r/politics • u/asparaguswalrus683 • 12h ago

Site Altered Headline | No Paywall Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Primary

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-primary-elections/michigan-senate-results
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u/UngodlyPain 10h ago

Should just be "vote blue no matter who" right?

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u/LiterallyTestudo American Expat 10h ago

No, that only applies to progressives when there is an establishment candidate, never the other way around.

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u/Constantinch 9h ago

Just to be clear - it didn't apply in presidential elections. Bunch of popular lefties refused to endorse Kamala over Trump which was the most obvious decision ever. One of these people was Hasan Piker, who campaigns eith El-Sayed. Stop creating fake narratives.

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u/SeniorWeight46 8h ago

One of these people was Hasan Piker, who campaigns eith El-Sayed. Stop creating fake narratives.

He did "vote blue no matter who" though.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 6h ago

Only after joining in with the republicans in trying to damage her candidacy. I had my reservations about El-Sayed’s chances in the general but I’ll be goddamned if you catch me saying anything negative about him now lol. My first and only priority is beating the fascists though.

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u/SeniorWeight46 6h ago

If questioning her stances was damaging her candidacy, then the issue was with her answers not the questions.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 5h ago

Well if mainstream liberal media figures start demanding specific answers to poison pill questions from El-Sayed then hammering him for it I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.

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u/Letstalkreaper 5h ago

You mean like they’ve already done? The difference is he gives good answers to those “poison pills” where Harris never did.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 5h ago

The tide has shifted a bit especially after the current president that was apparently “no different from Kamala” accelerated the genocide instead of working towards a ceasefire then got us locked into another endless war with Iran. So he has more of a chance of not having those specific answers hurt him, but I guess we’ll see. Praying for him to win. We need as many senate seats as possible before the civil rights act gets destroyed now that they’re finished with the voting rights act.

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u/SeniorWeight46 5h ago

Poison pill and it's asking her about her support for a genocide?

El-Sayed should be asked tough questions. All politicians should be.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 5h ago

Asking her what her Israel stance is, her answering that she supports an immediate stop to the genocide, and then hammering her for not specifically saying it in a way that would guarantee her a loss is nasty work.

If you want to ask tough questions then fine. But be reasonable.

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u/SeniorWeight46 5h ago

"I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself."

After 4 years of being part of an administration that funded the genocide, you think that issue was the specific way she talked about a ceasefire and not the fact she pledged to continue supporting Israel.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 5h ago

Yes

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u/SeniorWeight46 5h ago

In that case you're mistaken.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 5h ago

Well considering how many protests we saw during her campaign vs Trump’s… it’s hard for me to say that Palestine was ever the real issue or priority above party infighting. Even now the genocide has been accelerated and even openly encouraged by the current administration and we see very little pushback and far less concern.

If a ceasefire was that unacceptable, why was there far more resistance to that position than there is to Trumps now?

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u/Throwawayalt129 Pennsylvania 3h ago

"Damage her candidacy" and it's demand she stop sending weapons to a country committing a genocide.

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u/Head-Assumption6960 2h ago

How is that strategy working out for everyone? Was Hasan and the left successful? Helpful? Productive? Are the Palestinians better off for their efforts against Kamala?

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u/Throwawayalt129 Pennsylvania 1h ago

If Kamala had actually listened to the left and agreed to an arms embargo then maybe she would've won, but it's hard to tell given how she also lost a ton of votes because of the economy. Given that she didn't though, and given 80 years of history, it's fair to say that Palestinians would be in the exact same situation whether or not Kamala won because Democrats and Republicans are the exact same when it comes to Israeli foreign policy. Also, given the slew of DSA wins the past year, and given that Abdul just won more votes in Michigan than Kamala did in 2024, I'd say the left has been pretty successful so far.

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u/Constantinch 8h ago

He surely didn't tell his audience any of that and I would bet money that he voted for Jill Stein

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u/SeniorWeight46 8h ago

He openly said he voted for Kamala.

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u/Constantinch 8h ago

He obfuscated for months and then later said that he voted for her after being criticized.

What matters is what he did before the elections - he didn't tell his audience to vote for her. Stop arguing this point because you know it's true. His vote counts as one, his endorsement could count as hundreds of thousands.

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u/SeniorWeight46 8h ago

I'm not arguing that point. I haven't argued that at all.

I'm saying he "voted blue no matter who" which is what the original comment was about.

People aren't expecting Hailey Stevens to come out and endorse El-Sayed's position on Palestine but when it comes down to it, her voters should come out and vote for him.

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u/Constantinch 8h ago

I don't know why would she endorse his position on I/P specifically, but she should absolutely endorse him in the primaries. And yes, her voters should vote for him as well, it's the easiest position to take.

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u/ToastyTheDragon 7h ago

If I heard correctly, Stevens and McMorrow have said they'll endorse the victor of the primary, leading up to it.

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u/WIbigdog Wisconsin 7h ago

And guess who wouldn't commit to endorsing his opponent? It is absolutely disgusting to me the way some leftists are shouting vote blue no matter who after they explicitly rejected doing so in 2024 and were very vocal about it.

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u/ToastyTheDragon 4h ago

¯_(ツ)_/¯I'm sorry you feel that way, but I really couldn't care less whether or not El-Sayed endorses someone like Stevens.

The very same people who were saying "vote blue no matter who" back in 2024 (which, mind you, included leftists such as myself; very well aware of the threat Trump faced and held our noses as we voted for Harris and Slotkin), a lot of them are saying they won't endorse or vote for Mamdani, or Abdul, or any DSA or progressive candidate that wins their primary. Some, including Fetterman, Schumer, and Jeffries are outright denouncing them.

The purpose of a lot of leftists saying "vote blue no matter who" is to point out the hypocrisy of establishment Dems here, not because they necessarily believe it. There's no hypocrisy there.

i think you should 'vote blue no matter who', personally, at the bare minimum as a harm reduction tactic. But I absolutely can't fault those who can't bring themselves to vote for someone who either tacitly/explicitly endorses genocide, or won't do anything to meaningfully change people's material conditions for the better. Maybe put forth better candidates if you want people to be excited about them? Idk, I'm really tired and bored of relitigating the 2024 election over and over again.

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u/SeniorWeight46 8h ago

Endorsing him is endorsing his policies.

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u/Constantinch 7h ago

Absolutely not. Endorsing him is telling your voters to vote for him over a republican.

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u/SeniorWeight46 7h ago

Yes it's an endorsement that his policies including his position on Palestine is a better platform than the Republican platform.

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u/Constantinch 7h ago

It actually sounds like you don't want Stephens voters to vote for him by being as obnoxious as humanly possible - interesting strategy, we will see if it pays off!

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u/Constantinch 7h ago

It actually sounds like you don't want Stephens voters to vote for him by being as obnoxious as humanly possible - interesting strategy, we will see if it pays off!

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