March 1, 2024
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Michigan’s‘Abandon Biden’ Movement Over Gaza Could Spread To Other States
By Bill Wilson
The most startling takeawayfrom Tuesday’s Michigan presidential primaries was the more than 100,000 MichiganDemocrats who refused to support President Joe Biden as their nominee largely due to his stanceon the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Michigan Democrats cast101,449 votes labeled as “uncommitted” in a furious protest-vote in theDemocratic primary on Tuesday, while handing an approximately 20,000 votesapiece to Democratic challengers Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips.This resulted in close to 150,000 votes cast against Biden in a primary thatshould have been a slam-dunk. Biden won the primary with 623,500 votes — over200,000 votes short of his 2020 numbers.
The protest-vote campaignwas largely fueled by young Arab Americans and sympathizers who take issue withBiden’s stance on the war in Gaza. Anti-Biden activists formed the “Listen toMichigan” and “Abandon Biden” campaigns in Michigan and spent weeks urging Democrats to deny Bidentheir votes in an attempt to force him to withdraw support for Israel.
According to NPR, much of the “Abandon Biden” movementis led by young, elected leaders and their followers — including 30-year-oldState. Rep. Abraham Aiyash — who are withholding support from Biden unless hesupports a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
The protest-vote inMichigan is simply one indicator of the fragmentation the Biden coalition isexperiencing since 2020, with Biden suffering steeps declines in support amongyoung people, women, and minorities — including Arab Americans.
According to an election survey conducted by The Councilon American-Islamic Relations and its Michigan chapter, a full 94% ofMuslim-Americans who voted in the Democratic primary on Tuesday voted“uncommitted.” Just 4.6% supported Biden, according to the organization.
The poll also found if theelection for president were held now, more Muslim Americans would support formerPresident Donald Trump, 13%, than would support Joe Biden, 8%. A majority ofMuslim voters said they’d support a yet to be determined “other candidate” at40%. A quarter said they’d support third-party candidate Cornel West, and 8%said they’d support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while 7% said they’d support JillStein.
The Muslim vote is on therise, particularly in contentious battleground states. According to Emgage USA, a group focused onpolitical engagement among Muslim voters, 2020 resulted in approximately 1.1million votes cast by Muslim Americans, an increase of 2 percentage pointscompared to 2016.
The Muslim-American vote isrelatively small nationwide — 1.5 million voters — but these voters areconcentrated in pivotal swing states and played a role in Biden’s successes in2020. In Michigan four years ago, Biden won the state by just over 150,000votes.
With the Muslim-Americanvote concentrated in pivotal battleground states — most notably Michigan,Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia — the harsh departure from Biden could cutinto his margins in November.
As much as Muslim Americansbroadly supported Biden in 2020, the Israel-Hamas conflict has greatlydeteriorated that support, and there are now indicators that Muslim Americansare retracting their support. Although a majority seem to want a third alternativeto either Biden or Trump, it is worth noting that a segment of Muslim-Americansnow prefers Trump over Biden.
The root of this swing isBiden’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, but there is room to speculate thatBiden’s handling of domestic issues — such as the economy, housing, andimmigration — are also a driving factor in his loss of support among ArabAmericans.
Bill Wilson is the formerpresident of Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2024/03/michigans-abandon-biden-movement-over-gaza-could-spread-to-other-states/
Aftercrushing loss in Michigan, an open primary state, Haley has no chance ofwinning GOP nomination against Trump
By Robert Romano
Former South CarolinaRepublican Gov. Nikki Haley’s prospects of securing the Republican nominationin 2024 over former President Donald Trump hit yet another firewall as Trumpcrushed Haley in the Feb. 27 Michigan GOP primary 68.1 percent to 26.6percent.
Other than the Nevadacaucus, in which Haley did not run, this was Trump’s widest margin of victoryyet, garnering more than 759,000 votes to Haley’s 296,000. And it came in anopen primary that allows voters of any party affiliation to vote in the primary.All of Haley’s strength in the presidential race so far has been in states thatallow for more than registered party members to vote.
But for Haley it’s been a cycle of diminishing returns throughthe process so far,getting 43 percent in the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary (open to unaffiliated),39.5 percent in the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary (open) and down to 26.6percent in Michigan (open).
Going forward, in the March5 Super Tuesday primaries, only Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas, Vermontand Virginia will have open primaries, and certainly provide Haley’s bestchance of finally winning a state.
Meanwhile, Alaska,California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennesseeand Utah will have closed primaries to just Republicans, which Haley has beenlosing overwhelmingly in every single state. Independents and Democrats votingin the GOP primaries is her only chance — which is almost no chance at all. TheMarch 4 North Dakota primary is similarly closed.
Other than that, Haleycould win the not-so-coveted Washington, D.C. Republican primary on March 1through March 3, cementing her image as the choice of the Washington, D.C. GOPestablishment that Trump made his political career out of opposing.
Odds makers currently haveTrump averaging an 86.4 percent chance of securing the Republican nomination atthis point, with Haley only with a 7 percent chance, according to the latest average of national bettingsites compiled by RealClearPolitics.com.
Which is only slightlyworse than Haley’s standing in Republican primary polls, with Trump averaging 78.7percent to Haley’s 14.5 percent according to the latest compilation of nationalpolls compiled by RealClearPolling.com.
It’s less a question ifTrump is going to win the nomination outright, but more when. At this point,it’s just a matter of time.
Robert Romano is the VicePresident of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
F.Vincent Vernuccio: The Biden Administration’s Explicit Handout to Unions
By F. Vincent Vernuccio
Workers, beware. Laborunions now have the green light to abuse you with demeaning, insulting, andoffensive language — the kind of explicit comments that would normally getsomeone fired. It’s the latest proof that in the Biden administration, nothingis out of bounds when it comes to forcing workers into unions.
New York City, which has areputation for explicit language, is at the center of this story. On January29, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge issued an opinion forcing Amazon to rehire aworker the company had previously fired at the company’s Staten Islandwarehouse. Amazon fired the worker in 2020 after he launched a vulgar tiradeagainst a coworker.
How bad was the tirade?Using a bullhorn so everyone could hear, he called his coworker a “gutterb****,” a “crackhead a**,” a “crack ho,” and the “queen of the slums” — to namejust a few of the insults he lobbed during his loud and lengthy rant.
The whole episode waslive-streamed, sparking outrage far and wide. So Amazon did the right thing: Itfired the abusive employee. That’s the obvious response for any company thatwants to protect its workers. No one should be subjected to such extreme verbalassaults from their coworkers. Who wants to work in an environment where theycan be called a “gutter b****” without consequence?
That should have been theend of the story, but it was just the beginning. Union allies quickly filedcharges against the company. But the real development came nearly two yearslater — after the Biden administration had taken power. That’s when the NLRBfiled a lawsuit for an injunctionagainst Amazon.
Republican leaders at theHouse and Senate labor committees made it clear that the timing wasintentional. In a letter to the NLRB’s general counsel, they wrote that thisaction was taken “a week before a union election” at the warehouse. They saidit was clearly “an attempt to influence unduly the outcome of the election.”Sure enough, the union narrowly won.
Yet while the timing wasbad enough, the NLRB’s argument was worse. It said the fired aggressor waswithin his rights when he called his female coworker vile and offensive names.Why? Because he was participating in a union protest, and, apparently, anythinggoes when the union’s involved. The NLRB got its way, and now, more than twoyears later, Amazon is being forced to reinstate the abusive worker — and evengive him back pay.
The NLRB knows exactly whatit’s doing. Since assuming office, President Biden has packed the board withunion activists and allies, and the results are predictably bad for workerswhile being good for unions. Biden’s board has repeatedly sent this case backto court in order to get its desired result. A federal judge even called out theNLRB’s “often cavalier and enabling approach” toward the “demeaningmisconduct.” But the Biden administration doesn’t seem to care, since unionsstand to benefit.
It didn’t used to be likethis. Before the Biden administration, the NLRB refused to protect abusiveemployees like the one Amazon fired. That was, and is, the right call. Workershave a right to unionize, but they also have right to be free from workplacebullying — including by the unions who want to represent them. The Biden administration,however, through the NLRB, is actively condoning attacks on workers.
Workers’ rights are moreimportant than union demands. In New York City and everywhere else, workersdeserve better than being called a “gutter b****” or worse in front of theircolleagues. They deserve a safe and respectful workplace — not one where theunion can get away with saying anything to anyone. Alas, what workers need isthe last thing that unions and their allies in the Biden administration want.
To view online: https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/the-biden-administrations-explicit-handout-to-unions/amp/
Urge Nikki Haley To DropOut Of The Republican Presidential Race!
