Super Tuesday states with an "uncommitted" or "no preference" option on the Democratic presidential primary ballot

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Minnesota will send 11 "uncommitted" delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the DFL Party announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: While President Biden won the state in a landslide, the outcome was a win for activists looking to use the ballot option to send a message to the Biden administration over the Israel-Hamas war.

Driving the news: More than 45,000 Minnesota's Democratic primary voters — close to 19% of the electorate — backed "uncommitted" on Tuesday.

The performance netted the movement 11 of the 75 Democratic delegate spots up for grabs in the state on Tuesday. President Biden, who won 70% of the vote, will get the other 64 delegates.

Catch up fast: The Minnesota uncommitted push followed a similar effort in Michigan. Local organizers in Minnesota ramped up a largely grassroots campaign that included phone banks and newspaper ads in the final days leading up to the primary.

"We only had a week and the smallest amount of funding at @uncommittedmn. But we showed up for Gaza," organizer Asma Mohammed wrote on X. "The Biden administration has no choice but to respond."

Zoom in: "Uncommitted" performed strongest in the Twin Cities metro.

In the Minneapolis-based 5th Congressional District, a DFL stronghold represented by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, it won just over 30% of the vote.

Zoom out: At least half of the 16 Super Tuesday states had an "uncommitted" line, no preference option or write-in slot on their Democratic presidential primary ballot, Axios' Sareen Habeshian and Emma Hurt write.

The "uncommitted" vote share elsewhere on Tuesday ranged from 3.7% in Iowa to 12% in North Carolina.

The big picture: The movement's success underscores concerns some Democrats have about how the war in Gaza may hurt Biden among some factions of the party's base.

Some fear a failure to win those voters back could hurt the president's chances in November, including in Minnesota, which former President Trump came within 45,000 votes of flipping in 2016.

The other side: The Biden campaign told the New York Times that the president "believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans."

"He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He's working tirelessly to that end," the spokesperson Lauren Hitt said.


On another note, I do like Axios' format here.

Anyway, thoughts?

  • SUPAVILLAIN@lemmygrad.ml
    hexbear
    64
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    There is now no way for the DNC to secure my vote for Biden. If anything, I expect the primary rules to change within the next 4 years to make it so "Uncommitted" is stripped from the ballots. Like some, "no, you're going to vote for our genociders or you WON'T VOTE AT ALL" type ish. Because the Democrat National Committee is a bunch of blatantly-transparent settler piss-babies who will ratfuck the people's will at every opportunity.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
      hexbear
      30
      4 months ago

      I still say I'll vote for Biden if there's a long-term ceasefire because that's literally the only leverage I have, but I don't think that's going to happen. If this ends before the election (which is itself unlikely) it'll end in reoccupation and population expulsion. Even if Copmala calls that ceasefire Biden can eat my ass.

      • SUPAVILLAIN@lemmygrad.ml
        hexbear
        29
        4 months ago

        Think we're in the same place, I'm just short-circuit eval-ing my way directly to 'there's no way' bc I know for a fact the democrat establishment will not pull out of Israel. They'll be shipping bombs and other assorted materiel all the way up to November 10th; so there's no way for them to recover me from where I sit.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
          hexbear
          23
          4 months ago

          Yeah it's mostly a difference in rhetorical stance. The only way to recover my vote is if they do something that they will never do, so...

    • Evilphd666 [he/him, comrade/them]
      hexbear
      19
      4 months ago

      If they don't do that what will happen is they will put plants cough UAW cough in for the delgate selection for uncommitted.

      They make the delegates pay for their own way to the convention. This is another layer of keeping commoner representation out of the party. They will offer "to help" and "convert" some in the process that aren't already plants. Even though there is far more than enough money to pay for each delegates air and hotel room to the convention raised by the party.

      This is how even when Bernie won Michigan's primary in 2016, they still went for Clinton at the convention.

    • FumpyAer [any, comrade/them]
      hexbear
      29
      4 months ago

      I mean this type of thing is the only thing that even could work to change his mind. But that only applies if he cares about winning. Theoretically he does because he says cheeto is a fash but we all know how that is.

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      4
      4 months ago

      They wouldn't have a choice but to respond IF THEY ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT WINNING THE ELCTION.

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      17
      4 months ago

      It's been hilarious to see libs trying to lie to themselves hard enough to make super Tuesday not terrible news for Biden.

      Between arguing that Trump underperformed because Hailey got 20% in places (not like Trump supporters would be the kind of people to not vote in a primary because it's been obvious for a year their preferred candidate was going to cakewalk to victory) to Colbert doing a whole monologue on how a poll showing Biden was losing was wrong because it had Dean Philips at 12% (for a campaign who's only pitch has been "were not the other guy" pretty funny to watch them pretend to not understand why "the other guy" did well in the dem primary).

      All I'm saying is that Vegas has Trump winning by about a 2 to 1 probability, and they actually lose money if they're wrong unlike msnbc and cnn who make money by telling liberals they're winning.

  • footfaults [none/use name]
    hexbear
    47
    4 months ago

    The performance netted the movement 11 of the 75 Democratic delegate spots up for grabs in the state on Tuesday. President Biden, who won 70% of the vote, will get the other 64 delegates

    I love Democracy! Getting 70% of the vote but 85% of the delegates. Isn't democracy great?

  • happybadger [he/him]
    hexbear
    43
    4 months ago

    Genocide Joe just offered to keep those kids alive for a few weeks and you tankies still aren't happy. Yes he has a gun to their head, yes he's going to resume shooting them on an industrial scale when that ceasefire ends, yes he's a particularly bloodthirsty Zionist who is on record advocating for the mass slaughter of women and children in Lebanon. And yes, he has no accountability to voters in his second term or worries about criminal prosecution since he's the fall man and just dodged prosecution for being senile. But he's offering to feed the kids he's rounded up in a ghetto survival rations for 10 whole weeks before he kills them. Conald Drumpf won't even bait the trap.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
      hexbear
      34
      4 months ago

      Also it was a lie, Israel started boycotting the negotiations that same day because they made up new rules for Hamas to release a list of living hostages (framing it as "refusing to release" it even though they never asked for a list)

      The offer was bad faith from the start.

      • happybadger [he/him]
        hexbear
        23
        4 months ago

        Oh so now we can't even make an offer in bad faith while redefining what "ceasefire" means and secretly shipping Israel even more weapons below the cost threshold that requires congressional oversight. Alright purity police. If you're without sin and get to cast the first stone, YOU tell ME how many weeks we should keep the Palestinian orphans alive before bombing them again. 11? 12?

        • the_post_of_tom_joad [any, any]
          hexbear
          5
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          Your bit is so good i had to keep looking up at your name to make sure you was doin a satire. Primo job man

  • red_stapler [he/him]
    hexbear
    40
    4 months ago

    It’s all spectacle until uncommitted actually wins a state. partiotism

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
      hexbear
      24
      4 months ago

      Wish the also-rans would drop out and stop their worthless campaigns. This is the only primary vote that matters and they should support it.

      • RION [she/her]
        hexbear
        19
        4 months ago

        The flip side is they're the only way to vote for someone other than Brandon and have it counted and shown in a lot of states. I can't vote for Uncommitted in my state, so I'll probably have to kick it over to orb mommy if I want my dissent to be noted in articles like this

    • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      2
      4 months ago

      Frankly, I expect it to.

      It's only growing. The movement, that is.

  • john_browns_beard [he/him, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    26
    4 months ago

    Driving the news: More than 45,000 Minnesota's Democratic primary voters — close to 19% of the electorate — backed "uncommitted" on Tuesday.

    ...

    Some fear a failure to win those voters back could hurt the president's chances in November, including in Minnesota, which former President Trump came within 45,000 votes of flipping in 2016.

    whywhywhywhywhy

    • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
      hexbear
      22
      4 months ago

      The funniest thing here is that "Haley voters" are almost certainly a majority Democrat bloc who never intended to vote for the GOP nomination, so Biden is just trying to court the fuckers that are already planning to vote for him

    • FnordPrefect [comrade/them, he/him]
      hexbear
      17
      4 months ago

      Biden's team insists that Trump is seriously vulnerable with the relative moderates and independents drawn to Haley and potentially crucial in the fall.

      spongebob-i-fucking-love "How many times do they have to teach you this lesson, old man?!"

  • CarbonScored [any]
    hexbear
    11
    4 months ago

    How the hell does American democracy work? 19% * 75 = 14.25, not 11.

    • edge [he/him]
      hexbear
      14
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      If it's the same as Michigan, some of the delegates are assigned based on votes within each congressional district. Which is how Michigan got 2 uncommitted delegates despite being under the 15% threshold statewide.