Uncommitted to Resistance, Committed to Donors, Part II
By Julia Kassem – Aug 30, 2024
As was described in an earlier article, the Uncommitted Project was an exercise in ultimately garnering support for the Democratic party among constituents disillusioned by the genocide in Gaza.
With more than ever convergence between the Democratic and Republican establishment on domestic and international positions and policy, changes in the level of public opinion on Palestine, while irrelevant with the ruling class support of the Zionist entity and still a minority in the public opinion of Americans as a whole, serves as a barometer for how said ruling class sends its messaging to key and swing constituencies – whose opinion, especially to the Democratic party with regards to Muslim voters that make-or-break their elections – as an exercise in marketing politics rather than listening to demands.
Even though earlier studies have shown over two-thirds of Americans favor an end to the carnage in Gaza – including 77% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans, their will falls on deaf ears. A comprehensive study on Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page found that “even when large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they don’t get it,” indicating that changes pushed by the public on a national scale only take place when there is some convergence with the interests of the ruling class.
This verifies what history chronicles: that public opinion is completely inconsequential in changing any aspect of policy, that policy is only responsive and accountable to economic elites, and the only times when the will of the people is translated into policy is when it can be converged or distorted to serve bourgeois interests (which happens, for example when issues/demands are co-opted, watered down, or given as a too-little-too late concession in order to achieve a larger, more significant benefit that cancels out the intended impact of such demand for change).
As was described in an earlier article, the Uncommitted Project was an exercise in ultimately garnering support for the Democratic party among constituents disillusioned by the genocide in Gaza.
But immediately, many students and grassroots actors saw how well curated the campaign’s materials were, how deeply embedded in the careerist electoral ladder its local leadership is, and how well funded it was.
“It was very strange to me how [Uncommitted] suddenly get all these lawn signs, professional social media graphics and websites, and campaign materials, just like how the Democratic Party would get them, like how quick they were to do for Kamala. They were so quick to do it for unrestricted,” says Mariana, a student. She also added that phone bankers were reportedly getting paid up to $25 dollars for 40 hours.
Nadine, another student, joined in on a call where Uncommitted leadership were recruiting youth for canvassing and phone banking.
“Who exactly is listen to Wisconsin? We have seen people ask about who runs them, and they have been very standoffish about it. Full transparency about who *specifically* is leading this campaign and who is funding this campaign is essential,” she asks.
She received a response from one of the moderators “It seems like you have a question? What exactly are you referring to?”
Not wanting to play into the fake ignorance, Nadine’s follow up was more pressing.
“Question,” she asked in the chat box during a zoom call, “how are you able to afford to pay so many people $25 an hour for 40+ hours?”
Minutes later, she was kicked out of the call.
In Michigan, where the project is rooted, the top funders to the local chapters “Listen to Michigan” fund are the Movement Voter Project and Arab Americans for Progress, linked to local Representative Rashida Tlaib and managed by the large regional ACCESS nonprofit.
Uncommitted collaborates with the Sunrise Movement, Dream Defenders, Mpower Change, Emgage (an organization that mobilizes Muslims to vote and run for Democratic seats, whose leadership advocated for normalization of Israel and destruction of Syria), DSA, ADC, State Power Caucus, and other nonprofits that work alongside the Democratic Party Establishment.
The Uncommitted Movement is Uncommitted to Resistance, Committed to the Establishment
The Movement Voter Project is a large NGO that supports and funds front “grassroots” organizations to drive Kamala Harris and Democrats into the white house. Its the powerhouse for astroturfing electoralism into the pro-Palestinian movement, shepherding otherwise disillusioned young activists to the Blue Party’s most unlikeable candidate, “Top Cop” Kamala through “the most well funded ‘grassroots’ voter mobilization in history.”
The MVP plays an incredible role in shaping, driving, and funding the Uncommitted campaigns nationwide, focusing especially hard on Michigan and Wisconsin. MVP also outlines a clear timeline, called a “Permission structure,” for absorbing disillusioned people disgusted with the Democratic party’s disgusting execution of the Gaza genocide into that same party, aiming to “engage alienated potential Dem voters.”
The slogan of “voting against fascism,” repeated by Uncommitted campaign organizers and rooted in Hillary Clinton’s Vote Blue No Matter Who campaign in 2016, is an end goal again applied here. The strategy makes a clear goal to absorb voters disgusted with the genocide in from August (in other words, “non partisan voting,” or uncommitted) and have them, via organizations MVP funds and backs move to “vote against fascism” and “vote against Trump” by fall. It couldn’t be more necessary for Uncommitted’s charade outside the DNC to take place, which enabled it to create a point of tangency between the parter and anti-genocide “potential voters.”
“Listen to Michigan” already doing membership drives, such as in an event part of the Michigan Democratic Party Convention in Lansing where their first agenda item is to sign up potential voters, absorb them into the Democratic Machine, and encourage people to forego putting material, tactical pressure to end the genocide and instead “collectively support pro-peace candidates” – as if the Democratic Party doesn’t have more of a track record of co-optation rather than reform. This, one of many examples, falls in line with MVP’s strategy and timeline.
Other states also have their own deep webs of funding consolidated by their respective electoral PACs. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Uncommitted Campaign is funded by the DSA, a Democratic Party faux-Marxist arm. DSA which admits to suffering from tanking membership, working closely with Uncommitted on the ground in several states. David O’ Keefe, a Wisconsin Uncommitted leader and organizer, is a member of DSA – whose Madison chapter endorsed Francesca Hong in May.
Despite recently signing a symbolic and lukewarm solidarity letter for Palestine written by “Listen to Wisconsin,” that state’s own Uncommitted group, Hong supports ultra-Zionist University of Wisconsin Hillel and has signed onto letters for the Zionist group Jewish Federation.
In December, she also denounced pro-Palestinian students on campus protesting against Hillel, with its clear links to fuelling the propaganda and settler occupation project via young Jewish Americans, by denouncing their actions as “antisemitic” and “targeting Jewish students.”
In Maryland, Uncommitted is paid for by Listen to Maryland/Unity Lab PAC, launched in early 2024 prior to the primaries. It had listed spending nearly $15,000 “against Democrats”. However, the PAC claimed, during primaries, that “voting Uncommitted will vote to send an Uncommitted Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, where the Democratic Nominee is selected and the Party Platform is voted on.” Again, not hiding the pretense of voting Democrat, but giving some pretext of an election that never happened.
In Oregon, Uncommitted is supported by the Progressives for Democracy in America a PAC close to Democrat former lawmaker Peter Defazio. Its top donor is Mandate Media, which funded the public relations strategy for the group, as well as many Democratic party candidates and campaigns, including 20 years of support for Oregon Democrat Ron Wyder, an ardent Zionist who gave repeated support to U.S. arms to “Israel” and Ukraine, opposes BDS, and pushes for tougher measures on “Russia, Iran and their proxies.”
In Washington, Uncommitted is ran by the American Muslim Advancement Council, filed with the FEC only in March 2024, around the time of the primary vote. There isn’t much clear info on the breakdown of its donors. And in New Mexico, the Escucha a Nuevo Mexico PAC filed in May 2024, just before the primaries, also with little information on funders and donors.
Just like Palantir’s genocidal AI tools see Palestinians, and their whole families, as no more than dead bodies, it’s clear that the Democratic Party, through its many public marketing tools, see Arabs, Muslims, and all American citizens disgusted with the genocide no more than a lifeless tally votes, at their disposal in time for elections, but for disposal once Team Blue, no Matter Who is in office.
Julia Kassem
Writer and Researcher.
