Polls in Five Battleground States Show “Gaza Votes” May Determine November Election

 

Today, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) released the results of YouGov polls commissioned in five battleground states. The polls show roughly a fifth of Democratic and Independent voters in key states are less likely to vote for President Biden in November because of his support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Forty percent of voters polled say tangible, de-escalatory policy changes will make them more likely to vote for Biden in November: imposing a permanent ceasefire, full humanitarian aid to Gaza, and conditioning military aid for Israel’s war.

Surveying 500 registered Democratic and Independent voters each in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, the statewide polls provide a detailed look at voters’ perceptions of Israel’s war in Gaza and how it impacts their votes in November.

Among the states polled, anti-war votes could cost Biden the election in Arizona and Wisconsin in particular—in part due to the especially narrow margins of victory in those states: 10,457 and 20,682 in Arizona and Wisconsin, respectively. However, the polls show anti-war votes will matter in Pennsylvania and Michigan as well, where a third of Democrats and Independents consider a ceasefire and full entry of humanitarian aid as minimum changes to secure or solidify a vote for Biden. 

Key findings include:

• Across all five states, a critical margin of voters—roughly one in five—are less likely to vote for Biden on account of his handling of the war in Gaza.
• Forty percent or more of Democratic and Independent voters in each state say that imposing an immediate and lasting ceasefire, conditioning aid to Israel, and ensuring full entry of humanitarian aid would make voters more likely to vote for Biden in November. 
• Support for “uncommitted” anti-war protest campaigns represent a larger share of voters than actual turnout in each state’s primary; Pennsylvania had the strongest support.
• Between 55 and 66 percent of polled voters in each state say they support conditions on military aid to Israel.
• Roughly half or more Democratic or Independent voters say they believe Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians.
• Over 50 percent of voters polled say they support the student encampments to push their universities to divest from Israel’s war. This indicates relatively strong sympathy for Palestine solidarity efforts even despite a media landscape of significant counter-narrative. 

What is certain is that the war in Gaza has turned into an electoral issue this year. What this opinion poll suggests is that President Biden cannot continue to ignore the convictions and demands of a large segment of the Democratic electoral base if he wants to maintain his chances of winning the upcoming November elections. A large percentage of Democrats oppose Biden’s handling of the Israeli war in Gaza—and an even larger percentage of them want to see a real change toward an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Either Biden does the morally and politically right thing and preserves his chances in the November elections, or he continues on the current path and risks jeopardizing his reelection bid.

While some national polls have been used to suggest small numbers of Gaza voters overall, few statewide polls reliably examine the scale of anti-war Gaza voters as a proportion of Biden’s base—and their persistence as “uncommitted” voters in November. Each of the five states polled had robust anti-war primary campaigns for “uncommitted” or a pro-ceasefire candidate. 

It’s clear that Palestine is a critical issue in key battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan. It’s not a passing protest effort that the Democratic Party can continue to ignore; people want an end to this war and a key margin of them will vote that way. But Biden can win over votes with a serious change in policy.

Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid 

AJP Action. Executive Director

A good short article, reflecting in my opinion, a very true sentiments of many American voters, as I believe president Biden and his administration, ought to consider seriously, as their position on the ugly war in Gaza and their blind defense of Israel's extreme fascist and rightist supremacist government in its premeditated genocidal acts against the entire Palestinian population of the land is seriously harming their chances of winning the 2024 elections, thus condemning the saving of America from a bleak and greedy undemocratic future. 

Thank you all for following.   

PRESIDENTS MUST NOT BE ABOVE THE LAW !!

 
This Thursday, Trump’s lawyers will argue before the Supreme Court that presidents should be allowed to commit crimes. They have even claimed that a president could be immune from prosecution for having a political opponent assassinated.

Trump says anything less than total immunity would "incapacitate every future president." Baloney! It would incapacitate him! He’s the only president who's been criminally charged with a criminal conspiracy to overturn the will of American voters.

We all know, a president shouldn’t be above the law. But the Supreme Court has allowed his January 6 trial to be put on hold while they entertain Trump’s outrageous claims.

Donald Trump's desire to turn the U.S. president into a supreme ruler, not bound by the same laws as everyone else. This is a fundamental threat to our democracy, it turns a president into an untouchable dictator, and it's totally unacceptable. 

 
We can only hope justice delayed will not be justice denied.

We, the American people, must know before casting our ballots whether or not we are voting for a felon.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action

Even brutal dictators with an army and secret services under their control wouldn't aspire to such total immunity, at least not publicly and under the law, so would Mr. Trump arrange to kill Stormy Daniels instead of paying a high price for her silence and still getting an immunity ??? 

 My many thanks to all my good readers. 

This is how authoritarianism is normalized

 

I cannot stop thinking about this: It's now been one week since Donald Trump's lawyers told the Supreme Court that presidents should be able to murder political rivals or stage coups—and multiple Supreme Court justices acted like it was a serious argument.
This is how authoritarianism is normalized. I can't stop thinking about it—nor should any of us who are dedicated to democracy.
My head nearly exploded hearing this exchange in particular, with Trump's lawyer arguing that presidents are entitled to immunity for violating criminal laws for any "official act:"
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Trump's lawyer: "If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person, and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him, is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?"¹
Trump's lawyer responded: "It would depend on the hypothetical, but we concede that could be an official act."²
Justice Elena Kagan followed up, asking, "How about if the president orders the military to stage a coup?"³
Trump's lawyer responded: "It would depend on the circumstances whether it was an official act."⁴
This is how democracies die and dictatorships arise. It's truly terrifying.
We cannot minimize what's at stake. And we certainly cannot rely on the courts to save our democracy from Trump. No way. That is as clear as day.
Our only way forward is to defeat Trump decisively at the ballot box in November. And that's why I'm writing today.
The Republican justices last week refused to even consider the facts of the Trump case in front of them and instead were focused on future hypotheticals. By blowing it up into something else, the Republican justices are blowing up Trump's trial—which is exactly their intention. Read for yourself:
Justice Samuel Alito: "I'm not discussing the particular facts of this case."⁵
Justice Neil Gorsuch: "I'm not concerned about this case so much as future ones too."⁶
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: "Like Justice Gorsuch, I'm not focused on the here and now of this case. I'm very concerned about the future."⁷
Trump attempted a coup, but the Republican justices can't be bothered. Not even with Trump poised to be president again.

This message was written and sent by Mr. Robert Reich, the leader of the MoveOn movement, a progressive action body, working on educating younger voters and enlightening them. I thought the article quite lucid and explicit, reflecting a reality of what's taking place at our highest court's level, and in the country.

My profound thanks to all .