Best wishes from Air Force 2! We are less than six months away from the presidential election. As we approach November, inside washington Will also take you inside the campaign. let’s get to work.
Vice President on Monday… kamala harris He hoped to keep the focus on the economy during his visit to Detroit. As a state voted for Donald Trump In 2016 and beyond Joe Biden Michigan is a must-win in 2020. The Motor City has a large black working class population – exactly the same voter demographic that Trump has targeted More recently and indeed a voter demographic that has become increasingly disillusioned with the Democratic Party over the last few years. biden He will need to secure their support in the coming months if he is to have a chance in November,
And Biden and Harris will have to convince voters that the US economy is getting strong again. Many voters are still concerned about high prices and the Federal Reserve last week chose to keep interest rates high as a way to curb inflation and control the overheated labor market. There are signs that those actions are having an effect, as the latest jobs report on Friday showed that while the United States is tied for the longest period of unemployment below 4 percent since the 1960s, The labor market still performed below expectations,
But that news faded into the background amid the latest developments in Israel’s war against Hamas. Shortly before Harris boarded Air Force Two from Joint Base Andrews, Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explain This is a protest against Israel’s invasion of Rafah, This development happened after Hamas announced that Egypt and Qatar will accept a ceasefire – even if Israel orders the evacuation of 100,000 people from Rafah in preparation for an offensive that the US has tried to stop,
Michigan is one state that has clearly felt the effects of Israel’s attack in Gaza. The city of Dearborn, not far from Detroit, is home to the largest Arab-American population in the United States. Many Palestinian Americans in Michigan have lost loved ones to the war. Many Arab-Americans consider Biden’s support for Israel a betrayal and feel he has done nothing to target rising Islamophobia.
that frustration Prompted some people in the state to vote “uncommitted” In the Michigan primary in November. Ultimately, about 13.2 percent of all Michiganders voting in the Democratic primary chose “uncommitted”. Representative Rashida Tlaib, the country’s only Palestinian-American congresswoman, did the same herself.
And Arab-Americans were not the only ones who voted “uncommitted.” While 17 percent of Democratic voters in Wayne County, where Detroit and Dearborn are located, voted this way, the same in Washtenaw, where the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is located, voted “uncommitted.” Similarly, in Ingham County, where Michigan State University is located, 13 percent of Democratic voters also chose “undecided.”
Democratic voters – and For that matter, Democratic lawmakers – Views are mixed on his support for Israel and Biden’s handling of the Gaza bombing. But Rafah is a red line that Biden himself has drawn and reiterated again and again. Despite these continued warnings, many critics of the Netanyahu government, including Congress, Moved ahead to provide billions of dollars of military aid to Israel,
The Biden administration now has the opportunity to put maximum pressure on Netanyahu’s government not only because of its warnings over Rafah, but also because of the added benefit of a ceasefire agreement approved by Hamas. Whether Netanyahu will listen or not is another matter altogether.
Following his event in Michigan, the Vice President made only brief remarks about the developments.
“This morning I was at the conversation between the President and Prime Minister Netanyahu,” she said. “We are closely monitoring what is happening on the ground,” he said. And my team is keeping me updated and I have nothing else to do at the moment.”
On a day that was supposed to boost black entrepreneurship and spread the message that the Biden White House has transformed the economy, events hit an incongruous note.
The American public remains skeptical about Biden’s approach to the economy, his policy on immigration and his age. But those are winnable battles. However, unless he acts on his self-imposed red line in Gaza, it will continue to loom like a cloud over every campaign event.