The Washington chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers voted to endorse "uncommitted" over Joe Biden in the upcoming March 12 primary. The president's support for Israel is only part of the reason.
"Currently, many voters, and UFCW 3000 executive board, feel that the best path to have the best nominee, and to defeat Trump, is to vote 'uncommitted,'" the union said in a statement. "The hope is that this will strengthen the Democratic party’s ultimate nominee to defeat Trump in the General Election in November."
This should be extremely worrying to the Biden campaign. The Michigan protest vote was almost exclusively related to the war in Gaza. But the UFCW appears to be far more concerned with Biden's political weakness vis-a-vis Trump.
Even more upsetting for the Biden campaign is that the union fails to mention Biden by name when referring to the "party's ultimate nominee."
“We need a nominee who can run and beat Trump to protect workers across this country and around the world,” the statement continued.
To be clear, this is not a warning that the union will vote for Trump. This is a challenge to the national party to change the nominee of the Democratic Party.
The left smells blood.
In recent weeks, Biden has made tepid statements expressing supposed concern over Israel’s relentless siege of Gaza — but his unwavering support of Israel’s genocide in all practical manners betray his loyalties. His administration has continuously sent weapons allowing Israel to sustain its assault, repeatedly vetoed ceasefire resolutions in the UN and withheld funding for Palestinians’ primary humanitarian aid agency, even as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are on the verge of starving to death due to Israel’s murderous food blockade.
Campaigners for Listen to Michigan have said that their campaign is spreading to a number of other states, including Super Tuesday states like Colorado, Minnesota, and the crucial swing state of North Carolina.
What started as a minor headache for the Biden campaign in Michigan is rapidly turning into a nationwide migraine. The media coverage for every primary will not focus on Biden's lopsided wins but on the 10-15% of Democrats who say they're uncommitted.
The Biden team is in danger of losing control of the narrative, and that can't happen in a close race.
The Washington State Labor Council, which represents 600 unions across the state, told the Standard they do not endorse presidential primary candidates, leaving that responsibility up to its national affiliate, AFL-CIO, which endorsed President Biden last June.
As of Thursday, 7.72% of eligible Washington voters have already sent in their ballots for the presidential primary. Seattle’s alt-weekly, The Stranger, also endorsed “uncommitted delegates” this week.
“Unlike a protest vote for [presidential candidate and Minnesota Rep. Dean] Phillips or a throwaway write-in vote, voting for ‘uncommitted delegates’ delivers a message to Biden in a language he can hear and understand,” The Stranger’s editorial board wrote.
Biden will not lose the support of most unions traditionally supporting Democratic candidates as long as he makes it to the general election. But the danger now is that the unions could quietly begin lobbying for a Biden alternative.
We've all heard the arguments that it's too late for Democrats to dump Biden. That's nonsense. The Democratic Party can make any rules they want. If they make a rule that allows the party to dump a candidate before the convention and it gets the required support, Biden is gone.
They don't want to do that, of course. But a few more rounds of polling showing Trump clobbering Biden in swing states may get Democratic tongues wagging.
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