Tlaib endorses protest vote against Biden in Michigan

Detroit U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is endorsing the campaign urging Michigan Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in the Feb. 27 presidential primary in protest of President Joe Biden's policy in Gaza.

In a video posted to social media Saturday, Tlaib said it's important to not just march against the "genocide" in Gaza but to form a voting bloc to effect change.

"Something that is a bullhorn to say enough is enough. We don't want a country that supports wars and bombs and destruction. We want to support life. We want to stand up for every single life killed in Gaza," Tlaib said.

"This is the way you can raise our voices, to make us even more visible. Right now, we feel completely neglected — neglected and just unseen by our government. If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted."

Tlaib was standing outside the Ford Civic Center in Dearborn, which is an early voting center for the Feb. 27 presidential primary.

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Tlaib, a three-term congresswoman, is the first member of Congress in Michigan and the highest-profile official to date to get behind the Listen to Michigan campaign, which aims to pressure Biden into overhauling his approach to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Arab American and Muslim activists leading the effort hope to show Biden that Michigan Democrats who oppose the administration's approach in Gaza control what could be Biden's margin of victory for a second term. They point to former President Donald Trump winning the state by about 10,700 votes in 2016 and Biden winning it by about 154,000 in 2020.

Listen to Michigan's campaign manager is Tlaib's younger sister, Layla Elabed, who said volunteers for the effort made 150,000 phone calls in its first week. They also planned phone banks through the weekend in Dearborn and a 3 p.m. rally Tuesday at the University of Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor.

The campaign also announced its first ad buy Friday, which was described as six figures for a mailer distributed in the Metro Detroit region and a digital ad on YouTube.

Thirty-two state and local officials, including state lawmakers, have pledged to vote "uncommitted" on Democratic primary ballots, as well as former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township.

Richard Czuba, a pollster with the Lansing-based Glengariff Group, said an uncommitted vote of 20% would register as dissenters "showing up" to protest Biden and anything 30% or higher would signal to the president that he's got major problems with his base.

The Biden White House last week sent a delegation of high-level officials to Dearborn who met with Arab American and Muslim leaders there. At least one of the officials expressed "missteps" in the administration's response to the war in Gaza.

Tlaib, a Democrat from Detroit, has been an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s steadfast support of Israel’s far-right government and policies toward the Palestinian people. She has sponsored a measure in Congress calling for a cease-fire and was censured by House colleagues last fall for her anti-Israel rhetoric.

The Detroit DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) also endorsed the Listen To Michigan campaign recently.

The 13th Congressional District Democratic Party — Tlaib's former district — on Saturday endorsed Biden for president, district chairman Jonathan Kinloch said.

mburke@detroitnews.com