Influential voter group says it ‘can’t’ endorse Kamala Harris in blow to Democrats in critical swing state
The Uncommitted National Movement said Thursday that the group would not formally endorse Vice President Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign, which could impact her chances in the key state of Michigan.
In a lengthy statement, leaders made clear they didn’t support former President Donald Trump and didn’t want followers of the movement to vote third-party.
‘[E]specially as third party votes in key swing states could help inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency given our country’s broken electoral college system,’ the statement said.
But after the Harris campaign blew a September 15 deadline to meet with Michigan-based Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza, Uncommitted’s leaders decided not to give the Democrat a nod at this time.
Leaders of the group said they repeatedly tried engaging with the Harris-Walz campaign on certain policy demands – including enacting an arms embargo to stop Israel from bombing Gaza.
Vice President Kamala Harris (left) departs for Michigan Thursday for her event with talk show host Oprah Winfrey. The Michigan-based group, the Uncommitted National Movement, said she would not be getting their endorsement due to her Gaza policy
Members of the Uncommitted movement march at the Democratic National Convention. Leaders said Thursday they would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris but also encouraged followers not to vote third-party as that could help ex-President Donald Trump
The group critized her ‘unwillingness’ to shift away from an ‘unconditional weapons policy’ to arm Israel and said that ‘made it impossible for us to endorse her.’
‘For months, we have urged Vice President Harris to shift her Gaza policy so we could mobilize voters in key swing states to save lives and our democracy,’ the statement said.
‘The DNC and the Vice President’s campaign fumbled even a small gesture to unite our party ahead of November by rejecting the simple request for a Palestinian American speaker,’ it continued.
During the Democratic National Convention last month in Chicago, organizers had Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg speak.
They are the parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was recently murdered by the terror group Hamas.
No Palestinian-American was chosen to address the convention, despite large pro-Palestinian demonstrations taking place outside the United Center.
‘Now, the Vice President’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices, pushing them to consider third-party options or to sit this important election out,’ the statement went on.
Vice President Kamala Harris (left) greets Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow (center) on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, as they travel to Michigan on Thursday. Michigan is where the Uncommitted Movement’s non-endorsement could have the greatest impact
The Uncommitted Movement started in Michigan – the state where it could do the most damage to Harris.
During the Democratic primaries, when President Joe Biden was still at the top of the ticket, more than 101,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan chose ‘uncommitted’ over the sitting president.
Michigan was one of the three so-called ‘blue wall’ states that Trump won in 2016 to beat Democat Hillary Clinton – alongside Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Eight years ago, Trump won the state by around 10,000 votes.
Four years later, Biden managed to win America’s high-five back by around 150,000 votes.
The Real Clear Politics polling average shows the current race in Michigan to be extraordinarily tight, with Harris leading Trump by just 1.7 percent.
Uncommitted’s announcement came the same day Harris was traveling back to Michigan to hold a livestream event with legendary talk show host, Oprah Winfrey.
