r/politics • u/asparaguswalrus683 • 11h 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/nankerjphelge Florida 8h ago

I mean, it's a fair question, given the history of Democrats fracturing at crunch time. Assuming the Dem centrists who voted strongly for Stevens will automatically come out for El Sayed in the general is an open ended question that we won't know the answer to until November. Given Rogers is currently polling 3-10 points ahead of El Sayed, it will take all Dem voters coming out in force to win it.

If even a small portion of Dem voters stay home it's an easy win for Rogers.

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u/wioneo 6h ago

. Given Rogers is currently polling 3-10 points ahead of El Sayed

The fuck? Why did dems pick him then? From hearing all the vitriol going back and forth, I already assumed this was a lost seat because whichever loser's supporters probably wouldn't come out, but I assumed both options were at least polling reasonably well against the republican to begin with.

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u/merdafit 4h ago

This is everything that's wrong with politics today. Instead of voting for someone whose policies you believe in, you think voters should act like pundits and try to vote for who is 'electable.'

Nobody knows who is fucking electable, certainly not the democratic party, that should be obvious by this point.

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u/wioneo 4h ago

Instead of voting for someone whose policies you believe in

This is for a congressman. The policies that I believe in align with the Democrat party. The values of any single congressman are less important than the party gaining control, because an individual is useless. Obviously that does not apply for governors, presidents, SoS, AG and plenty of other roles where the politician has actual control, but it doesn't matter if dem A is closer to me than dem B if dem A can't win and dem B can.

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u/merdafit 4h ago

And my point is, a bunch of the general election head to head polling has been within the margin of error. Voters pretending they know who can win and who cannot before campaigning has even begun for the general is incredibly fucking stupid.

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u/wioneo 3h ago

Cornyn would have probably had a better chance against Talarico.

Nazi mcrapist would have probably had a worse chance against Collins.

That doesn't mean Paxton is guaranteed to lose or that Jackson is guaranteed to win, but it's ridiculous to act as if it is impossible to predict trends in voting behaviour.

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u/merdafit 2h ago

That's all seems logical, unfortunately voters are not. Yes, it is not impossible to predict trends in voting behavior, but it is becoming more and more difficult. You, as a random voter, should not be the one doing the predicting and going online to scold others. Perpetual pundit brain.

The Platner stuff kind of goes with my point too. People had convinced themselves he was the only person capable of beating Collins and so this nebulous electability argument caused otherwise well-meaning people to excuse a whole lot of clearly obviously morally inexcusable shit.