Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan’s primary on Tuesday

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.

“It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,” she said on Sunday during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. “A second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.”

Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Biden’s 2024 campaign, also said she wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to the protest vote.

Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who is the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, urged Democrats last week to vote “uncommitted” in Michigan’s 27 February primary.

  • @fidodo
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    10 months ago

    Trying to get a progressive agenda by only thinking about the Presidency is like trying to win a game with only hail Marys. We need to focus on smaller races in house and build up from there. It would be a stronger and longer lasting change. Even if you’re in an area that doesn’t have any competitive progressives running in the primary, you are allowed to volunteer to help progressive candidates in areas that do.

    • @[email protected]
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      710 months ago

      I really like this analogy. It’s true. Constant pressure on politicians is what gets policy made.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      This isn’t a “implement a progressive agenda” though, it’s a “be less genocidal” and it’s specifically about the actions of the president. He’s been supporting Israel unilaterally without needing Congressional approval. More AOCs isn’t going to fix that.

      • @fidodo
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        310 months ago

        More progressives in Congress will give us better options to vote for in future presidencies.

        • @[email protected]
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          110 months ago

          Yeah cause right now our options in Congress suck. Our most recent progressive isn’t even a progressive anymore and is telling his base that elected him to fuck off… Not great.

    • @Ensign_Crab
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      210 months ago

      We need to focus on smaller races in house and build up from there

      The party steps in to protect centrist incumbents against progressive challengers.

      • @Chocrates
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        610 months ago

        “The Squad” got some concessions from Pelosi at some point, to not have her PAC do that. The more progressives we get the more we have to bargain with.
        Ultimately progressives and Democrats aren’t the same party, but for the same reason we are stuck with Biden is the same reason they have to play that game.

        • @Ensign_Crab
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          210 months ago

          “The Squad” got some concessions from Pelosi at some point, to not have her PAC do that.

          Didn’t stick. The party propped up the anti-choice pro-nra anti-union candidate Henry Cuellar because and only because his opponent was a progressive.

          • @Chocrates
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            110 months ago

            Damn!
            I am not surprised I guess.

      • @fidodo
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        110 months ago

        Didn’t say it would be fair or easy, but it’s still possible to make progress and the more progress we make the easier it will get. Change doesn’t just happen on its own, it’s hard work, and I don’t see anyone suggesting any easier options.

        • @Ensign_Crab
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          010 months ago

          Didn’t say it would be fair or easy

          Or possible. The Democratic Party is completely irredeemable.

    • phillaholic
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      110 months ago

      This is the answer. If Bernie actually had a base around the country he may have won in 2016. The number of people unfamiliar with Politics that were shocked that established Democrats didn’t care for a guy who isn’t a party member coming into it to try to win the nomination is downright laughable. If he stayed a Democrat and helped support like-minded candidates around the country, maybe he would have had a better shot in 2020. His heart was in the right place, but I think his strategy and feasibility planning was awful.

      • @[email protected]
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        10 months ago

        LOL, yeah, it’s the Democratic label that the establishment cares about. Of course they forgot all about that when they switched up the rules halfway through the 2020 primary to let a damn Republican join the race. Get real.

    • @UnderpantsWeevil
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      010 months ago

      We need to focus on smaller races in house and build up from there.

      I heard this back in 2008. But the next eight years was nothing but losses, in large part because the national party kept kneecapping grass roots organizations.

      From ACORN to Code Pink, left activists were targeted and dismantled from within the liberal party.

      By the time Trump won in 2016, Dems had castrated themselves across the entire Midwest and were losing in record numbers.

      How do you organize under that kind of leadership?

      • @[email protected]
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        210 months ago

        Florida just recently had a governor race where there was a great new candidate but then the DNC refused to back her and chose a former Republican instead to back… And which point why would anyone pick the former Republican governor when you can just have the current Republican governor and the Democrats lost by a landslide again.

        They don’t want to win they just want to give rich donors a job or a yes man.

        • @UnderpantsWeevil
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          110 months ago

          And which point why would anyone pick the former Republican governor when you can just have the current Republican governor

          I mean, gun to my head, if my choices are DeSantis or Crist… But that’s not great for enthusiasm.

          They don’t want to win they just want to give rich donors a job or a yes man.

          The dirty truth about the modern Democratic Party.