On his first show back with The Daily Show a few weeks ago, Jon Stewart took aim at Joe Biden, essentially saying that if he is as with it as his campaign keeps guaranteeing, Biden needs to prove it. On camera. The Biden campaign heard that, and I think it’s a big reason why Biden appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week. Was it a softball interview? Yes. Did Meyers (and Amy Poehler) cue him up on a couple of occasions? Yes. But Biden also illustrated that he has all his faculties and can still speak intelligently on a number of issues, including the horrific situation in Gaza.
The timing of that interview was almost certainly no coincidence, the night before Democratic voters headed to the polls in Michigan, where there was little doubt about the outcome. Biden would win and win handily. However, Arab American and Muslim voters launched a campaign to vote “uncommitted” to send a message to Joe Biden that they do not approve of the way that he is handling the situation in the Middle East.
Despite the Seth Meyers’ interview, that campaign was wildly successful. Tens of thousands of voters voted “uncommitted” — enough to potentially tilt the scales in a swing state in November — and I can guarantee that many of those voters were neither Arab nor Muslim voters but voters from every part of the Democratic coalition who wanted to send a message. That message is simple: Listen.
This week, Kid Rock went on the Joe Rogan Show and literally suggested that Israel drop nuclear bomb levels of destruction on the Palestinians. This is where conservatives are on Gaza. Would Donald Trump drop nukes on Gaza? Maybe not, but he would look the other way if Israel decided to do so. There is a vast difference between what Joe Biden is doing in the Middle East right now and what Donald Trump would allow. I think that ultimately, most of those tens of thousands of voters in Michigan know that and will (hopefully) vote for Joe Biden in November.
But it doesn’t mean that Joe Biden shouldn’t listen. Not just the Arab and Muslim voters but most liberal American Jews are uncomfortable with what is happening in Israel, too. It doesn’t mean that anyone expects Joe Biden to solve a problem that is unsolvable given the extreme right-wing government in power in Israel and the vow of Hamas to continue fighting until Israel has been wiped off the map. Still, it doesn’t mean that Joe Biden can continue to get away with gently chiding Benjamin Netanyahu’s brutal actions, either. Netanyahu is the Israeli Donald Trump, and he should be treated as such. Jewish Democrats are not going to object. Just as Biden can support Palestine without supporting Hamas, he can — and should — support Israel without committing totally to Netanyahu.
Biden needs to listen, not to the far left or the far right voices at the extremes, but to the Muslims, the Arabs, the Jews, the Black people, the college-educated people, and the women that make up the vast majority of the coalition of Democratic voters. He needs to let those voters know that he hears them and that their concerns are being factored into his decisions. He’s listened when it comes to border issues and inflation, and he has done well to deal with those concerns (even if the GOP has blocked him), but he needs to listen now about Gaza, and even about legitimate concerns voters have with his age, even if that means allaying those concerns by giving softball interviews to friendly late-night talk shows.
Ultimately, the actions in the Middle East will not be dictated by an American President on the other side of the world, but the 2024 candidate who best listens to the concerns of his entire constituency will be in the best position to win come November. It’s an easier situation for Trump, whose constituency is primarily MAGA bigots, but to defeat those MAGA bigots, Joe Biden has to listen to every voice in the big tent — a tent big enough to easily beat Trump, as it did in 2020 — even those he may disagree with, and make sure that they all feel heard, all the same.
Sorry but the "gentle chiding" is what we see in public and unlike the 13% in Michigan I don't need my hand held; I haven't let this war make me throw nuance out the window or forget how any of this works, namely that *actual* diplomacy doesn't happen in front of a damn camera. And let's be real the only thing that is going to appease the people complaining the loudest is for Biden to reverse eighty years of policy and have the United States stop supporting Israel's right to exist altogether, which he shouldn't and thankfully isn't going to do. And frankly if that's the hill they want to die on well, they most likely will under Trump or one of his successors so fuck it, they win.
Frankly as a women watching the Republican Party systematically tear down rights we fought for and thought we won decades ago and knowing that they would happily continue on this path is what I care about right now. The terrible neverending mess in the Middle East has been around for a long time and sadly seems to get worse for lots of reasons. Arab-Americans who think not voting for Biden will solve any of these issues are living in a non reality based world. Trump will happily destroy Gaza and not give it a second thought. And I agree about our f’cked up electoral college system. That 10 or 20,000 voters in one state could give the presidency to trump, who will certainly once again lose the popular vote, is an embarrassing failure of our democracy.