As the 2024 electoral showdown between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump escalates, one issue plaguing the incumbent among segments of the Democratic party is the Biden administration’s handling of the Israeli military onslaught against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Voters sympathetic to Palestine are thus faced with a difficult decision: Vote for President Biden against a candidate that some see as worse on foreign policy issues; vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to move the party platform away from carte blanche support for Israel; or back away from the ballot entirely.
In this “Yes, No, Maybe-So,” Luke Feeney, Dan Stark and Nell Srinath discuss the merits of voting Biden, uncommitted or not at all.
Luke Feeney, Weekly Columnist: Vote for Biden
Let’s get one thing straight: I am not saying that Biden is the candidate to save America, nor am I even suggesting that you should vote enthusiastically for him, but barring a complete fundamental overhaul of the last century of American elections (as well as an undoing of an institution founded in the American constitution) or death itself, the reality is Nov. 5 is coming and one of two men will be assuming the office of president: Biden or Trump. In that context, it is not even close who I would prefer; it’s Biden.
I understand his ineptitude, and the very valid concerns with his age. But every issue you can rip Biden on, Trump does worse and louder. Trump’s domestic policy? Horrific; in his final year in office his utter failure to contain COVID-19 led to the deaths of more than 450,000 Americans, and life expectancy fell by 1.13 years: the biggest decrease since World War II. So many of these deaths were avoidable; COVID-19 mortality in the U.S. was 40% higher than the average of the other wealthy nations in the G7.
On the global stage, the man who didn’t write “The Art of the Deal” showed just how terrible he was at making deals. Trump pushed a foreign policy that undermined America’s position in the world; North Korea built its nuclear stockpile and better missiles despite Trump’s personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un. Iran reduced the time it would need to develop nuclear weapons following the Trump administration’s unilateral exit from the 2015 nuclear pact (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Venezuela’s dictatorship is stronger, and Russia, Syria and Iran increased their influence across the Middle East after America withdrew troops and support. Give me incompetence over insanity; give me Biden.
Dan Stark, Associate Opinion Editor: Vote uncommitted
Voting uncommitted is viewed by many as a cop-out and a waste of a vote, when really it can send a strong, damning message to the Democratic Party from its voters. Democratic dissatisfaction with Biden is nothing new; he only won the 2020 Democratic Primary because he was viewed as the best candidate to take on Trump, not because he was well-liked among Democrats. Today, polling has shown that Biden’s support among Democrats is crumbling, even as he became the presumptive nominee for a rematch with Trump in November. In addition to criticism of his foreign policy in the Israel-Palestine conflict, two other major weaknesses for Biden have been his recent speeches and his avoidance of the press, both of which are easily exploitable by Trump and the Fox News outrage machine and could drive Trump to victory in November, which could have disastrous consequences.
Democrats had four years to find someone younger and more in-touch with younger voters and simply refused, leaving them with an incredibly vulnerable candidate. Voting uncommitted sends a message to the Democratic Party that voters are unhappy with Biden on the ballot again. Critics will deride it as a wasteful vote, but Biden has the nomination locked up anyway, so it would serve as a symbol of discontent.
Nell Srinath, Opinion Editor: Don’t vote
No politician or political party that has materially backed the ongoing genocide in Gaza should be rewarded by votes, either in upcoming primaries or in the general election next November. This includes Biden and the Democratic Party writ large. Continued support for Biden and the Democrats despite funneling billions of dollars into the Israeli war machine is the ultimate betrayal of Palestinians — a clear sign that Americans are incapable of holding our leaders accountable even if they aid and abet in the slaughter of over 30,000 Palestinians.
After nearly six months of slaughter, the American political establishment has just barely begun to move on unconditional support for Israel, to little effect. This is evinced by Vice President Kamala Harris’ and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s feckless warnings against a ground invasion of the Rafah border crossing, which Israel has already been bombing for weeks. The notion of voting for the Democratic party as a form of so-called “harm reduction” has lost all credibility, as the harm exacted by the Biden administration on Palestine has crossed every threshold. Supporting Biden in the name of preventing a lesser evil sends a message to the war hawks of Washington that their most violent plans are tolerable to the American people if they have a “D” in their title rather than an “R.”
Editor’s note: “Rapid Fire,” “Point-Counterpoint” and “Yes, No, Maybe-So” are not necessarily accurate reflections of writers’ opinions and may be written solely for the sake of crafting an argument.