Vice President Kamala Harris might have just sealed her fate in Pennsylvania — just not in the way she intended.
After publicly agreeing with a heckler accusing Israel of genocide, the vice president signaled a desperate attempt to placate Arab American voters in a state where discontent with Democrats’ support of Israel has been growing and is likely irreversible. And in doing so, Harris continued to alienate another key demographic: Jewish voters.
And it’s in Pennsylvania where she may pay the ultimate price.
At a campaign event in Wisconsin, a heckler yelled at Harris about Israel’s alleged war crimes, and Harris responded by saying, “What he’s talking about, it’s real.” The remark didn’t come off as an off-the-cuff response, but an affirmation of a false narrative designed to appease unhappy Arab American voters.
Her campaign only walked the statement back after her calculated response gained too much attention. But it wasn’t before it became the latest in a series of signals that the Democratic Party, once seen as a strong ally of Israel, is shifting under the weight of progressive voices who reject the Jewish state.
Harris, clearly aware that Michigan’s Arab American community has been growing increasingly frustrated with the Biden administration’s stance on Israel, is trying to walk a political tightrope. Michigan has one of the largest Arab American populations in the country, and in a race that could be won by a very small percentage of votes, this voting bloc yields power.
But it’s impossible to pacify this base without accusing Israel of genocide and Harris is already behind in Michigan. Former President Donald Trump is gaining momentum at the right time, making Harris’ chances of winning Michigan exceedingly slim — even with her appeasement strategy.
If placating Arab voters in Michigan is unlikely to land, what’s the cost? It’s Jewish voters in Pennsylvania and they could be a deciding factor. Harris is already struggling in Pennsylvania, a state more crucial than Michigan if she hopes to take the White House.
Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, especially in the suburban regions around Philadelphia, have traditionally been a strong Democratic bloc.
But there are signs of movement away from the party, and Harris’s recent comments may accelerate that shift.
War In Gaza, Lebanon Turning Point In US Elections
For many Arab American voters, the war in Gaza, and now Lebanon, has been a turning point in the US elections.
Some voters, who usually support the Democrats, are having second thoughts about Kamala Harris. For them, she’s part of the current Biden administration that failed to end the war in the Middle East.
There are indications however that others will go for “a protest vote”.
Will Asfour, a Palestinian American, has voted for Jill Stein, the Green Party Candidate.
“Since we can’t get a ceasefire or impose an arms embargo on Israel, neither party will have my vote”, Asfour, who lives in Chicago said.
He said further that dozens of his family members were killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza over the past year.
The young man feels as if his tax money funds the “the killing of my people back home”, as the US has been providing Israel with billions of dollars, in financial and military aid.
On the other hand, some of the Arab votes will go for Donald Trump, the former President, who imposed the Muslim travel ban in 2017, denying entry to citizens of certain predominantly Muslim countries,
including Arab countries.
“Trump has good relations with Arab leaders, he is a man of action, he can bring about a ceasefire”, said Laila, a middle aged Iraqi American woman, who’s been in the US for 16 years.
2024 US Election ‘Different’ And ‘Dangerous’, Says Melania Trump
Former First Lady Melania Trump has described the 2024 US Presidential Election as different and dangerous following the experience of her husband Donald Trump, who survived what appeared to be two assassination attempts in the run to the election.
Melania appeared on Fox News’ flagship morning show Fox & Friends, making her second appearance on the national stage in just three days.
After the two assassination attempts on her husband’s life, she does note that some things are different: “It is much more dangerous, and I’m very vigilant and very selective about where I go.”
Her public visibility has increased during the final stretch of the election after spending much of the campaign out of the public eye. She made a surprise appearance on Sunday at Madison Square Garden
(MSG) in New York, and introduced her husband, Donald Trump, at the campaign event which has since been thrown into the centre of controversy over an offensive comment about Puerto Rico made by a
comedian.
A Fox News anchor asks Trump about her MSG visit, to which she replies: “Sunday, through the day, was an amazing day.
“I think that people needed to hear from me on that day… and I want to support my husband as well, so I was there for him and everybody else.”
This is her third presidential election as a potential future First Lady. She said she was ready for the moment on stage because she has “much more experience” and compared the energy levels now to 2016, when Donald Trump won.
Harris’s Candidacy Could Boost South Asian Voter Turnout
The South Asian Community are reportedly inspired by Kamala Harris to turn out massively to vote in the 2024 US presidential election as the vice-president is the first US presidential candidate to come from
South Asian heritage.
“It’s going to be a new history that we get to talk about and experience,” Tanjina Islam tells BBC Asian Network News.
Tanjina is a Bangladeshi American who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a DNC delegate. She has previously expressed doubts because of the party’s position on the Israel-Gaza war.
But come 5 November, she said she has no doubts about stopping another Donald Trump presidency, worried about what it could mean for Muslims like her..
“A part of the area I live in, I’d say is more conservative,” she explained.
“My mum’s experienced it, because she wears the hijab. And she’s been threatened that if Trump doesn’t get elected, they’ll come after her.”
Reshma Saujani, CEO of Girls Who Code and the first Indian American woman to run for US Congress in 2010, said “You cannot be what you cannot see,” pointing out that so many South Asian girls see
themselves in Harris.
The challenge for Harris is to channel that enthusiasm among a booming immigrant population that’s moved beyond the traditional South Asian strongholds of California and New York to battleground states like Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
In 2020, 71% of Indian Americans that were eligible to vote did, a 9% increase from 2016. And according to Karthick Ramakrishnan, co-founder of AAPI Data, Harris’s candidacy could boost South Asian voter turnout to 75% among eligible voters.
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