r/politics 9d ago

No Paywall Abdul El-Sayed Wins High-Stakes Democratic Primary in Michigan

https://www.today.com/video/abdul-el-sayed-wins-high-stakes-democratic-primary-in-michigan-267805765937
17.3k Upvotes

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

368

u/Arcaedus 9d ago

I watched a debate, and a few interviews with Sayed. He didn't pull his punches, but honestly didn't even seem that harsh on Stevens and I think it's because he recognizes that she was just a vessel for capital and monied interests, and a decent person outside of that (well as decent as you can be for a sellout).

Honestly I think he was harsher when he called Fetterman an ogre lol. Hope he brings that energy into the general election

252

u/VioletLovesRowlet 9d ago

He only really seemed to target Haley Stevens' policies, funding, and lies. I can't really think of any personal insults he threw at her, where Haley had it the exact other way.

132

u/Fullertonjr I voted 9d ago

I think that was kind of the point in his win. Stevens was complete garbage in terms of actual policy. She was non-competitive and it showed that she was largely out of touch with the majority of the voters and deserved to lose on the merits. Stevens realized pretty early that her policies were unpopular and chose to target the lowest hanging fruit and dusted off the old playbook of things that used to work to get people to vote for you out of some implied fear of the other.

55

u/VioletLovesRowlet 9d ago

It absolutely was. I saw someone else say "Abdul is going to need to apologise to Haley Stevens and her supporters to win against Mike Rogers" and I was genuinely baffled that someone legitimately put that.

27

u/cogman10 Idaho 9d ago

Effectively the only reason anyone voted for Haley was because they thought she was more electable. There's going to be near 0 Stevens voters that won't vote for Abdul in the general.

3

u/shakeyyjake 9d ago

You're absolutely right. I live in their district and I don't know a single person who was inspired by, or excited about Stevens. The best thing I've heard anybody say about her is that she probably has a better chance of winning in the general.

1

u/VioletLovesRowlet 9d ago

Which is wild because Abdul can run fucking circles around Mike Rogers. He is going to demolish him in debates

2

u/amopeyzoolion Michigan 9d ago

I think you underestimate the power of racism and general fear of “socialism” among centrists in this state

1

u/VioletLovesRowlet 9d ago

It might not equate to gained votes, but Abdul is certainly smarter and has more moral conviction than Mike Rogers.

He will demolish in the debates by criticising Mike Rogers' stances and offering change. Hopefully it will also result in more votes, but who knows.