”
Biden wants to keep his coalition together ahead of the November election. Michigan, which has the largest Arab population of any state in the country, went for former President Donald Trump in 2016 and then switched to Biden in 2020.
It is one of the seven key battleground states that could determine the winner of the Nov. 5 election.
Publicly, Biden’s campaign has downplayed concerns about his electoral prospects and lackluster polling numbers relative to Trump.
Biden’s allies insist that both he and Democrats generally have been outperforming expectations in recent elections.
“Tonight’s results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office?” Biden said in a statement after the Super Tuesday results poured in.