Dearborn: a case study in witholding support

Before the election, I wrote a column encouraging those who see no value in either party to drop out of voting until the political machines create more suitable platforms. The mechanism is to withhold endorsement until there is something worthy of it.

I argued this is the only way to effect change in our rigid two-party system. In Dearborn, Michigan, during the 2024 presidential election, one can observe the stark success of this model.

The city is home to the largest concentrated Arab and Muslim diaspora in the United States. Only a year before the election, the Middle East once again erupted into conflict with Israel and Palestine at center stage.

Neither party provided substantial opposition to the Israeli campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks. While some minority voices among the Democrats were critical, President Biden and his cabinet arguably gave Israel a free hand.

For the Islamic community in Dearborn, this apparent abandonment of their coreligionists in Gaza and later Lebanon was appalling. The conflict became a wedge issue for a substantial bloc of voters in a key swing state despite this group’s traditional reliability for the Democratic party.

Vice President Kamala Harris could only offer a continuation of the status quo. Former President Donald Trump advocated for even more unquestioning support for Israel.

Put yourself in the shoes of an Arab Muslim voter heading into the election. Harris’ policy of status quo would, on the surface, appear to be the lesser of two evils.

But what did the voters of Dearborn do?

In a seismic shift from 2020, huge swaths of lifetime Democrat voters dropped out, voted third party, or even voted for Trump. The Republican candidate took the state of Michigan only by 80,000 votes.

Nearly 18,000 Trump votes came from Dearborn to Harris’ 15,000. 7,600 votes from this area went to Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. With such razor-thin margins, one could argue the voters in Dearborn were instrumental in the Democratic loss.

On the surface, this would appear destructive to their interests seeing as the Republicans will likely empower Israel to pursue its war without restraint. While this assessment is likely reliable, the maneuver is to ensure the pro-Palestine voice is listened to in 2028 and beyond.

The Democratic Party assumed Arab and Muslim backing. They will not do that again.

Their leadership will have to reconcile policy decisions to a dedicated and morally resolved voter bloc.

Regardless of where one falls on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the mechanism of Dearborn’s role in the 2024 election is illustrative of the model: the only way to change the two-party system is to withhold support.

In 2028, the Democrats won’t be taking Dearborn’s support for granted. In the next election, don’t let either party take yours for granted either.

Joe McGraw is a staff writer at the Daily American Republic. He can be reached at jmcgraw@darnew.com.