President Joe Biden is facing a lot of big potential problems as he seeks reelection against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
A poor approval rating based on his lousy record with everything from immigration and border security to the economy is perhaps the biggest challenge he faces as he tries to attract undecided “swing” voters to his side.
But, now, a new problem has emerged: More and more Democrats are voting “uncommitted” in primary elections, something that many activists have urged people to do.
Media outlet The Hill reported that in the recent primary election in Kentucky, enough voters selected “uncommitted” that at least five delegates will be sent to the Democratic National Convention representing them.
Almost 18% of voters in Kentucky, more than 32,900 in total, selected “uncommitted” at the ballots rather than selecting Biden.
In the 2024 primary season thus far, “uncommitted” has secured 28 delegates at the DNC from across the country.
Of course, there’s not a real threat to Biden capturing the Democratic nomination for president, despite this relatively high number of “uncommitted” delegates. After all, the president already has 3,750 delegates to his name.
That being said, it’s certainly not a good sign for Biden, who’s likely facing a very tight reelection campaign against Trump — especially since more than 682,000 voters across the country have chosen “uncommitted” thus far.
The most active pushes for “uncommitted” have come from Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan and Maryland.
One of the organizations leading that charge is Uncommitted PA. One of its organizers, Miracle Jones, said that if Biden doesn’t heed the progressive voice when it comes to how he handles Israel, the president could be in for a lot of trouble come November.
As he said:
“When Pennsylvania shows up to the polls for the historic November election, we will inevitably see fractured Democratic election results if Biden refuses to drastically change course now.”
Biden did seem to placate some progressives and members of the “uncommitted” family when he recently announced that he would withhold more arms for Israel if it went through with its previous plans for a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
In a statement, a Uncommitted National Movement spokesperson, Layla Elabed, said:
“Biden’s announcement to halt American arms for Israel’s Rafah invasion marks a step forward, propelled by our growing anti-war movement. But, as the Democratic Party has fractured over Israel’s atrocities in Gaza over the past several months, Biden’s actions will always speak louder than his words.”
Republicans are trying to take advantage of Biden’s switch in policy stance, saying he’s pandering to this movement within the liberal party. As Republican Representative Michael Waltz from Florida told Fox News:
“When you have over 100,000 Democrats in the state of Michigan … go and vote against him in the Democrat primary — over 100,000 — that is a heck of a scary political moment for this White House. …
“We’ve seen the policy shifts towards Israel ever since, from [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer calling for regime change on the Senate floor to the kind of bashing of [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, to promising a change in policy if the Israelis carry out their offensive in Rafah … that has all been a signal to the youth vote.”
