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Coffee Break: Israel Dominant Issue in Michigan Democratic Senate Primary

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Michigan is on the frontlines of the American Democratic Party’s internal battles over Israel, canceling streamers, a competitive U.S. Senate primary and lingering fallout from the suppression of Pro-Palestine campus protests.

Centrists Impose and Fail the Hasan Piker ‘Litmus Test’

Things got spicy, and stupid, a few weeks ago when the infamous Third Way group tried to cancel left-leaning influencer Hasan Piker.

Piker is an enormously popular Twitch and YouTube streamer with almost 5 million followers on the two platforms.

For those unfamiliar with Third Way, let two pictures serve for two thousand words.

Centrist/Never Trumper rag The Bulwark was an enthusiastic vehicle for the Third Way campaign, which they chronicled:

The group’s president and press adviser, Jonathan Cowan and Lily Cohen, coauthored a Wall Street Journal opinion piece arguing that Piker’s “misogyny is indistinguishable from that of far-right influencers” and accusing him of antisemitism, saying that there was “no excuse for putting political tribalism before Jewish safety.” Things escalated last week when Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, announced that Piker would campaign with him on college campuses. Then, this morning, Cowan sent a letter to El-Sayed warning that it would be a “stain” on his character if he followed through with the planned rallies, especially after a Michigan synagogue was attacked last month. The letter lists six questions in bullet points, asking El-Sayed to respond:

  • Do you agree with Piker that “America deserved 9/11”?
  • Do you think “there’s a lot that we can learn” from the Chinese Communist Party?
  • Do you share his belief that ultra-Orthodox Jews are “inbred”?
  • Do you also dismiss the mass rape of Jewish and Israeli women by Hamas?
  • Do you believe as he does that “Hamas is a thousand times better” than the Israeli state?
  • If you do not endorse all of Piker’s views, which, specifically, do you reject?

Talk about a fair, free, and open spirit of enquiry, amirite, Joe McCarthy?

Third Way’s call was enthusiastically taken up by sitting Michigan Senator Elise Slotkin (D-CIA):

The urgency of the centrist attacks on Piker came from his support for insurgent U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed — and the massive, young, and enthusiastic crowds that turned out to see Piker and El-Sayed together.

The New York Times covered it and everything:

Tensions over Israel burst into the open in the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan this week after a candidate scheduled rallies with a provocative left-wing streamer who has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and its war in Gaza.

The candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is in a competitive three-way Democratic primary, faced forceful criticism from his opponents and others within his party after announcing that the streamer, Hasan Piker, would join him at rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on April 7.

Mr. Piker’s huge, young following has made him an appealing ally for progressive Democrats. He taped an interview with Zohran Mamdani last year during the New York mayoral race and later attended Mr. Mamdani’s election night party. In 2024, he filmed a stream from the Democratic National Convention. Some have called Mr. Piker the Joe Rogan of the left.

But his statements about Israel have alarmed some Democrats.
…
In an interview with Jewish Insider on Thursday, State Senator Mallory McMorrow, another candidate, described Mr. Piker as “somebody who says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks.”

“That is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state,” Ms. McMorrow told the news outlet, adding, “You don’t fan the flames and stoke division just to get attention.”

Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate fourth-term congresswoman and another candidate in the primary, said in a statement Friday that it was “unacceptable” for Dr. El-Sayed to campaign with Mr. Piker. She accused Mr. Piker of building a career on “hurtful and antisemitic comments.”

One thing to note about Stevens, she won her U.S. House seat by knocking out Rep. Andy Levin, a Jewish critic of Isreal, in a 2022 primary race that saw AIPAC and its allies spend over $8 million to take out Levin.

But let’s get back to this year’s Senate primary.

I’ll led the progressive, anti-war candidate introduce himself:

Now we’ll heard from Semafor regarding Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive darling du jour:

Abdul El-Sayed is gaining momentum in a divisive three-way Democratic primary with an uncompromising argument for clarity on progressive priorities — Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and ending US military aid to Israel. The nomination is up for grabs among him, Rep. Haley Stevens, and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, but El-Sayed is catching on with the base and just had his best poll.

Scattered general-election polling shows El-Sayed with the toughest path to beat the GOP’s consensus nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers, whose lack of a serious opponent is letting him build his case for November ahead of the Democrats. But the party has to stay invested in Michigan, no matter who is the nominee, to keep its hopes for a Senate majority alive.

Which has left some Democrats sweating the prospect that El-Sayed prevails in August, only to get hammered by Rogers as too far left for a swing state.

“Of course,” one Democratic senator said when asked whether the party worries about El-Sayed losing in November. “Elissa Slotkin won by 19,000 votes against the same opponent. He’s pretty well-established, there’s not a divisive primary on the Republican side, and there are some really tough issues.”

El-Sayed addressed the general election electability question to CNN:

The 41-year-old son of Egyptian immigrants whose sharply progressive views align with those of Sen. Bernie Sanders, El-Sayed is seen by many Democrats in Washington as the kind of candidate they fear: someone who wins a primary and loses in November, costing them a shot at the Senate majority.

El-Sayed scoffs at that.

“I think there is this notion that electability is about being the least offensive,” he told CNN. “If that were true, why would Donald Trump have won the presidency twice?”
Whether he’s right could have enormous ramifications for control of the Senate.

Michigan’s open Senate seat is now emerging as a GOP hedge against a potential takeover for Democrats, who need to net four seats to flip the chamber. Losing Michigan would make the Democrats’ task almost impossible, a major reason why a leading Republican outside group just announced plans to pour $45 million into the state – more than any other pickup opportunity – to boost former Rep. Mike Rogers, the likely GOP nominee.

Plus there’s lots of polling data backing up El-Sayed’s case:

The Intercept caught speeches by both McMorrow and El-Sayed and analyzed the race:

Speaking to a modest crowd of voters inside a Canton brewery on Tuesday evening, Mallory McMorrow, a leading candidate for Senate in the swing state of Michigan, made an anti-war appeal as President Donald Trump’s threats to kill “a whole civilization” hung over Iran and the world.

“This is a moment for people to stand up and to decide who they are actually for — are they for the Constitution, are they for Americans, are they for Michiganders, or are they for Donald Trump?” McMorrow said to applause. She encouraged Democrats to consider invoking the 25th Amendment as an option to counter the president.

Later that evening, 17 miles to the west before a packed auditorium at the University of Michigan, McMorrow’s opponent Abdul El-Sayed also criticized the war — and a key distraction from it.

“Our president is waging a genocidal, illegal, unjustifiable war with Iran that is torching our tax dollars to the tune of $1.5 billion a day,” El-Sayed said. And yet, “apparently the most important thing happening on Twitter was whether or not we were gonna campaign with Hasan.” He was referring to the popular political streamer Hasan Piker, who stood by his side at two 600-attendee university rallies that day, the largest of any campaign events in Michigan so far this year.

The El-Sayed – McMorrow – Stevens Horse Race

Note that El-Sayed is surging, McMorrow has some momentum, and Stevenson is fading.

And note this important caveat from Emerson:

“There are generational differences in the Michigan Democratic Senate Primary: voters under 40 support El-Sayed over McMorrow by a 17-point margin, 35% to 18%, while voters over 50 support McMorrow over El-Sayed by a 12-point margin, 29% to 17%, with 13% supporting Stevens,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.

For my entire political career, being the “youth candidate” has been the kiss of death (see Sanders, Bernie) but that changed last year with the “youthquake” election of Zohran Mamdani as New York Mayor.

But this is Michigan. Blue-collar Michigan. Trump-voting Michigan. We haven’t seen a Mamdani type victory in the heartland yet.

But there’s one more interesting poll from Zeteo and Drop Site News to share:

Michigan’s Democratic primary for US Senate is a three-way dead heat, according to a new poll conducted for Zeteo and Drop Site News.

The survey additionally found that likely Democratic primary voters are far more concerned about the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC’s influence on candidates than the influence of Hasan Piker, the leftist Twitch streamer who campaigned with candidate Abdul El-Sayed at two Michigan universities last week.

The poll from Data for Progress found that 22% of likely Democratic primary voters support El-Sayed, endorsed by Bernie Sanders and a vocal critic of Israel; 23% support Haley Stevens, a conservative, pro-Israel Democrat backed by party leaders in Washington, DC; and 22% support Mallory McMorrow, the J Street-endorsed candidate positioning herself in between Stevens and El-Sayed.

Notably, a third of voters were undecided.

What About the Money Race?

Michigan Chronicle has some deets, plus background on McMorrow:

McMorrow raised more than $3 million in the first three months of the year, compared to about $2.3 million from former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed and $2 million from US Rep. Haley Stevens.

“This is absolutely huge,” McMorrow said in a video.

Reports filed Wednesday, April 15, with the Federal Election Commission show McMorrow raised nearly all of her money from individual donors. 120,000 people have given to the campaign of the 39-year-old state senator from Royal Oak since she launched her campaign for U.S. Senate.

FEC records show McMorrow also finished the most recent reporting period with more in her war chest than Stevens for the first time since candidates began reporting their fundraising totals.

El-Sayed lead candidates in money raised form outside of the state, nearly $1.3 million. McMorrow’s campaign saw more than $830,000 from outside the state, with Stevens raising about $1.2 million from non-Michiganders.

After flipping a Republican-held Oakland County district in 2018, her viral speech on the Michigan Senate floor in April 2022, which caught the attention of Hillary Clinton, turned McMorrow into a high-profile state political figure and national fundraiser.

Seeing McMorrow in action last weekend at the Michigan Democratic Primary will give readers a feel for what Hillary sees in her:

Primary colors? Check.

Cringe Kamala-style dance? Check.

This is a good place to let Dr. El-Sayed get some quotes in, via Michigan Advance:

At one point, her drumline arrived in front of a room where El-Sayed was about to host a media availability.

El-Sayed was quick to quip that “that’s what you get when you don’t have a message.”

Some social media users quickly resurfaced a video from El-Sayed’s 2018 campaign for governor, in which he sees now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer walking with a marching band and says he won’t move out of the way.

Whitmer went on to win all 83 counties in that primary.

El-Sayed told delegates Sunday that after President Donald Trump was elected to his first term, you either had to go big or go home.

“I went big and then I went home,” El-Sayed joked.

Michigan Democratic Party donors heard from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear the night before about how to win tough elections. Among his suggestions: “Talk like a normal human.”

El-Sayed agreed that you should use plain language, but said there is a deeper substance problem.

“I would add a proviso, which is to say that you got to be talking about things that people actually care about. You got to be answering the questions people are asking,” El-Sayed said.

I should also mention that this race is happening in a state where the 2023 Democratic U.S. Senate primary featured deep shadiness:

A second U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan has come forward saying he was offered $20 million by the pro-Israel lobby to switch races and instead mount a primary challenge against Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit.

Nasser Beydoun, a Dearborn businessman and Democrat, turned down the offer, which he said was made Nov. 10 and conveyed by Lon Johnson, a political consultant and former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Johnson vehemently denied the claim by Beydoun: “That’s just crazy. I didn’t offer him $20 million, or any other amount of money, to run against Rashida,” Johnson told The Detroit News. “That’s insane.”

The revelation by Beydoun, made in a video posted to X on Monday, is the second such claim by a Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan in less than a week. Just before Thanksgiving, Democrat Hill Harper, the actor, said Metro Detroit businessman Linden Nelson offered him $20 million if he ran against Tlaib instead. Harper also said no.

Like Harper, Beydoun said the $20 million would have been split — $10 million in independent expenditures and $10 million bundled toward his congressional campaign.

Regular readers might recall my attempt to summarize a tiny bit of the family bloggery that went on in the March primaries in nearby Illinois.

So yea, about that AIPAC thing.

So If Stevens Is AIPAC and El-Sayed Is Anti-AIPAC, What’s McMorrow?

Drop Site News has some background and some original reporting:

The Michigan Senate race is a three-way contest between Rep. Haley Stevens, whose last campaign was boosted by millions of dollars from AIPAC; Abdul El-Sayed, a leading advocate of the “Uncommitted Movement” who’s known as Michigan’s Mamdani; and a third candidate, state legislator Mallory McMorrow, who sits between the two.

Mallory McMorrow, a leading Michigan Senate candidate, has privately produced an “AIPAC position paper” that is “outstanding,” but has not made it public, according to her supporter Rob Kalman, who spoke on a recent McMorrow donor call. The position paper he describes has not been made public.

Kalman is former mayor and council member in Keego Harbor, Michigan, and said on the call he has been in close touch with local and national AIPAC leadership. A recording of the August 20 call was obtained by Drop Site.

AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, asks candidates to privately share position papers before winning an endorsement. According to candidates and campaign managers who’ve gone through the process, the group has a series of litmus tests that candidates must meet, including support for the Taylor Force Act, a willingness to say that “all options are on the table” when it comes to Iran (which is code for a nuclear strike), support for laws against boycotting Israel, and opposition to any conditions on aid to Israel, among others.

McMorrow is running against Rep. Haley Stevens, who was AIPAC’s vehicle in 2022 for one of their more controversial power plays, when they organized against incumbent Rep. Andy Levin, a former synagogue president and self-described Zionist. Levin’s sin, from AIPAC’s perspective, was his willingness to defend his Michigan colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib and to level criticism at the Israeli government.

The audio:

McMorrow’s alleged attempt to conceal AIPAC funding is drawing some online heat:

But maybe she just loves to travel and learn about other cultures:

All of this is by way of setting the scene for this past weekend.

Boos and Cheers at the Convention

Michigan Public Radio summed up the meet:

Progressive Michigan Democrats made their voices heard during the state party’s endorsement convention in Detroit over the weekend.

Around 7,250 delegates packed Huntington Place Sunday in what Michigan Democratic Party members said marked record attendance. They were there to choose party endorsements for several statewide races, including Michigan secretary of state, attorney general, and university boards.

The top races were tight going into the convention, leading candidates to try to separate themselves with gimmicks like musicians, people in orange jumpsuits carrying around boards with candidates’ information, and basketball cards with campaign pitches.

Contenders in competitive primaries also turned to tactics like carrying large cardboard cutouts of a candidate’s face and decking out a Ford Mustang convertible in campaign posters.

Sunday marked a big day for progressives in the Michigan Democratic Party. Nearly every candidate backed by the party’s Progressive Caucus won their convention races.

Last weekend’s Michigan Democratic party convention brought all three leading US Senate candidates out to face the public.

It was brutal for Stevens:

It wasn’t just Stevens either:

Which brings us to the actual voting that took place at the convention.

Student Protestors Get Some Revenge on Establishment Dems

Drop Site News has more:

For two years, establishment Democrats have led a wide-ranging legal attack on University of Michigan pro-Palestinian student activists, aiming to shut down their protest of Israel. On Sunday, Democratic Party delegates symbolically rebuked the establishment’s draconian campaign. Two pro-Palestinian candidates notched upset wins against pro-Israel-backed opponents in statewide primary races in this critical upper Midwest swing state.

The races, decided by the Michigan Democratic Party’s delegates during a nominating convention, mark material and symbolic victories for pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Michigan (U-M)—some of whom continue to face investigations over their protests of the genocide. And, as more polling shows the extent to which support for Israel has collapsed across the political spectrum, the wins indicate that the pro-Israel playbook is failing even in lower, state-level races.

In the state Attorney General’s race, Ann Arbor’s progressive Jewish prosecutor, Eli Savit, beat Karen McDonald, who was backed by major corporations and pro-Israel donors. And in the race for a seat on the U-M board of regents, the school’s governing body, defense attorney Amir Makled defeated incumbent regent Jordan Acker, who helped lead the school’s legal attack on the pro-Palestinian students. Makled represented some of the students who beat the U-M prosecutions.

Makled, who is Lebanese-American, overcame an onslaught of allegations that he is antisemitic and supports Hezbollah. He told Drop Sitethe wins show “the electorate is done with AIPAC-aligned candidates and their smear campaigns.”

“People are done with it, and the establishment has to recognize that,” Makled added. “It is the only way this party moves forward because it’s the right way.” His win also came after The Guardian on Friday reported on lewd text messages Acker appeared to have made about a student and Democratic strategist.

I’ll close with a brief back and forth between Jonathan Chait and David Sirota:

Related Posts:

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35 comments

  1. jp

    As mentioned before, Nat, I love the list of links at the bottom. And regarding the Harris dance, at least it wasn’t as bad as watching the Maybot dances…
    That’s two separate links, BTW…

      1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

        I had forgotten that one. Calls to mind the final lines of Hunter S. Thompson’s “Hell’s Angels.”

  2. Earl

    I’m a Detroiter and this is the best report I’ve seen about the Michigan Democratic Convention including our two major dailies. Never mentioned in national coverage is that the Michigan Chronicle is a biweekly African-American publication. It is a quality publication as this article’s dets show. Founded in 1936 it is influential with African-American business people and church groups. It will be interesting to see whom, if any of the candidates the paper endorses and how the candidates are doing with the Detroit area’s African-American voters. Andy Levin’s sin was to favor the two-state solution. He is a former synagogue president and declared Zionist.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Chronicle

    1. Carla

      Zionists do not favor a two-state solution. If you think so, I think they’re playing you.

      1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

        @Carla, the important part is Levin giving lip service to a two state solution made it worth $8M to AIPAC to take him out.

    2. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Thanks, Earl! Interesting background on The Michigan Chronicle. And AIPAC’S purge of Levin in 2022 was a real warning shot. They had the clampdown in full effect before they went full genocide backer.

  3. scott s.

    Tried to find some info on what exactly this state party endorsement convention does. I see that Michigan does hold a primary election, but I couldn’t figure out if any of these “endorsed” candidates (in particular US Senate) automatically move to the Nov general election. Online sources I found were worthless. It seems I would have to look into Michigan elections law to really find out how the primary system works.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Based on this piece from the Michigan Bridge I’m not quite sure if the nominations are binding, but I am sure the US Senate was not one of the offices attendees voted on:

      Thousands of Michigan Democrats packed a convention center here Sunday, voting to endorse Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist for secretary of state and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit for attorney general.

      Both are now expected to make the November ballot as the Michigan Democratic Party’s general election nominees.

      Delegates also endorsed Amir Makled for the University of Michigan Board of Regents, ousting incumbent Jordan Acker in a heavily contested race that became a proxy for discontent over how the school handled pro-Palestinian protests over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

  4. Darthbobber

    Here in Philly Chris Rabb (candidate for PA03 congress seat) has unapologetically confirmed that he’s doing a stream with Piker.

        1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

          damn! I think a certain segment of the elites has figured out that drones are VERY cheap and VERY effective and better to let the electoral process let off some pressure…alas it’s probably too late.

  5. Darthbobber

    With respect to the “bad jacketing of Katie Porter” article, it elides the whole Zionism problem. Probably because of course the establishment doesn’t attack her for that.
    Junket to Israel after which she reported being “very impressed” with Netanyahu

    Signatory to the joint letter censuring Tlaib for uttering the phrase “from the river to the sea”

    Yea vote on a batch of “support Israel against Hamas” and “stand with Israel” resolutions, cosponsor on some of them.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Ah sorry to confuse. I didn’t mean the Related Links to imply they were all about Israel, the connecting thread was Democratic party primaries (and Mamdani’s general election win).

      The contrast between Platner and Porter’s responses to the Dem establishment’s bad jacket moves is pretty stark. Platner leaned into it, came out fighting and has pulled way ahead of Janet Mills.

      Porter on the other hand seems to have crumpled in on herself, only emerging in public recently to take pro-business, anti-progressive positions.

      1. Darthbobber

        I just found it interesting that the one thing that made her a nonstarter for me was also the one thing the machine did NOT attack her for, and was also skipped over in silence by the article defending her. She always struck me as a west coast Warren of sorts, great on the handful of economic issues she’d made her stock in trade but no great shakes on the large array of issues that also matter. (And then there’s the whole Zionist thing, which pre-Gaza she could have gotten away with.)

  6. Tom Stone

    It seems to me that the Zionists decided that it was now or never if they were going to be the regional heavyweight.
    I have seen different amounts credited to Miriam Adelson, including a remark by Trump that she had directly and indirectly supported him to the tune of $400,000,000.
    More came from other Zionists and Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner always has a good word for Israel…
    If Trump indeed went full Bonkers last September it would explain a lot of his behavior since, including how easy it was to sell him on Attacking Iran and how hard it is for him to admit a mistake…the kind that destroys the World Economy.
    Oops.
    He’s ’round the bend, in Cloud Cuckoo land, Cray Cray, Objectively insane.
    Pick the stupidest option, nukes.
    Are they on the Table?
    Yes.
    Who decides?

    Bibi or Donald.

    Hoo Boy.

    It’s going to get crazier…
    Enjoy the show.

  7. Giovanni Barca

    Here is one rural Michigan lumpenprole who is go go and ga ga for the good Doctor El-Sayed.

    He seems to grasp things incomprehensible to Chait and Whitmer and the CIA Senator from Ballpark Franks. Like Genocide Is Bad. And that actual medical care for actual humans is good. I am also for moving the state capital to Dearborn.

    2. Michael Fiorillo

      Ah, Jonathan Chait, illustrious author of the 2018 New York Magazine article entitled, “I’m a Peeliever, And You Should Be, Too,” in which he delved deeply into why the Trump pee tape story was likely true. This while the Russiagate narrative was starting to burn oil… in other words, a #McResistance imbecile.

    1. flora

      Is the Mich. Dem party using electronic voting machines?

      (See Beth Clarkson’s work on electronic voting machine results.)

      Paper ballots, hand marked, and hand counted in public, please.

      1. Carla

        If there’s a state in which the parties use different voting machines, please let me know which one. I fully agree re: paper, hand marked, hand counted in public.

  9. Acacia

    Good on Michiganders for pushing back against these squids.

    As the Dem party showed with Kamala Harris, they will voluntarily lose elections before they will give up whoring for Zionism.

    And I, for one, will enjoy watching them lose their way into oblivion as a party.

  10. ciroc

    Even if an anti-Zionist candidate won an election by some miracle, could they stick to their principles afterward? Often, leftists who speak of ideals during a campaign become overwhelmed by reality after winning, causing them to compromise and change their stance. Ultimately, there are AOCs everywhere.

  11. ThirtyOne

    For those unfamiliar with Third Way

    Missionary, doggie style, or hog-tied upside down on a rack.
    Pick one, you’re still getting screwed.

  12. Amateur Socialist

    I keep having this ongoing discussion with my husband over whether or not Tucker Carlson is going to be the next president. He is skeptical but I think he has a good chance of winning for a simple reason: He will probably be free to tell the truth about the nation of Israel in ways his democratic opponent will not be.

    In the aftermath of what is likely to be a historic defeat the difficulty of high profile democrats to state simple truths about the war and its root causes are going to be ugly and obvious liabilities. I am expecting a lot of equivocation regarding what could have been obvious popular strengths.

    Not a fan or advocate of Carlson; aside from Israel (and maybe DJT) he is hardly a credible arbiter of truth. But I fear that our ghastly system of polarizing opinions in tiny prismatic questions will give him quite a lot of undeserved credibility. I’m just not sure how an honest Democrat manages to tell the truth. Assuming you can identify one.

    1. Pat

      Both Jimmy Kimmel and the ladies(?) of the View excoriated Carlson over his apology for supporting and helping to enable the election of Trump. What ran through my mind was not once did I ever hear one of them give a decent analysis or apology for their support of any Democratic candidate that helped bring about the same disaster, starting with Clinton and Obama, but even Chuckie Schumer, Pelosi, Newsome, etc. Followed immediately by my second thought that his real sin wasn’t that he had renounced Trump, but that he had also renounced Israel’s agenda at the same time.
      More and more, people will have these kinds of reactions to the media component that advances the Democratic faces of the uniparty as they also try to distract from or deny the obvious as much as Fox and friends. It will increase Carlson’s (and MTG and Massie’s) popularity. It will Reduce their relevance as social commentators. But it will also help the exceedingly rare honest Democrat who notices the obvious.

      1. Amateur Socialist

        More unpleasant truth: Nobody did more to ensure DJT 2nd term than Joseph R. Biden. Saying this has not made me popular here in S, VT. But nobody has argued I’m wrong.

        1. Pat

          I might posit that you can make a good case for Obama that could rival that but yup Trump owes Joe Biden a big thank you. (And I am someone who believes that was the intention of hamstringing the Democrats with Harris by the Biden team.)

  13. Carolinian

    The Dems are what Lambert used to call a self licking ice cream cone. They don’t actually represent anything but themselves. Then they make up excuses about why there is no alternative. “Change is scary” but isn’t change–feedback–the whole point of elections?

    No wonder Jefferson said actual future revolutions might be necessary. He knew his country well.

  14. jefemt

    I realize it’s naive, but it seems to me the only viable work-around to the two party faux-duality, the tightly controlled gate-keeping to getting on a ballot, and to side-step money — AIPAC (and others— there are countless others who are also wielding toxic financial influence is….

    A Grass Roots Organized simple platform Write-In Party. I think it could work. I think folks are beyond,
    ” sick of this sh*t”. Create the platform/ policy papers at grass roots level, swear allegiance to the platform, get vetted to sincerity to that pledge, and run Forrest run.

    Burn down from the inside the corrupt Epstein -class beast that Washington has become, and get back to by, for, and of the people.

    Or, go take a hike, hug some trees, lay on the earth …..

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