An "Abandon Harris" movement would throw the baby out with the bathwater

The US Democrats may be more united than they were, but no political party is a monolith, and divisions still persists.

One of the biggest such division is the attitudes towards Israel and Palestine. You'd think this was just one issue among many, and that people should just get over themselves in the interests of party unity. But it remains a potential sticking point in Democratic support.

While Joe Biden was the Democrats' chosen candidate, there was the "Abandon Biden" campaign, which sought to mobilize voters against Biden because of his staunch pro-Israel stance. Now, with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, there is a smaller and slightly less strident "Abandon Harris" campaign, since she is seen as carrying on most of Biden's policies, including his approach to Middle Easter politics. 

There is a sense that Ms. Harris may be allowed a little more grace and latitude than Biden because her views on Israel and Palestine are a bit less pro-Israel than Biden's. But there are still many activists out there who would apparently be willing to sacrifice Ms. Harris if she is seen not to be sufficiently pro-Palestine. 

A coalition of some 200 "social justice organizations" are planning to march outside the Democratic National Comvention this week, calling for an end to American funding of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza. They will not give Ms. Harris a pass short of a strongly worded statement of support for Palestine and against American support for Israel, which she is unlikely to do.

While I might agree with many of their demands, I still find it bizarre that these people are willing to throw under the bus the Democrats' chances of forming a government over a single issue. In calling for people - Muslims, Blacks, Latinos and Gen Zers - to withhold their vote from Kamala Harris, they are only strengthening the hand of one, Donald Trump. And how do they think HE will treat the Palestinians?

Plus, this is just one issue among many. The November federal election is not just - and not mainly - about Palestine; it is about the economy, jobs, women, immigrants, climate change, and so many other important things. Withholding support from Ms. Harris because her views on Palestine do not align exactly with theirs would be cutting off one's nose to slight one's face in the strongest possible way.

Maybe, when physically faced with a ballot paper offering the stark choice between Harris and Trump, these people will stop to think about some of these other issues. But somehow I think that some of them are so committed to their cause that they will follow through and not vote for the best candidate simply because their views on one specific issue do not align. Strategic voting is just not in their vocabulary. I can only hope that that particular sub-group is a small one indeed.