In advance of Pennsylvania’s presidential primary election tomorrow, Uncommitted PA is pushing Pennsylvania voters to vote “uncommitted” in protest of President Joe Biden‘s support for Israel.
As the campaign is faced with the challenge of trying to get voters to the polls after Biden was named the Democratic nominee, it relies on grassroots organizing and a healthy dose of anti-Biden memes.
Uncommitted PA is the latest in a series of protest primary vote campaigns aimed at communicating to the Biden Administration that “they’re losing the voters they need to win the November election” if the President doesn’t support a ceasefire in Gaza. Like similar campaigns in Michigan and Wisconsin, Uncommitted PA is leveraging that state’s battleground status.
After Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Biden showed unwavering support for Israel and sent the country weapons and monetary aid. Though he has since had contradictory reactions to the rising number of Palestinian casualties—over 33,000—Biden has signaled he will sign another aid package to Israel that was passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend.
And Biden’s wishy-washiness on Gaza has only fueled the protest vote campaigns: Listen to Michigan, a campaign that urged Michigan voters to write “uncommitted” in the state’s February primary, received over 100,000 votes.
Uncommitted MN, Minnesota’s effort, garnered over 45,000 votes on Super Tuesday in March.
And Listen to Wisconsin, a similar campaign that pushed Wisconsin voters to vote “uninstructed,” got over 47,000 votes earlier this month.
Uncommitted PA is shooting for 40,000 votes and the campaign announced it contacted that many voters last week. Unlike Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, Pennsylvania ballots don’t offer an official “uncommitted” option, so Uncommitted PA organizers are asking voters to write-in “uncommitted.”
In addition to contacting voters directly, Uncommitted PA is also reaching voters by meme-ing Biden’s support of Israel, his reaction to the protest vote, and the limited humanitarian aid he’s approved for Gaza.
Using a popular The Office meme, one post says “Biden vetoing Palestinian statehood at the UN and continuing to send Israel weapons” and “Israel killing over 33,000 Palestinians with an average age of five years old” are the same thing.
Another post utilizes the well-known “Guy Looking at Girl” meme to communicate that “Genocide Joe” might be offended by voters interest in the uncommitted movement.
One meme likens Biden giving Israel “weapons to bomb more playgrounds” to a cargo ship overflowing with goods and U.S. aid to Palestine to a swan paddle boat.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, Uncommitted PA said they “were glad to be able to incorporate art and comedy into [their] communications.”
“Our comms team not only developed content, but sourced original content from volunteers, video professionals, artists and more,” the campaign told the Daily Dot. “We believe that everyone has a role to play in an anti-war movement.”
And Uncommitted PA’s creative outreach efforts seem to be resonating with voters.
“Yall better be voting uncommitted with the amount of memes this account has made about it,” a Pennsylvania voter commented on one of Uncommitted PA’s memes.
By the campaign’s count, the write-in vote in Pennsylvania was over 58,000. But tallying write-in votes for “uncommitted” specifically is tricky: Pennsylvania tallies all write-in votes, regardless of what was written in, together. Uncommitted PA stated on its website that it contacted Pennsylvania county election offices to alert them of the campaign and get more information on how write-in votes are processed.
“Biden only won the Commonwealth by 80,000 votes in 2020,” Uncommitted PA told the Daily Dot. “We have sent a clear message in the key swing state of Pennsylvania: to secure victory in our state in November, Biden must drastically change course in Gaza.”
This story has been updated with quotes from Uncommitted PA.
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