Say Something Real
Protest Voters Must Figure Out Where This Route Will Lead
By Michelle Bryant
Michelle Bryant
We knew the “uncommitted” or “uninstructed delegation” train was coming. We stood by and waited to see what this political locomotive could do. We’d heard about its performance in other states. On track since February, the train left the station in Michigan. Rail cars were packed with those intent on making their calls for a ceasefire and humane treatment, of innocent Palestinians, caught in the middle of the Israel-Hamas war. More than 100,000 voters decided to check the “uncommitted” box on their ballot. Hoping to send a decisive message to President Biden that they want him to do more to stop America from funding and providing support for the indiscriminate loss of life, in Gaza.
It didn’t take long for other states to follow suit. Inspiring organizers across the country to get engaged, new stops on the “uncommitted” train route quickly came on board. Minnesota, North, Carolina, Washington, Hawaii, Colorado, and Massachusetts helped secure hundreds of thousands of takers.
On April 2nd, a noteworthy number of Wisconsin voters bought a ticket and took the train across party lines. Entering polling locations all over the state, both Democrat and Republican voters checked the “uninstructed delegation” box on ballots. Roughly 50,000 residents, of the Badger state, said they agreed with this form of protest and hoped to send a message to both Biden and our national leaders. Do something. Do Something. Do something to stop the famine, destruction, and death of innocent people.
The Biden/Harris administration and members of Congress aren’t the only Americans facing tough decisions, though. We are now reaching a point on the tracks, a cross arm in the protest, that the politics of it all, will require a conclusion about direction. The Presidential Primaries were one thing. The November 2024 election is for keeps. Well, at least for the next 4 years. Traversing uncharted territory, everyone is asking how far are the protest organizers and riders willing to go? Others will tell you that we have not gone far enough.
In the meantime, our democratic process is chugging along. Delegates are being awarded to candidates and even to the “uncommitted” groups, in some of the protesting states. We didn’t have enough “uninstructed delegation” votes, in Wisconsin, for this to be an issue at the national party conventions. But, make no mistake, when a mere 20,000 votes decided the presidential election outcome, in our state in 2020, we’d all better figure out where we are headed.