Centrist Democrats Are Trying to Throw the Michigan Race
Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate race could decide control of the chamber. Yet some centrist Democrats are openly working to sink his campaign — because they’d rather hand the seat to a Trump-backed Republican than let the Left gain a foothold in their party.
To some voters, it will sound far-fetched that centrist Democrats would deliberately tank a winnable Senate race to keep the Left down. But it’s hardly unprecedented. And in Michigan, a handful of them are saying it outright. (Finn Gomez / Getty Images)
In Michigan, where progressive Abdul El-Sayed is facing off for the must-win Senate seat against Donald Trump–backed Mike Rogers, Democrats have a problem. How to reconcile their distaste for their own party’s nominee with the imperative to care about winning?
Attorney General Dana Nessel modeled a way out of the bind with a comically backhanded endorsement. Tasked with trying to convince Jewish Democrats that they should vote for El-Sayed despite the blizzard of smears charging he’s a dangerous antisemite, Attorney General Dana Nessel offered the most unappetizing of unappetizing pitches. Referencing the biblical story of Queen Esther, who chose to put her life on the line to save many others, she implored those in the room to do the same.
“It is perhaps up to us now to follow in her path and sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity,” she told them.
This is not a paywall. Log in or register for free to keep reading. Subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.