No election is getting as much coverage as the mid-term elections in Michigan—and for good reason. The candidates are raising their share of controversy, especially the Democrat, and whoever is victorious will likely be a forecast of America’s future.
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The largest source of controversy is the Democrat nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, who insists he isn’t a Democratic Socialist, in spite of his headlining six DSA events. But he wears all the trappings of the DSA:
That El-Sayed hates the state of Israel is not open for debate. He does. He also routinely attacks Americans who support the state of Israel by repeatedly attacking the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is primarily, though not exclusively, made up of American Jews. El-Sayed, himself a Muslim, will probably energize the estimated quarter of a million Muslims in the Wolverine State as well as the Jewish population of approximately 120,000 people (about 1.2% of Michigan’s population). Most Jews and many non-Jews believe that El-Sayed is simply antisemitic, and certainly the most extreme mainstream party candidate to ever run for, much less serve in, the United States Senate.
Graphic: X Post
El-Sayed also supports universal health care, a wealth tax (which some say is unconstitutional), accuses Israel of genocide against Gaza, and wants to abolish ICE.
Hassan Piker was invited by El-Sayed to attend his campaign events. But when Piker stated his hatred of Jews, and was criticized for making the statement that the U.S. deserved 9/11 (which he backpedaled from), El-Sayed realized that Piker’s connection to his campaign would probably not be helpful; his criticism of Piker’s statement was that it was “dumb,” hardly a condemnation of his words. Since then, Piker has kept his distance.
Although Democrats would like to be able to criticize Mike Rogers for more than his affiliation with the Republican party, they’ve found very little to disparage. He’s older than El-Sayed (63), but has many years of experience working for the federal government and also working in the private sector:
Rogers was born in 1963 in Livingstone County Michigan. He earned a high school diploma from Howell High School. After graduating from Adrian College in 1985, Rogers went on to serve in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1989. Prior to his political career, Rogers worked as a special agent in the FBI.
Rogers served in the Michigan Senate representing District 26 from 1995 to 2000. He was elected to Michigan’s 8th Congressional District in 2000 and served until 2015. After leaving Congress, Rogers owned a business and worked as a cybersecurity professional.
Please note that Rogers has experience with both the private and public sector; El-Sayed’s background includes academia and public service.
Some might consider that Rogers’ support of President Trump might be a disadvantage; in addition, the President’s party almost always loses in the midterms. And the Democrats have far exceeded the Republicans in voter turnout in past midterms.
Both men are trying to appeal to the Jewish community:
Continuing to do so during the general election could get more complicated as El-Sayed works to win Jewish Democrats, many of whom were concerned about his rhetoric around Israel and AIPAC, as well as his association with controversial figures like Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.
In a statement following El-Sayed’s victory, the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus suggested his repeated AIPAC criticisms ‘functioned as a dog whistle that demonized mainstream Jewish civic engagement.’
El-Sayed has worked to address those concerns, at one point saying his commitment to Jewish safety equals that of his commitment to the safety of his own daughters (italics added).
El-Sayed’s hyperbole won’t impress the Jewish community.
Mike Rogers is also reaching out to the Democrats and Jewish community:
Rogers is actively working to bring Democrats and independents concerned by El-Sayed’s stances into the fold, including Jewish Democrats. On Thursday, he launched a ‘Democrats for Mike Rogers’ coalition in Detroit.
Despite the disagreements many Democrats have with Trump and his policies, ‘for the future, for the long term, it’s much better for Mike Rogers to win this election,’ said Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Huntington Woods, who argued El-Sayed has ‘shown contempt for the Jewish community.’
When we study these two candidates, at a time when polarization and anger are dominating the political landscape, we can ask the following questions, regardless of what party we support:
*Which candidate has had to apologize for or “correct” his public comments?
*Which candidate is more likely to help bring stability to the country?
*How do we convince Republicans to get out and vote?
*Which man has a better chance of limiting spending at a time when government finances are out of control?
Michiganders may not realize they will be setting the stage to uplift our country, refuse to bow to socialism, and embrace our Democratic Republic.
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How Michigan goes, so will go the country.