INTERSECTIONAL INCOHERENCE.

Hallowe'en is behind us, which makes it a good time to think about Pramila Jayapal.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) expressed her concern over President Joe Biden's position regarding Israel, warning him that it could cost him support among his base in 2024.

In an appearance on NBC News's Meet the Press, Jayapal expressed her support for Biden but pushed back on his stance toward Israel. She warned that his strong support for the Middle Eastern nation could cost him support among much of his base, who she said are on a different page in regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict."

The president needs to be just as courageous on this issue so that we keep the unity within our country for the support of the incredible things he has done," the Washington Democrat said. "He is, I think, you know, going to be challenged to explain an issue of this moral significance to people. The American people are actually quite far away from where the president and even Congress, the majority of Congress, has been on Israel and Gaza. They support the right for Israel to defend itself, to exist, but they do not support a war crime exchanged for another war crime. And I think the president has to be careful about that."

That "support for the right for Israel to defend itself, to exist" is no longer that strong within the Democrats' coalition.  "Biden's staunch support for Israel has exposed fault lines within the Democratic Party, as younger, progressive representatives continue to denounce Israel's behavior in the conflict and call for more support for the Palestinian cause." That's what happens when you try to stuff two parties into one.

The Democratic Party’s yearslong unity behind President Biden is beginning to erode over his steadfast support of Israel in its escalating war with the Palestinians, with a left-leaning coalition of young voters and people of color showing more discontent toward him than at any point since he was elected.

From Capitol Hill to Hollywood, in labor unions and liberal activist groups, and on college campuses and in high school cafeterias, a raw emotional divide over the conflict is convulsing liberal America.

While moderate Democrats and critics on the right have applauded Mr. Biden’s backing of Israel, he faces new resistance from an energized faction of his party that views the Palestinian cause as an extension of the racial and social justice movements that dominated American politics in the summer of 2020.

Put another way, the professional protest constituencies dialed it back toward fall, when it became clear that "fiery but mostly peaceful protests" stepped on the message that Dementia Joe was an anodyne Democrat.  Now when he has to pretend he's an anodyne Democrat after having run on and then implemented as much of the Bernie Sanders platform as Joe Manchin could swallow, the Moslem Caucus is going to discipline him.

I wonder, though, whether the Moslem Caucus is rejecting the false binary of electoral politics, or not.

The National Muslim Democratic Council, a nationwide group of Democratic leaders and activists, threatened President Joe Biden that if he does not force Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, a U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization, by 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, they will work to mobilize against him in the 2024 presidential election.

"It has become evident that our voices are being ignored, but our votes will not be. Simply put, as Gaza turns red, so could crucial battleground states," the council said in a letter Monday to the White House and Democratic Party.

"Your administration's unconditional support, encompassing funding and armaments, has played a significant role in perpetuating the violence that is causing civilian casualties and has eroded trust in voters who previously put their faith in you," the group also wrote.

"We will mobilize increased voter turnout to make our voices heard," the council also wrote. It added that Michigan, a swing state with a large Muslim population that went for former President Donald Trump in 2016, went for Biden by 2.6% in 2020.

"We emphasize the significance of Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, where many of our voters reside," the group also said.

I don't know, selling Donald Trump or Nikki Haley to people who see Iranian intelligence officers or jihadi terrorist leaders as martyrs doesn't strike me as a credible threat.  On the other hand, if those younger so-called progressives stay home, Donald Trump has a lot more loyal voters than Dementia Joe, while Nikki Haley appeals to those suburban moms who might be disgusted both with Donald Trump and with their local school boards.

Either way, that might not be good for Dementia Joe's re-election chances or for his coat-tails.  "Biden is alienating young and left-leaning voters."  Specifically,

When the international community came together last week to address the escalating violence, it became clear that the United States would veto any call for a ceasefire. On October 18, Brazil put forward a resolution which, in addition to condemning Hamas terror, simply called for “pauses” in the fighting to allow for humanitarian aid to go to Gaza, where Israel has cut off all water, food, medical supplies, power, and fuel. The United States vetoed it anyway, casting the only negative vote in that fifteen-member body. The United States has also unsuccessfully tried to push through a resolution that condemns Hamas and supports Israel’s military response, but does not call for a ceasefire.

While rightwing evangelicals are supporting the going war, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church, and most major Protestant denominations have gone on record calling for a ceasefire. Major American peace and human rights organizations have endorsed a ceasefire as well. Polls show nearly two-thirds of Americans, including 80 percent of Democrats, believe the Biden Administration should support de-escalation and a ceasefire.

Biden has, of course, rejected that. Indeed, the State Department is actively discouraging diplomats working on Middle East issues from saying the U.S. wants to see less violence. A leaked memo in mid-October forbade U.S. diplomats working on Middle East issues from using the phrases “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed,” and “restoring calm.” As a result, there has been growing dissent among career State Department officials over the Biden Administration’s policies, leading to several resignations.

A bill in the U.S. House Representatives was introduced by Representative Cori Bush, Democrat of Missouri, calling for a ceasefire, yet so far it has received less than two dozen endorsers in the 435-member legislative body and rejections by the majority of Congressional Democrats who continue to support the ongoing Israeli assault. The overwhelming majority of Congressional Democrats, therefore, are siding with the rightwing Christian fundamentalists against the mainline churches and with Netanyahu against peace and human rights organizations.

What's missing from that picture, dear reader?   (No, I'm not looking for "television commercials touting the Rapture.")  That Hamas raid has brought clarity to the sort of secular-progressive, ethnically Jewish Democrat who might disagree with the "mainline churches" (they're not) on theology but be with them on process, in a way that worked for voting rights and might have worked for the sexual underground, but apparently the "peace process" hasn't damped down the Philistines, and their amen corner in the Hamas Caucus is prompting second thoughts, about supporting Democrats as well as about funding universities.  There's a lot more to reflect on in the relationship between secular-progressive Jews and the current incarnation of the Democratic Party: for now it suffices to note that's not a natural Republican constituency either.

On the other hand, if some of the people who thought having a president signing executive orders was a good thing as long as they were favorable executive orders, e.g. shutting down pipelines, selling the strategic reserves are now suffering a mugging by reality, maybe that will encourage a rethinking of Presidential Power.

Polls also show a majority of Americans do not support sending additional military aid to Israel, but Biden is calling for an additional $10 billion in military aid to enable them to continue their war on Gaza. There appears to be little opposition in Congress.

All this is leading to serious questions regarding the level of democracy in this country where the executive branch and a large majority of the legislative branch are pursuing policies so counter to the will of the majority of the nation’s citizens on what has become in recent weeks the biggest political issue in the news.

Dear reader, what do I keep telling you about political bundles being too big?

Regarding public opinion, there is a huge divide by age. While older voters tend to see Zionism and the establishment of a Jewish state as a manifestation of a national liberation movement by a historically-oppressed people, younger voters see it more as a settler-colonial enterprise that assumes supremacy of a particular religious/ethnic group over an Indigenous population. While Zionism certainly contains both of these elements, younger voters—who are more ethnically diverse and more cognizant of issues of racial justice and Indigenous rights—tend to be far more sympathetic to the Palestinians than their elders.

Younger voters are as horrified at Hamas terror attacks as anyone, but they are also horrified at Israeli terror bombing and the crippling siege of Gaza and U.S. support for it. According to a recent poll, while a sizable majority of voters over age fifty “fully support” Israel’s war on Gaza, barely one-quarter of voters under thirty-five support it.

The Biden Administration has ended up with some striking parallels to that of Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s—a surprisingly progressive domestic policy combined with a foreign policy of supporting brutal dictatorships, excessive military spending, and the terror bombing of civilians. Yet, unlike Johnson in 1968, there are no serious primary challengers with an antiwar and pro-human rights agenda representing the majority of Democrats.

When there are two political parties whose leadership insists on unconditional support for and military aid to a far-right government that is bombing crowded residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, and fleeing refugees, there are going to be a lot of people who are going to refuse to vote for either of them. Many of those who may vote for Democrats are less likely to campaign for, or contribute money to, pro-war Democrats or Democratic campaign committees.

Perhaps there aren't those serious challengers, because there is no "majority of Democrats" that can find agreement on enough of those oversized bundles that Big Government offers us. In addition, there's that turnout problem again.  Perhaps enough people could be persuaded that an anodyne Democrat was better than Donald Trump in the White House, but even a Democrat president in full control of his faculties could have trouble buying enough votes now.

Youth turnout and voter enthusiasm has been critical to Democratic victories in recent years. Elections where young people vote in lesser numbers or vote for a third party in higher numbers can result in Democratic defeats. In both the 1968 and 2004 elections, Democrats narrowly lost elections they otherwise would have won because their nominee supported a war large numbers of Democratic-leaning voters saw as illegal and immoral . Will this be Biden’s fate in 2024?

Lincoln Brown at Pajamas Media suggests not.

Blue voters will still vote blue, no matter what is going on in and around Israel. They will still marshal their hatred of Donald Trump or whoever replaces him, shout their abortions, live their truths, remove or attach whatever body parts they are enamored of that day, and vote against the Republicans. It isn't as if the National Muslim Democratic Council is going to start registering voters for the GOP just out of spite or in the name of retaliation. They may call for voters to stay home, though I doubt anyone will. But Biden, already foundering with his own party, and the down-ticket candidates may find a fight they did not want or anticipate.

In 2020, the electorate voted to gridlock the Federal Government, and they would have accomplished that had Donald Trump not injected his grievance tour into the Senate runoffs in Georgia.  That's still the most likely outcome for next year, although who knows what sort of more purposeful coalition might emerge in the next year.