SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

On Friday, in Flint, Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris met briefly with a group of Arab American and Muslim leaders. Voters who are concerned about the Biden administration’s policies in the Israel-Hamas war, a war that will have been going on for a full year tomorrow, have been calling on Harris to speak directly with them about their concerns. Yet this meeting comes just weeks before Election Day, and some voters are already casting ballots. Minnesota Public Radio’s Clay Masters has been following this protest movement within the Democratic Party and joins us now. Hey, Clay.

CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE: Hello.

DETROW: So first, been a long year – take a step back, and remind us how this organized protest movement began.

MASTERS: In February, some Michigan Democratic voters went with uncommitted on their primary ballots instead of President Biden – the party’s candidate at the time, remember. That pushed to voice their discontent spread to other states, like here in Minnesota. In all, 36 uncommitted delegates were allocated to the party’s national convention in Chicago this summer. That’s a small number compared to the more than, you know, 3,800 delegates who were pledged for President Biden and those who ultimately supported Harris. But the uncommitted delegates represent tens of thousands of Democratic voters who just couldn’t bring themselves to support the current administration and its stance on Gaza. The delegates tried to get the Democrats to let a Palestinian American speaker address the convention, but they were unsuccessful despite staging a sit-in.

DETROW: They didn’t meet that goal. You have kept in touch with them. How are they thinking about their vote in the upcoming election?

MASTERS: Yeah, I mean, they’re confused, and they’re grappling with what to do as the violence in the Middle East continues to escalate. With early voting already underway in many states, these voters are looking at a ballot where they don’t really like their options at the top of the ticket. Many of them tell me they feel like they have no good options, and the end of voting in the presidential election is just less than a month away. They say they haven’t seen Vice President Harris change her tune on how she talks about Gaza.

As an example of how difficult of a position the leaders of the uncommitted movement are in, they are not endorsing Harris, yet they aren’t endorsing other options like GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump or third-party options. So really, this is a decision each individual is going to need to make for themselves. I spoke with the cofounder of the national uncommitted movement, Layla Elabed, a delegate from Michigan, who has family that lives in the occupied West Bank.

LAYLA ELABED: Donald Trump and Vice President Harris promise business as usual. And we know that third-party is not going to win the presidency.

MASTERS: So for her, she says she plans to personally skip voting at the top of the ticket. But she stressed people should still go out to vote, especially in the down-ballot races.

DETROW: So that’s the view from one leader. What are you hearing from others?

MASTERS: Some have told me they will vote for Harris. Some say maybe a third party. They all are very clear with me they don’t want Trump back in the White House. Dan Engelhart, a delegate from Minnesota, who’s done a lot of door-knocking for Democrats in the past, says people have started asking him for his opinion.

DAN ENGELHART: I have started to have to have some of those conversations as people have been reaching out to me. It’s just – it’s hard. I can’t tell people to do something that I’m not ready to do, and I can’t currently vote for this. And it seems like there will be no change.

DETROW: Clay, I feel like this got a lot of attention when the people voting uncommitted in Michigan far surpassed the margin by which Biden beat Trump four years ago. Polls showing an incredibly close race – IS this protest vote enough to tip things in favor of Trump in some of these states?

MASTERS: Yeah, I mean, it could be. On Friday, Harris met briefly with a group of Arab American leaders in Flint, Michigan. That’s a key swing state. Uncommitted national group – they tell me they weren’t part of that discussion, though they met with her back in August very briefly. The Harris campaign’s director of outreach to the Muslim and Arab American communities said Harris has been, quote, “steadfast in her support of the community.” But we’re going to have to see how this moves forward as we bear down on Election Day.

DETROW: That is Minnesota Public Radio’s Clay Masters. Clay, always good to talk to you. Thanks.

MASTERS: Likewise, thank you.

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