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submitted 1 month ago by Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net to c/politics@hexbear.net

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[-] RedWizard@hexbear.net 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I knew this was going to happen, I said it the day Joe dropped out. People voting uncommitted were a mixed demographic of actual principled voters standing against a genocide, and disillusioned liberals who wanted anyone but Joe Biden to run. I believe the latter is the larger group. Like others have said after the fact, Kamala ticks all the liberal identity boxes, and now, Waltz also slots right in to cover all the other groups.

My understanding, too, is that the rest of the audience tried to shout them down, which is telling. The way this was relayed to me when I first heard about it was via a TikTok where the commentator referred to the chanters as "Hecklers", also telling. Reports are, Harris, before taking the stage, spoke with leaders of the uncommitted group and wanted to get contact information to start a dialog, ~~expressing interest in a possible arms embargo against Israel (I have not verified this)~~ See this comment for more details.

But if that was true, why is this the response she gives to their chants? What is she signaling in this moment? She's clearly not talking to them, but instead talking to everyone else in the room. Her words are painting the chanters as opposition. She tries at least one time before this comment to calm their chants. Did they get under her skin, and is this a raw reaction to their disruption? Is it a calculated message? Either could be true.

If she really was trying to make a connection with this group of voters before getting on stage, then why did she not take the opportunity to address the issue? Why not say on stage that she is coordinating conversations with their group, that she wants to hear them out directly, and that their concerns are valid? Either this is a true showing of her actual political savvy (as in, a lack thereof), or she is giving up the game right here in front of them.

Regardless of intention, the message is loud and clear. Vocal support for an anti-genocide position from her is in opposition to their campaign. Even if she doesn't believe that, her words imply it. As others have pointed out, Michigan is an important state, and the voters who can make or break their chances are not white well-meaning liberals, they are Muslim Americans who have real stakes at play. The position of the next president on Israels Genocide have real, material impact on them, and I doubt they will remain silent about it.

[-] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 10 points 1 month ago

I’d be interested in any evidence supporting this part, because it feels like cover and entirely contradicted, as you pointed out, by her actions in the speech

[-] RedWizard@hexbear.net 5 points 1 month ago

A source I've found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/us/politics/harris-israel-gaza-war-protests.html

Before Vice President Kamala Harris confronted pro-Palestinian and anti-Gaza-war protesters on Wednesday at a campaign rally in Detroit, she faced demands from the leaders of a group that has mobilized voters to protest the U.S. government’s support for Israel.

The founders of the Uncommitted National Movement, the group that mobilized more than 100,000 people to withhold their votes from President Biden in this year’s Michigan primary over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, were among those invited to welcome Ms. Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, to Michigan in a photo line.

There, the founders, Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed, said they asked Ms. Harris for a meeting to discuss an arms embargo on Israel. After 10 months of war, Gazan health officials say nearly 40,000 people, many of them women and children, have been killed.

In a statement, a Harris campaign spokesman said only that “in this brief engagement,” the vice president “reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities.”

Ms. Harris has emerged as a more empathetic voice in the administration, elevating the plight of innocent Palestinians who have been killed, starved and displaced in Israel’s war against Hamas. And while she has reiterated the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend itself, she has issued the most forceful condemnation of some of Israel’s tactics. But crucial Democratic voting blocs who oppose the war — including Arab Americans in battleground states — have demanded more action, particularly for the United States to stop supplying Israel with weapons that have been used to kill scores of civilians.

In addition to an arms embargo on Israel, the Uncommitted leaders have asked for convention speaking roles for a representative of their group and a Palestinian pediatrician.

“I appreciate her leadership, and I know the Uncommitted voters want to support her, uncommitted delegates want to support her,” Mr. Alawieh said, “but our voters need to see her turn a new page on Gaza policy.”

Mr. Alawieh said that he “felt an openness from V.P. Harris, as well as a listening ear from Governor Walz” about their concerns.

Ms. Elabed said she broke into tears as she introduced herself to Ms. Harris.

“I told her that I meet with my community members who are losing tens and hundreds of family members every day,” Ms. Elabed said, “and we need something from her that can guarantee that we can save their families’ lives.”

Later, as Ms. Harris spoke in front of a raucous crowd that her campaign estimated at about 15,000 people at an airport hangar in Detroit, a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters shouted to interrupt her.

“Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide,” they chanted. “We won’t vote for genocide.”

At first, Ms. Harris brushed them off, suggesting the hecklers were evidence of democracy in action. Her supporters tried to drown them out with chants of their own.

But the protesters were not ushered out quickly, and the chants continued. Eventually, the exasperated vice president made her feelings clear.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” Ms. Harris said. “Otherwise, I am speaking.”

The crowd roared its approval. The sharp retort — or Ms. Harris’s staffers — clearly did the job, as the chants soon died down.

During a small news conference at a coffee shop in suburban Dearborn earlier in the afternoon, Mr. Alawieh practically begged for Ms. Harris to not put Arab American voters in the position to help Mr. Trump get elected.

“It’s as important as ever to beat back Donald Trump’s hurtful, destructive agenda and the plans that he has to accelerate the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” he said.