Listen to Wisconsin

Late March was marked by a flurry of errands that needed to get got before Cole and I embarked on our 17-hour drive to Louisiana to celebrate one of his best friends’ wedding. High among them was voting. Wisconsin primary elections were to be held on April 2^ndand we wanted to make sure the deed was done before we left town. It was my first time voting in the US and that accounted for some of my eagerness. But mostly it was because of the Listen to Wisconsin “Vote Uninstructed” campaign.

The Listen to Wisconsin campaign was an interesting example of creatively using the democratic process to organize and express dissent with the goal of pressuring Biden’s administration to change its policy towards Gaza. I was whatsapping my family about it when my brother, Ahmed, told me he didn’t quite understand the ask or the implications of the results. So this one’s mostly for you ya 7amada.

First thing to get out of the way is what the heck are primary elections? They are an American oddity; a precursor to the general elections that are to be held in November 2024. They are elections that the Democratic and Republican parties use to select the candidates that are eventually going to run in the general (i.e. actual) election. So, for example, if the Republican party is torn about whether it should nominate candidate A, B, or C for the general election, the primaries help them gauge which candidate voters prefer so they can officially nominate them come November.

That part in itself is not that odd and I would go so far as to say it’s almost wholesome in principle. The shenanigans come in the next step.

One would think that whoever wins the primary vote in the different states then automatically becomes the party nominee for the general election. But that’s not what happens. Instead, there is this shady step between the primary and general elections. It involves delegates.  

Based on a whole mess of rules that vary state to state and are different for each of the two parties, the competing primary candidates are then awarded delegates. In 2024, the democratic party delegates are estimated at 4,672 while the republican party’s are around 2,429. These delegates then get together in an at least figuratively smokey room at their respective parties’ national conventions. There, they – the delegates - decide who should be the official party nominee in the general elections.  Critically and counterintuitively, depending on whether they are pledged or unpledged, these delegates do not have to support the presidential candidate they were awarded at the primaries. In other words, some of the delegates can decide to deviate from the voters’ pick. Shenanigans. Cole described it in a way that made it somewhat more palatable. He said to think of it as internal elections that might occur in other private entities – like Google or the Maadi Sports club. The entity itself gets to decide on the rules that govern this process. Similarly, the Democratic and Republican parties are private entities. And they decide on the rules of this “internal” primary elections.

Anyways, this is all moot for the Democratic party nominee since Biden is already the presumptive nominee because he crossed the majority delegate threshold back in March. But still the Listen to Wisconsin campaign was pushing for primary voters to vote uninstructed. Why?

Because it was a way to translate the increasingly pervasive feelings of rage at Biden’s unconditional support to Israel and its war on Gaza into a tangible number. A data point that allows dissenters to collectively flex their political muscles. And demand to be taken seriously as a voting bloc.

The Wisconsin campaign was inspired by the Listen to Michigan campaign which aimed to get 10,000 voters in Michigan to vote “uncommitted” and blew past its goal by getting over 100,000 uncommitted votes and securing two uncommitted delegates at the convention. A massive win that inspired similar initiatives across the country, beginning with Wisconsin.

In WI, the campaign was shooting to get 20,000 Wisconsinites to vote uninstructed, which was the slim margin with which Biden won over Trump in the 2020 elections. The campaign hit more than double its target with just over 48,000 voting uninstructed or just over 8% of the democratic presidential primary vote. Although that is well under the 15% of the statewide vote it needed to secure an uninstructed delegate at the Democratic National Convention, it was still a win because it created that meaningful data-point for the Biden administration to grapple with as they approach the general elections.

Perhaps more importantly though, it creates a meaningful number for the dissenters, one that’s indicative of the movement’s size and potential power. One for them - for us - to rally around. One of the hardest things in this moment we live in is the sense of oppressive helplessness that paralyzes people into inaction and acquiescence.  But the nearly 50,000 Wisconsin voters who went out of their way to indicate that they reject the US policy towards Gaza inspire anything but inaction. To my mind, this number gave a voice to the many who felt hopelessly voiceless. It gave agency. In this broken system that is the US democracy, it felt like a tiny ray of sunshine peeking through the cracks.

The Michigan campaign was able to mobilize approximately 1% of the state’s over 10 million residents to take a stance. While Wisconsin’s Arab population pales in comparison, the campaign was still able to mobilize 0.8% of Wisconsin’s almost 6 million residents. Arab or not, Wisconsinites are carrying their own weight and are actively choosing not to let Palestine go.

This particularly hit me when I was looking at a breakdown of the uninstructed vote in different counties in WI. Dane and Milwaukee counties had the highest number of instructed votes with 15% and 12% respectively. No surprise there since one county has the capital (Madison) and the other has the biggest city (Milwaukee). The surprise came when I saw which county tied with Milwaukee with 12% of its population voting uninstructed – Vernon County! That is the small county that Viroqua’s part of.

 

Dane, Milwaukee, and Vernon "uninstructed" votes

That gave me pause. Lately, my mood’s been trending gloomy, cynical, fatalistic. You name it. Sometimes that dismal cocktail of emotions manifested itself in mourning our living in Wisconsin because it has such a small Arab population. A mere 17,100. And wondering what it would feel like to be in a state like Michigan which has the highest number of Arab Americans, around 211,405. Though I’m sure the day-to-day life would be notably different, in terms of political impact, I’m realizing that Wisconsin is a beast.

Apart from the numbers though, I was reminded of all the initiatives and happenings that have been taking place in our little corner of small time Wisconsin.

I thought of Sura and Dale’s Gaza Community Conversations, which I unfortunately missed but heard was very well received.

And of Shawn and Akram’s Eid Dinner which was a wonderfully uplifting celebration of Palestinian culture and cuisine and was attended by over a 100 people. And felt like a much-needed communal hug.

And of Mandy arranging for the Palestinian dancer Leila Awadallah to come and share her art in our little town.

And Debbie organizing the Gaza Music Fundraiser to raise funds for the Middle East Children’s Alliance.

And for the nearly nonstop weekly Saturday protests at Mainstreet and Decker. Since October. Always at 11.

And the many other efforts, big and small, initiated by residents of the Driftless area. The fact that the random county of Vernon where all these people are doing their best to show solidarity with Palestine just so happened to have had the third highest percentage of uninstructed votes could be a coincidence. But I’m choosing to think it was not.

The Driftless community seems to be noticeably loud and obstinate in keeping Palestine in people’s hearts. And in this moment of global cognitive dissonance, knowing that brings me peace and comfort. And I find myself flooded with quiet gratitude for being a part of this community.