Young Michigan voters reveal deepening political problems for Biden seven months after start of Israel-Hamas war

Ann Arbor, Michigan CNN —

The nervous Democrat in Jade Gray will get to the worrying part soon enough. But graduating college surrounded by demonstrations and protest was a full circle moment worth cherishing.

“It was in my application letter that this was a campus with a history of protests, a rich history of social justice movements,” Gray said in an interview at the University of Michigan Student Union.

“It was in my application letter,” she repeated with a smile. “I have to be proud that’s the response on campus now. Although the situation is dire, and I’m not remotely happy with what is going on in the world, I am impressed with how people are responding to it. And I think we should feel empowered and inspired by that.”

Now to the worrying part.

Gray spoke to us alongside fellow new graduate Anushka Jalisatgi. They were co-presidents of the campus College Democrats and they know the pro-Gaza encampment that sprung up on campus for the final weeks of school is a sign of deep political problems for President Joe Biden in a state he likely cannot afford to lose.

“All roads to the White House go through Michigan,” Gray said. “Michigan is up for grabs, and I did not think I would be saying this right now. And I wish I wasn’t saying this right now. But I am genuinely concerned about which way Michigan will go.”

Jalisatgi will be back on campus to start law school in September and hopes there is no encampment.

“Joe Biden has the ability to make sure that there isn’t,” she said. “And that starts with calling for a cease fire, for listening to his student voters across the country.”

A sign in the encampment at the University of Michigan in May 2024.

Jalisatgi and Gray are part of a 2024 CNN project designed