Michigan Advance reports:

Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) expressed support Friday for a campaign asking Democratic voters unhappy with President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war to vote “uncommitted” in Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

“I do think it makes sense for those who want to see this administration do more, or do a better job, to exert that political pressure and get the president’s attention and the attention of those on his campaign so that the United States does better,” O’Rourke said in a Friday interview with the Michigan Advance.

O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020 and later endorsed Biden, will visit northern Michigan on Saturday as part of a book tour.

O’Rourke said he read an opinion piece by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud endorsing the campaign that was published in the New York Times this week, which he said was “well-written and well-argued.” The campaign has also been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.).

“I agree with the aims and the goals. We should have a ceasefire, there should be a return of each [and] every single one of those hostages [taken by Hamas], there should be an end to this war and there should be a negotiated solution to Palestinian statehood,” O’Rourke said. “All of that needs to happen, and I share the concern that the United States is not doing close to enough to bring those things to pass.”

The campaign is not without precedent, O’Rourke said. [Continue reading…]