The Michigan uncommitted made up 100000 of the 700000 that expressed their demand that Biden act to stop the Gaza conflict. So far, Harris has shown an even more callous disregard (and implies to continue support) for Israel’s genocidal war.

According to NPR’s White House correspondent Asma Khalid, she has seen an increased unwillingness to grapple with it. On WUOM 91.7 out of Ann Arbor late last week, she said “saliency of the issue has been lost since Biden dropped out, and it has been replaced by a joyful party atmosphere.” She said there was a “different White House tone” on the issue. In context of increased Israeli worries about Iran, “the nature and scope of the war is shifting.”

NPR’s Khalid acknowledged that, though there had been thousands in the streets during the DNC convention in Chicago, that the uncommitted consortium had been denied airtime. She said the Democrats do have an acute awareness and that they had alluded to the possibility of having some panel discussions. She said Cook County (which includes Chicago) is the second largest population concentration in the country. Further, there was a suggestion that the Michigan uncommitted were encouraged to work within the party system.

Has that little stinky about the uncommitted fizzled out?

That is what Team Harris is hoping. It was just some gas getting passed in her big Democrat hurricane. But, it would be unwise to count out the determination of the Michigan uncommitted.

Boogey-man Trump is still almost exclusively Team Harris’s driving tactic. She is the ready antidote to the poisonous bad guy. An accomplished attorney can easily follow the script. Her credo: just do not get pulled down into the muck. Easy schmeasy. But it is just as cut and dried for the diversity of people that stand in opposition to Israel atrocities.

The uncommitted voters are a loose coalition of activists calling on the Democrats to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and impose an arms embargo against Israel. They say genocide is the red line being crossed. And they are not going away.

The new option for Michigan uncommitted: Cornel West

Cornel West recently won a ruling that puts him back on the Michigan ballot. Maybe the ruling holds (the Michigan machine was scrambling to boot him again). West is a relatively unknown intellectual that has no chance of winning. But maybe it matters. West is an option for a subset of the Michigan uncommitted who are repulsed by Trump, and increasingly, Harris.

That West is the only option says more about our voting and political systems than it does about Cornel West. Apparently, you cannot be the American President unless you are for war, even genocide.

Anti-Trump Republicans more than make up for Harris’s loss of Michigan uncommitted voters

The Guardian yesterday reported on a new reason Harris can ignore uncommitted voters. Republican Voters Against Trump have coughed up $11.5M to use against Trump in battleground states, of which Michigan gets $3M (the others are Wisconsin and Pennsylvania). This group vows to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. So, in backwards fashion, Trump is getting to kill Palestinians in any case.

Harris gets a bump because people are getting bored and tired of Trump. More significantly, she has not yet betrayed the population, which is why she is much more popular than Biden. Maybe that gets her the immediate win. Still, most Americans are against the Palestinian massacre, because it is un-American. Failure to act in opposition to genocide, rather than participating in it, will be the death nell to her popularity.

So, does Candidate Harris have “absolutely critical” Michigan sewn up?

Even before West got back on the Michigan presidential ballot, the race was for the state’s fifteen electoral college votes was sure to be close. With West, the uncommitted can fulfill the obligation to vote, even if there is no chance of his winning. To some of the Michigan uncommitted, voting for West is better than not voting. Either way it likely benefits Trump.

Michigan is a hotspot of rightwing extremism. So, Trump has a solid base. My interaction with MAGA-types shows they are loathe to talk about it. Polling probably underestimates his standing. “It’s easier than ever to justify voting for him.”

Basically, this coin-flip election could go either way. It seems Harris should be leading more decisively given her newness and an extended period of favorable press. She seems better in popular opinion than in probable delegates. After the boost from her convention, one can wonder if she has maxed out her upside potential. Polls and the like have lost some of their believability and Trump is still a dark horse that tends to come from behind. Michigan dems have Whitmer and a good ground machine, but the Michigan GOP is notorious and desparate, where the MAGAs openly say “Trump will at least make decisions and make me feel good about it.” So, Michigan is not sewn up for anybody.

The idea of just ‘giving her a chance‘ will not sway Michigan uncommitted voters.

Harris is on a roll, taking no prisoners, no matter what, on her campaign. The race is starting to tighten. If she cannot be accountable now she will never be so in the future. Especially, don’t fall again for her being some ‘lesser of evils‘. She has to make that case. Gaza is the door through which she could truly could establish herself as the lesser of evils, but she is painfully aligned with the Israeli genocide and the associated war economy upside. Suffice it to say she is ignoring Palestine. And as many know, in situations like this, silence is violence.

A poem from Heather, one of the relentless caring people

A Prayer for Myself

Let my eyes, though miles away
Remain steadfast and unblinking witnesses to the tragedies of
the world.
May my tears become a river
Carrying me forward
Let my hands and arms, though weak
Join my friends that we may tear down the colonial powers
and rebuild communities
May my back, though slumped and tired
Be strong enough to shoulder hardship and lighten the loads of
the downtrodden
Let my legs and feet, though slow
Carry me towards the places that I am needed, the protests
and the marches
May my voice, though quiet and shaking
Mingle with others and become so loud that it shakes and cracks
out imperialist foundations
Let my heart, though it is broken
Never dry up, may I continue to share all that I have and feel
joy in the smiles of strangers
And if I should fall let my blood, carrying the stories, blessings and
sins of my ancestors
May my blood be blessed to mix with the blood of the martyrs
and create a wave so vast and powerful
that it washes away the very roots of oppression and dyes the
mantel of white supremacy a crimson it will never wash away.

May my blood drown evil and be used to write a history that will
not be repeated.

And, when all is done, may my body lie down with my brothers,
sisters, friends
Let it nourish the earth and feed the animals.
Let it grow flowers that our children will pick with smiles on
their faces and peace in their hearts.