Perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris thought she could take Michigan's Middle Eastern communities for granted. In a state with a huge Iraqi-American community, Harris touted the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney—who helped destroy Iraq—and campaigned alongside his equally neoconservative daughter, former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney. And in a state with a huge Lebanese- and Palestinian-American community, one of the Harris campaign's closing messages was a pro-Israel rant delivered by former President Bill Clinton.
The Uncommitted movement, which represented around 100,000 dissatisfied Democrats in Michigan, warned that Harris would have to give at least a symbolic concession to Palestinian rights in order for those voters to come home. Democratic leadership brushed off the risks, arguing that the wars in the Middle East wouldn't be a salient issue. After all, former President Donald Trump "wants to put a ban on Arabs coming into the country," President Joe Biden said. "We'll make sure we understand who cares about the Arab population." What would Arab Americans do? Vote for Trump?
