PHILADELPHIA \u2014 She had backed Democrats in every presidential election since the political rise of Barack Obama. She had knocked on doors, taped up campaign signs and called strangers to ask: Are you ready to vote?<\/p>\n
Now her party\u2019s nominee was only three miles away, drawing exuberant crowds in the urban heart of this swing state, and Leah Shepperd couldn\u2019t even bring herself to watch on television.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t stomach it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Over at Temple University, Vice President Kamala Harris had just introduced her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). Applause for the pair cracked \u201c120+ decibels,\u201d one journalist at the Tuesday rally reported, citing his Apple watch. Walz thanked Harris for \u201cbringing back the joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shepperd, 49, could feel none of that joy. Not when the United Nations had accused Israel of a \u201ccrime against humanity,\u201d and when, in her view, the White House \u2014 Harris included \u2014 wasn\u2019t doing enough to help the people of Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do want to vote,\u201d she said. \u201cBut ethically, I\u2019m stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the primaries, pro-Palestinian activists urged voters to withhold their support for President Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza war. Roughly 700,000 Democrats nationwide checked a no-candidate option such as \u201cuncommitted,\u201d left their presidential ballot blank or wrote in someone (or something) else. While that represents a tiny sliver of the electorate \u2014 and analysts lack data on each voter\u2019s motivation \u2014 some liberal strategists said the apparent protest turnout revealed weak spots for the emerging Harris campaign in some of the election\u2019s most competitive battlegrounds.<\/p>\n
In Michigan, home to the nation\u2019s largest Arab American communities, 13.3 percent of Democratic primary voters selected \u201cuncommitted.\u201d In Wisconsin, where Biden won in 2020 by roughly 20,000 votes, more than double that number signaled the same status. And in Pennsylvania, where the margin is expected to be just as razor-thin, about 60,000 people, including Shepperd, wrote in some version of not-Biden. All three states carry outsize importance in determining November\u2019s winner.<\/p>\n
In a late Wednesday statement, the Harris campaign said the vice president remains focused on securing a cease-fire while ensuring that Israel is protected against \u201cIran and Iran-backed terrorist groups.\u201d It also nodded to her earlier pressure on Israel to lessen Palestinian agony.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Four days after Biden dropped out of the contest and endorsed his running mate, protesters in the Keystone State aimed a fresh effort at Harris. Volunteers shared a digital pledge that declared: \u201cIf they want our votes for President, they must do everything in their power to bring about a cease-fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want my vote?\u201d asked one signee, Aniqa Raihan, a 28-year-old law student at Temple University. \u201cYou have to treat Palestinians like real human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even as a line to see Harris snaked for blocks around the campus this week, Raihan had no fear of missing out as she dodged that scene in the comfort of her apartment.<\/p>\n
Since the deadliest-ever Hamas attack on Israeli homes and the kidnapping of civilians on Oct. 7, Israel\u2019s counteroffensive has killed at least 39,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry. International aid groups have accused Israel of blocking assistance to more than 2 million civilians, including starving children \u2014 the majority of whom have lost their homes. (Israel has denied that charge.)<\/p>\n
It disturbs Raihan that the United States continues to supply Israel with weapons. When the White House asserted last month that a temporary cease-fire was closer than \u201cever,\u201d she wondered why Biden and Harris hadn\u2019t cranked up the pressure sooner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I voted for Kamala right now,\u201d Raihan said, \u201cthat would be like telling those kids, \u2018This doesn\u2019t matter to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s tough to know how many Democrats would stick to a no-vote threat in November. Yet the Harris campaign should not underestimate the grass-roots movements focused on Gaza, said Joe Corrigan, a Democratic strategist in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are incredibly committed voters and activists,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re the same people who will knock on doors, make phone calls, volunteer to text-bank and organize their workplaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, he noted, Harris vowing to upend the Biden administration\u2019s approach to the conflict could sour voters loyal to Israel, especially as the Middle East teeters on the brink of a broader war.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny move is risky,\u201d Corrigan said.<\/p>\n
Shepperd, a child-care provider, had braved the rally traffic to visit a new friend\u2019s South Philly rowhouse.<\/p>\n
Hannah Zellman, 42, hadn\u2019t felt like tuning into the live stream, either \u2014 no matter how much the internet was gushing about Harris and Walz. The star of her living room was a pit bull named Cinna.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo amount of phone calls or protesting has worked, \u201d Shepperd told her, scratching Cinna\u2019s brown-spotted ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing has been working,\u201d agreed Zellman, a social worker.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d met through Pennsylvania\u2019s \u201cno cease-fire, no vote\u201d group. Both had signed the pledge: If strikes on Gaza do not halt by the election, and Harris hasn\u2019t committed to an arms embargo on Israel, they will not cast a ballot.<\/p>\n
Shepperd had joined the movement after learning that her 7-year-old son\u2019s former teacher was an organizer. It was an easy \u201cyes,\u201d she said: The photos she had seen on Instagram \u2014 the rubble, the bodies, the bloodied children \u2014 were haunting her.<\/p>\n
Neither woman has ties to the Mideast. Both are Jewish. Both think the leaders in Washington have been too soft on Benjamin Netanyahu, who, over the last nine months, has taken no steps toward compromise. They blamed him, too \u2014 but they couldn\u2019t hold the Israeli prime minister accountable at the polls. Both believed the United States should not keep arming a military accused of mass-slaughtering civilians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our leverage,\u201d Zellman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all we have,\u201d Shepperd agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis\u201d meaning their swing-state vote.<\/p>\n
In such a close race, they understand that denying support for Harris could benefit Donald Trump, whose platform Zellman described as \u201cdeadly and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s really helping Trump,\u201d she said, \u201cis that this administration is not listening to the voters who support a cease-fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plenty of their friends disagree with their November boycott. Shepperd\u2019s husband isn\u2019t thrilled about it, either. He fears, among other things, what a second Trump term could do to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
She is scared, too. Still, she said, she can\u2019t ignore her conscience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be able to vote,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Three miles away, across the ideological chasm, Harris was wrapping up her speech. She had not mentioned Israel or Gaza. At a rally the next evening in Detroit, though, pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,\u201d Harris remarked, according to clips proliferating on social media. \u201cOtherwise, I am speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shepperd watched the exchange and wondered: Where is the empathy?<\/p>\n
Note to self, she thought: Mass-text the link to join \u201cno cease-fire, no vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Clement and the Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
PHILADELPHIA \u2014 She had backed Democrats in every presidential election since the political rise of Barack Obama. She had knocked on doors, taped up campaign signs and called strangers to ask: Are you ready to vote? Now her party\u2019s nominee was only three miles away, drawing exuberant crowds in the urban heart of this swing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}