Uncommitted movement won’t endorse Harris, but tells followers to do nothing to help elect Trump
Harris engaged with the movement even as she reiterated her support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas
(Left to right) Abbas Alawieh, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Layla Elabed, leaders of the Uncommitted movement, Feb. 28. Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh September 19, 2024
The leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement, which prompted more than 700,000 voters to protest the administration’s support for Israel during the Democratic primaries, announced on Thursday that they will not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president — but also advised followers to vote in a way that thwarts Trump.
We aren’t discouraging supporters from withholding votes for Harris, said Layla Elabed, co-founder and a spokesperson for the movement. “What we are asking our supporters and uncommitted voters to do is to register a vote that ensures we are blocking Donald Trump.”
That includes, they said, not voting for a third-party candidate because it could “inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency” in tight swing states contests.
The advice might seemed contradictory to some observers, in that asking the Uncommitted to register a vote — but not for Trump or third party candidates — would seem to leave as an option only Harris, who they are not endorsing.
However blunted, the announcement is a blow to her, coming just 47 days before the general election as the vice president tries to unite Democrats in an extremely tight race. During a fundraiser in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening, Doug Emhoff, her husband, boasted that the support for his wife is a big tent – “from AOC to Dick Cheney,” referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive critic of Israel, and the former Republican vice president.
Uncommitted leaders said their advice reflects Harris’ views on the war in Gaza and the administration’s unwillingness to condition the flow of arms to Israel.
“At this time, our movement cannot endorse Vice President Harris,” Abbas Alawieh, co-founder of the Uncommitted movement, said Thursday in a virtual press conference. He said Harris missed a Sept. 15 deadline to meet with relatives of Palestinian families who lost loved ones during the more-than-11-months-long war in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, the response has not been satisfactory,” he said.
How are Uncommitted leaders voting?
But two of the three leaders on Thursday’s call — Elabed and Lexis Zeidan — said they are generally inclined to vote for Harris, citing the historical nature of electing a Black woman president and their opposition to Trump’s policies on Israel. But they also said they can’t support a candidate “that is not listening to the policies that we’re asking for her to change.”
Alawieh, on the other hand, said he would vote for Harris, but only because of his great fears of a Trump presidency.
“I believe my vote is not a love letter,” he said.
And he said the Harris campaign has missed a chance to leverage the “Uncommitted” movement’s get-out-the-vote efforts, which had proven effective during the primaries, securing over 100,000 votes in the key battleground state of Michigan. “It seems they think they can reach rightward and maybe pick up a few Dick Cheney voters,” he said. “I sure hope they’re not wrong about that.”
Harris walks a fine line on Gaza
Harris has tried to win the movement’s favor, even as she has reiterated her support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas. On Tuesday, during an interview at a National Association of Black Journalists gathering, Harris said she was “entirely supportive” of the Biden administration’s decision to halt the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as a form of “leverage.”
“Uncommitted” sent 36 of the 3,939 delegates present at the Democratic National Convention last month. They staged daily news conferences at the convention, and vigils in memory of those killed in the war.
Toward the end of that week, they staged a sit-in outside the venue to protest the DNC’s refusal to allow a Palestinian-American representative to speak from the main stage.
Alawieh said the Harris campaign engaged with them in serious dialogue in recent months, but ultimately did not meet their demands. The Harris campaign’s embrace of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s endorsement further distanced the group from her, he added.
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