As President Biden’s aides and allies brace themselves for a potential electoral backlash in Michigan’s primary election over his Gaza policy, reinforcements are arriving from a pro-Israel outside group.
The political arm of the group, Democratic Majority for Israel, on Thursday began airing a 15-second digital ad, the first paid effort to lift Mr. Biden’s standing in the state. He is facing an organized effort to express anger over his support for Israel by persuading Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s primary.
The ad, which is targeted at Michigan Democrats, does not mention the Gaza conflict or Mr. Biden’s backing of Israel. Instead it warns that voting “uncommitted” will damage the president and aid former President Donald J. Trump in November.
“Voting uncommitted hurts Biden, which helps Donald Trump and his hateful agenda,” the ad says. “Stand against Trump. Vote for Joe Biden by February 27.”
Democratic Majority for Israel last bought advertising time in Michigan in the fall in an attempt to draw a challenger to Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American Democrat who has been among Mr. Biden’s most vocal intraparty critics on the Gaza conflict. Since then, no major challengers have emerged.
Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster who is the president of Democratic Majority for Israel, declined to say how much the group’s political action committee was spending in Michigan or how worried he was about Mr. Biden’s primary performance next week.
Listen to Michigan, the group led by Arab Americans in Michigan that has organized the uncommitted effort, said previously that it would spend about $250,000 on direct mail and digital advertising in the final weeks of the primary campaign.
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