US elections 2024: After decades of driving around DC's political elite, these cabbies are voting Stein
Shakeel Ahmed has been driving a cab in Washington DC for the last two decades. Throughout his time taking passengers all over the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia area, he has come to know the city and its politics intimately.
He has driven around more politicians than he can remember, and is all too familiar with the halls of power in the city, like Washington DC's K Street, where the bulk of the city's lobbyists have offices.
The people who've sat in his cab have ranged from all over the political spectrum, from progressive Senator Bernie Sanders to Louisiana's former Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.
For Ahmed, a Pakistani-Muslim immigrant, when the decision of who to vote for happens every four years, he traditionally votes Democrat. But times have changed.
"Since I became a US citizen, I've been voting for the Democrats. I voted Democrat for Clinton, for Obama, and I even voted for the Democrats against George W Bush," said Ahmed.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
But when it comes to foreign policy in today's world, for him there is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans.
As a result of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza which is supported by the US, he and other cab drivers like him have decided to vote for the Green Party for the first time.
"I received a call the other day from someone asking me who I'll vote for. And I told them I'm voting for the Green Party. I told them that with all the atrocities the Palestinians are facing, the Democrats haven't taken any steps to stop it."
'I am definitely not going to vote Democrat this time because of how many Palestinians they have helped kill'
- Tahir Huppal, taxi driver
The person then asked Ahmed who he would vote for in the other categories on the ballot, given that no Green Party candidates exist in other federal-level offices that are up for grabs and state legislature contests.
"The question made me think deeply about who I am going to vote for down the ballot, but I know for certain that I'm not going to vote for the Democrats," Ahmed said.
"In terms of the election results, it's going to be either Harris or Trump. There's no chance a third party could win at this moment - that's for certain. But our hope is that there could be a rupture in this two-party system, one that would benefit America and the world."
Middle East Eye spoke to several cab drivers working in the DC area about the 2024 elections and their outlook for the US. All of them said that while they had always voted Democrat in previous elections, they vowed not to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris or any other Democratic candidate on their ballots.
The Green Party's Jill Stein has pledged, that if she is elected, her first priority in office would be to impose an arms embargo on Israel. She has said that what is happening in Gaza “makes any genocide pale by comparison” and has made ending the war a key pillar of her party platform.
Her stance has struck a chord with many of the 2.5 million registered Muslim voters in the United States. And while Muslims are a marginal amount in the entire pool of registered voters, they could make an impact in several swing states.
Similar to many other cab drivers of his generation, Tahir Huppal has been driving a taxi for more than 20 years.
He said he is abandoning the Democrats but is deciding on whether or not to vote for Stein of the Green Party.
"I am definitely not going to vote Democrat this time because of how many Palestinians they have helped kill by funding Israel's military. They're giving them money, weapons, everything," said Huppal.
"And then on top of that, they claim to be trying to achieve a ceasefire. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has no pressure to agree to one. He has all the weapons and support he could want."
Gig economy and destruction of cab industry
For Iftikhar Ahmad, the issue of who to vote for depends on domestic policies in addition to protesting against the Gaza war. He hopes that in this election, a third party could make a major rupture in the political system.
Ahmad is the vice president of the Union Cab Company, a workers' owned cab company that operates in Alexandria, Virginia.
"The way the 'deep state' works in this country, is that the country's elite captures power through financial and political means. Then, it is the opinions and policies favoured by the elite that run the country," said Ahmad.
"The elite see working class and ordinary Americans as second or third-class citizens. But in actuality, we are the decision-makers and we have the power."
Cab drivers in DC, like many other cities in the US, have been hit hard by the advent of ride-share services like Uber and Lyft.
The taxi drivers who spoke to MEE said that when they started driving taxis, they were able to make a decent living. But with the rise of Uber and Lyft, their share of the market has been severely reduced. Meanwhile, those drivers who have switched over to working for ride-share services are unable to earn close to what they had made while working as cab drivers.
"These billionaires, they say there should be millions of servants for us. They work for our factories, they work for our services, and we get the profits," Ahmad said.
"This is the way these people think. How can we get more and more people to work for us? They never think about the quality of life for the worker."
Ahmad and other cab drivers have seen the issue of Palestine become a unifying factor for many Americans, and they hope that people will have a reckoning with the influence of money and power in the US political system.
"Once this election is over, the people who will come into power will have their own mindsets and they will use their power for the benefit of the rich," said Ahmad.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
