Although Biden’s popularity among Democrats was on the decline <https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/approval/joe-biden/?ex_cid=abcpromo> before the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack that killed nearly 1,200 people, Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza, and his initial refusal to publicly question the Israeli government’s conduct as the war took shape, revealed a major shift within the Democratic coalition. Young voters led the way, although this should not have come as a surprise. In 2022, the Pew Research Center found that the youngest adults held the warmest views toward Palestinians <https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-israeli-palestinian-conflict-divide/>. Overall, 61 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds held a favorable view of Palestinians and 55 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds felt the same way.
By December, around half of young Democrats disapproved <https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/12/08/the-biden-administrations-response-to-the-war-between-israel-and-hamas/> of the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. As protests stepped up, rank-and-file Democrats moved further and further away from the president on this issue. By March, 75 percent <https://news.gallup.com/poll/642695/majority-disapprove-israeli-action-gaza.aspx> of Democrats disapproved of Israel’s military action in Gaza and a plurality of Democrats <https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/views-of-the-u-s-role-in-the-israel-hamas-war/> wanted to provide only humanitarian aid to Israel. Harris is also implicated in the administration’s policy toward Gaza and will have to deal with the changing politics of Israel within her party. Will a President Harris refrain from making additional weapons shipments? Will she attach humanitarian conditions to future military aid? Will she direct her U.N. ambassador to veto Palestinian requests for full membership in the global body? It is difficult to say. According to CNN <https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/politics/kamala-harris-israel-policy/index.html>, aides and allies who have talked with Harris say that “substantively there is little daylight between her and the president.” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/opinion/kamala-harris-netanyahu-israel-gaza.html -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31374): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31374 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107630252/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
