US President Joe Biden may face serious political repercussions from the fact that Democrats remain at odds over the POTUS' stance on the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Democratic strategists told an American media outlet.
They pointed to growing dismay among younger Democrats and minority voters over the fallout from the Israel-Hamas hostilities, which they argued could hurt Biden's chances in the 2024 presidential election.
Longtime Democratic strategist Tad Devine said called the situation a “real issue” because he said an important part of the base of Biden’s support is “upset substantively” due to the current events in Israel and the Middle East.
“How big of a problem is it? If the election were in two weeks, it would be a really big problem. Fortunately, the election is in 11 months. I do think there’s a lot of room for the president and his administration to improve on a lot of these issues, not just the issue of the moment in Israel,” Devine added.
He was echoed by Bob Borosage, a leading progressive activist and co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, who told the US news outlet that if Israel continues bombing Gaza, it would lead to an “outcry here” and growing divisions in the Democratic Party.
Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, for his part admitted that Biden has problems with young people, who do not share “all of his policy objectives”, especially those pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"To Hamas’s members, every ceasefire is time they exploit to rebuild their stockpile of rockets, reposition fighters and restart the killing by attacking innocents again,” Biden argued.
Meanwhile, an NBC News poll conducted by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies has revealed that about 70% of voters aged 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the IDF-Hamas armed standoff.