Well, Michigan Democrats just handed Republicans the greatest political gift since that time someone invented the attack ad. According to USA Journal, Abdul El-Sayed, a DSA-backed, Hasan Piker-endorsed, openly socialist candidate who opposes Israel's right to exist, squeaked out a victory in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday morning. And when I say squeaked, I mean this guy won 48.5% to 47.5% over establishment pick Haley Stevens. That is not exactly a thundering mandate from the people.
Let's marinate on that for a second. El-Sayed was supposed to cruise to victory. Instead, he barely crawled across the finish line against a candidate who had the full institutional backing of the DCCC and way more fundraising muscle. Roughly half the Democratic primary voters looked at his platform and said "no thanks, we're good." And now this guy has to convince the GENERAL electorate in a state Trump won in 2024? Good luck with that strategy, folks.
Speaking of Trump, the former and current president wasted approximately zero seconds before weighing in, calling El-Sayed a "Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel" and declaring the whole thing "great news for the Republican Party." Subtle as always, but the political read is hard to argue with.
And what exactly does El-Sayed bring to the table for a general election? Oh, just some light policy positions like abolishing the Senate, defunding the Pentagon, opening the borders, and emptying the prisons. You know, the kind of platform that really plays well at suburban Michigan barbecues. His primary endorser, Hasan Piker, has openly described the movement's goals as communism. Not "democratic socialism" or "progressive values" or whatever euphemism consultants cook up. Just straight up communism. Bold choice for a swing state.
Republican incumbent Mike Rogers was already sitting pretty in Michigan, and now Democrats have essentially gift-wrapped his re-election campaign. Every clip, every DSA platform quote, every Piker endorsement is basically a pre-made television commercial.
Now, before Republicans start measuring curtains for a victory party, some reality. El-Sayed is apparently a talented communicator who nearly won a gubernatorial primary back in 2018 and raised serious cash this cycle. Michigan has absolutely elected Democrats in statewide races before. Polling data suggests that when the race gets framed as capitalism versus socialism, Republicans dominate, but that framing requires actual effort and discipline from now until November.
The Democratic establishment reportedly spent months watching the socialist wing take over their party infrastructure in Michigan and apparently decided that confrontation was too scary. Well, congratulations on that courage. Now they get to watch their nominee defend the position that Israel should not exist in a state with one of the largest Arab-American populations AND a significant Jewish community. That should make for some incredibly comfortable town halls.
The DSA won their primary battle. Whether Michigan voters reward that in the general election is a completely different question. Republicans should be thrilled, but they should also campaign like second place is breathing down their necks, because complacency has a funny way of turning sure things into disasters.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
