“This Is a Movement of Hope”: Wisconsin’s Uninstructed Campaign Has Momentum

“We demand an end to this genocide, an immediate cease-fire and an end to military funding [of Israel],” says Reema Ahmad, a Palestinian organizer leading the Uninstructed campaign in Wisconsin. ​“We’re using our votes to voice this protest.”

Wisconsin has been one of the most anticipated stops of the Uncommitted national movement, an effort that has galvanized a surprising number of voters in a slew of states since it was launched in Michigan in late February when some 100,000 voters filled in ​“Uncommitted” on their primary ballots.

Organizers in Wisconsin are rallying voters fill in the ​“Uninstructed delegation” option on the Democratic presidential primary section of the ballot on April 2.

The campaign released a letter on Sunday signed by 20 elected officials of various positions throughout Wisconsin endorsing the Uninstructed campaign, and in a press release called on others to add their names and ​“support voters’ demands for an immediate, unconditional and lasting cease-fire and serious steps toward lasting peace in Gaza.” At least four more officials have signed. 

The letter was written by State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Wisc.) and states that elected officials ​“have an undeniable responsibility to stand with the Palestinian people in loving solidarity and demand an end to military aid to Israel and ensure the taxpayers are no longer complicit in a genocide that is funded by our government.” 

Turnout is going to be key for Biden in 2024 and his campaign will need grassroots organizers like Ahmad to help get voters to the polls. Her message to his campaign is simple: ​“The ball is in Biden’s court.”

“Meet the demands of the majority of Americans today,” she says, ​“If you care about democracy.”

To better understand the motivations behind the letter and the campaign, Riley Roliff of In These Times interviewed Hong and another elected official who signed the letter, Milwaukee County Supervisor and State Rep. Ryan Clancy, as well as organizer Kyle Johnson, political director of the Milwaukee-based organization Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) who has also been organizing with Listen to Wisconsin and the Uninstructed campaign. 

One of the most poignant parts of the interview was when Johnson, in a sentiment echoed by others, framed the Uninstructed campaign as ​“a movement of hope.”

“This is a movement of hope. This is a movement of motivation. This is a movement of pulling people into the process who otherwise would stay home,” Johnson told Roliff. 

“This is us telling Biden, sending a message to the Democratic Party, sending a message to the White House, that one, we’re trying to save the conscience of this nation, we’re trying to save the conscience of a party. But two, you’re not going to win if you continue to take these actions.”

Wisconsin’s April 2 primary also coincides with primaries in Rhode Island and Connecticut, where the Connecticut Palestine Solidarity Coalition (including the state chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace Action and the Democratic Socialists of America) are urging voters to choose ​“Uncommitted.”

Following the primaries on April 2, there are other options for voters to join the Uncommitted national movement — in Alaska on April 6, Wyoming on April 13, Maryland on May 14, Kentucky on May 21, Idaho on May 23, Montana (called ​“No Preference”) and New Jersey and New Mexico on June 4, and the Virgin Islands on June 8.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

Riley Roliff: Why have you endorsed the Uninstructed campaign in Wisconsin? Why is the campaign so important? 

Francesca Hong: I’ve been hearing a lot in the last four years that democracy is a verb. And for me, the Uninstructed campaign is the strongest way to show that our democracy is an action (a verb) and that democracy can actually be by the people and for the people. 

It starts with folks feeling empowered that their vote and the urgency of their vote can lead to action. And not only do we hold elected officials accountable with this vote, but we’re coming together around a campaign that has broad support from folks of all different backgrounds, all different beliefs. I think that is the best way we show that our democracy is healthy and strong — when we actually come together for a cause and that no matter what your zip code is, it matters to you.

Ryan Clancy: I’m likely going to vote Uninstructed. I am normally a huge fan of early voting, but in this case, I am waiting until the very last minute because I fervently hope that Biden will make a significant policy change and not just call for a cease-fire, but make a cease-fire happen. President Biden could end this with a phone call, any American president in recent memory could, by simply saying that we will stop the aid and stop the political cover.

I don’t want another four years of Donald Trump, that would be an incredibly terrible prospect. I don’t even need to go into the many ways that would be bad for many people. And I know that in speaking to so many folks both on the Left and under 30, that many people that I’m close to are throwing up their hands and saying that they’re not going to vote in November and that they’re out, they’re not engaging in this political process. The Uninstructed movement really is a way to re-engage folks and, I think, represents Biden’s best chance at a victory and making sure that we don’t have another four years of Trump.

Kyle Johnson: There’s two layers for me. One is just from a relational perspective. I know quite a few Palestinian-Americans. And just as a friend, to hear what they’re going through, to hear that they’re worried about family over there, to hear that they’ve lost family, it hits you on a human level that nothing else can. So even outside of this being the morally right thing to do, and being in this work and putting your line in the sand, having that human connection with folks who are going through so much pain and suffering and pain and loss, that’s the first and foremost reason why I’m a part of this movement.

But secondly, as someone who does this work politically, civically, and someone who has gotten Joe Biden elected, and as an American taxpayer, there’s those levels, too. There’s a lot of tie-ins as far as drawing direct lines from the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement to what we’re going through right now. And we can’t miss out on the fact that there was such a wide range of Palestinian American support for that movement, Muslim support, Arab American support for us. So we have to show up for them in these times, too. That’s what solidarity is about. That’s what this country is about.

But what it really comes down to is that Americans, myself included, are tired of the military industrial complex and the war machine constantly churning and constantly driving. Almost $4 billion a year goes to Israel to provide weapons of war. And our calls are simple. We know that money can be used to foster and develop human life and not end it, whether that’s in America, or in Gaza, or in the West Bank.

So BLOC is part of this call, because at the end of the day, we have to stop the destruction of human life. We believe in the sanctity of human life, we believe that war is wrong. And that’s the intersection of all these issues, that our money as taxpayers are being used to end human life. And we can’t stand for that.

Roliff: Wisconsin is obviously such a critical battleground state. How do you respond to the critics who are saying that the Uninstructed campaign hurts Biden’s chance of winning the presidency and in turn helps Trump?

Johnson: I’ve been having these conversations quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. And it’s all about the framing. And I know a lot of people are worried about democracy and worried about Trump getting back in and those are valid concerns. This is a movement of hope. This is a movement of motivation. This is a movement of pulling people into the process who otherwise would stay home. Sometimes you gotta help people help themselves. This is us telling Biden, sending a message to the Democratic Party, sending a message to the White House, that one, we’re trying to save the conscience of this nation, we’re trying to save the conscience of a party. But two, you’re not going to win if you continue to take these actions.

We have a wide coalition of people across class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, who are saying we put in blood, sweat and tears and voted for you in 2020 because of ideals that you stood for and that you spoke on. That’s not matching right now. We want to come out and vote for you at the ballot box in November. But at the end of the day, we can’t overlook a genocide in order to do so. When it comes to genocide, there’s no lesser of two evils there. And I’m never going to put myself in the position of overlooking genocide in the endeavor of lesser of two evils. We are infusing a lot of strength and a lot of energy into this campaign, but we need Joe Biden to stop the genocide. We need him to make a very simple phone call and to continue to work to get Netanyahu to stop the death. Otherwise, we’re ready to line up on you.