Sanders at the UAW in Dearborn

DEARBORN — Michigan was one of many states “Feelin the Bern” during the primary election season when Senator Bernie Sanders (D- VT.) surprisingly upset Hillary Clinton.

Earlier this year, the Arab American community overwhelmingly backed Sanders, who also received an endorsement from The AANews. In Dearborn, he received an overwhelming two-thirds of the Arab vote.  Clinton’s campaign is hoping to recapture that momentum with the assistance of Sanders rallying behind her.

On Thursday, October 6, Sanders returned to the Dearborn UAW office to unite residents behind Clinton just one month ahead of the general election when she squares off against Republican Donald Trump.

Sanders ran through the talking points he emphasized during his presidential campaign, including minimum wage, healthcare, the criminal justice system, free higher education and the Flint water crisis.

He expressed his displeasure towards a dark turn the election has taken in recent months, with the media putting an emphasis on the candidates’ personalities.

“The media has played a bad role in focusing on personality,” Sanders told a laughing crowd. “…We aren’t voting for class president of our high school. This campaign is not a personality contest…We are finding that what this campaign is about is the survival of the American middle class.”

Sanders said that he’s traveled across the country to talk to residents about a “rigged economy.” He cited Trump’s tax returns as an example of that corrupt system.

“In one day we learned that a multi-billionaire, a man who owns mansions all over the world, who boasts how rich he is and how much money he has, does not pay a nickel in federal income taxes,” Sanders said. “And he’s proud of that, because he thinks we can just stiff the middle class.”

Sanders also discussed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, stating that it has given healthcare to an additional 18-20 million Americans who were previously uninsured.

He slammed Trump for insinuating that he would strip those healthcare plans away from those families, adding that Clinton’s goal would be to expand healthcare coverage.

“His response is to throw those 18-20 million people off of health insurance,” Sanders said. “I ask the Republican leaders, what happens to those people when they lose their health insurance? How many of those people are going to die? How many of them will suffer and become a lot sicker than they should have to be?”

Sanders urged the crowd, a majority of whom were young voters, to back Clinton because she understands the philosophy of tuition-free public colleges.

Sanders also spoke about the criminal justice system, adding that legislators need to pass bills that would create more jobs and keep young Americans in school.

“It is much more important to invest in education and jobs for our kids rather than kill and incarcerate them,” Sanders said. “We have too many kids who are unemployed, not in school, and too many kids who are hanging out in street corners, getting in trouble. Hillary Clinton understands, as much as I do, that the American people are tired of looking at those videos.”

Arab Americans react

Dearborn resident Mariam Jalloul, 22, told the AANews that she is a devout Sanders supporter who will now be casting her vote for Clinton.

“Senator Sanders really did a good job advocating for Hillary,” Jalloul said. “He advocated for unity and the importance of not electing Donald Trump.”

Jalloul recognized that some Arab Americans are choosing not to back Clinton because of her issues on foreign policy.  But she noted that it’s not worth having it come at the expense of a Trump presidency. 

“What I would tell my community is that this is truly just about an immediate threat,” Jalloul said. “Do I want Donald Trump to select the next several Supreme Court justices or do I want Hillary Clinton, who shares a lot of the same values that Bernie Sanders did during his election? Between the two candidates, when I think who is better off for our country, there’s no questions asked. It’s Hillary Clinton.”

Abdullah Hammoud, Democratic state rep candidate for the 15th District, was also at the rally and told The AANews that he also backed Sanders during the primary.

“It was exciting to see Bernie again,” Hammoud said. “I was a big supporter. His talking points were great. He talked about more than anything that this election is about us and not about one candidate. That resonated with the room more than anything.”

Hammoud is now urging the community to back Clinton, stating that the Democratic Party has adopted the most progressive platform–one that is very similar to Sanders’ original platform. He also asked residents to hold their elected officials accountable. 

“To the Arab people, Hillary might not be perfect on issues pertaining to the Arab and Muslim community,” Hammoud said. “But we need to hold them responsible for the decisions they make. We can’t do so if we just vote and walk away. We need to work together to ensure our voices are heard and that can get accomplished through mobilizing and organizing.”