WHY KAMALA HARRIS MAY LOSE IN MICHIGAN, ARIZONA, AND WISCONSIN

 

©Wendell Griffen, 2024


On September 20, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now reported that the Uncommitted Movement has declared it will not endorse Kamala Harris, that it is vehemently opposed to the candidacy of Donald Trump, and that it will not endorse any third-party candidate in the U.S. presidential election contest. Here is a link to that report, and Goodman’s interview with Lexis Zeidan, a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement.

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/20/lexis_zeidan_uncommitted_national_movement_2024.

The Uncommitted Movement’s stance makes a point that bears remembering. Kamala Harris will have only herself to blame if she does not win in Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin, battleground states whose electoral college votes are crucial for any presidential to win to reach 270 votes. I made that point in an August 23 blog post after Harris spurned pleas from Palestinian delegates who asked to speak during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

https://fierceprohetichope.blogspot.com/2024/08/kamala-harris-democratic-national.html

The Uncommitted Movement is not being unreasonable. Harris has refused to offer any evidence that her policies concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be different from those of the Biden administration if she is elected President. Harris has refused to state that she will insist that Israel be held responsible for violating international laws concerning war crimes and humanitarian violations. She has refused to state that she will insist that Israel stop bombing and indiscriminately slaughtering Palestinians in Gaza.

That posture is not only a bad campaign tactic. It is a disincentive for Arab-American voters whose votes she must have to carry Michigan and win its 15 Electoral College votes. And Harris is making a risky bet that she can win in Wisconsin (10 Electoral College votes), and Arizona (11 Electoral College votes), where voters support changing U.S. policy concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On this important issue that most U.S. media outlets, unlike Democracy Now, refuse to cover, Kamala Harris is not only disrespecting and disregarding Arab-American voters. She is out of step with other voters who oppose current U.S. support for Israel’s long history of apartheid, settler colonialism, land and mineral theft, and bigotry against Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

One wonders why Harris is blind to how she is harming her prospects for victory over Donald Trump in November given her frequent statements that she is in a tight election contest.

One wonders why Harris thinks that voters who oppose U.S. support for Israel’s inhumane, criminal, and failed policies will find her stance acceptable.

And one wonders why Kamala Harris seems determined to risk taking the rest of the nation down with her because of her stubborn refusal to change her stance.

On this subject, Kamala Harris is hurting her political campaign, hurting our nation, and hurting the prospects for peace between Israel and Palestinians.

That’s bad politics and horrible policy.

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