A left-wing populist uprising in the heart of America may tip the scales to radicalism for the Democrats and force America to choose between maintaining the status quo or being submerged in a socialist tide that would begin to alter the character of the United States.
Hint: “Status quo” is very unpopular right now. And if the only other choice is socialism, don’t be surprised if people in Michigan choose it.
The clash of American values and virtues with socialism isn’t new in Michigan. In the late 19th and early 20th century, socialism made major inroads in the labor movement. Detroit became a hub for early anarchist and socialist organizing, driven by rapid industrialization and European immigration. People like Joseph Labadie organized Detroit’s Knights of Labor in 1878, while the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or “The Wobblies”) led major auto strikes in 1913. A radical faction led by John Keracher took over the Socialist Party of Michigan in the late 1910s before splitting off into the Proletarian Party.
During the Great Depression, radical labor organizers — including members of the Communist Party and Socialist Party — played central roles in establishing the United Auto Workers (UAW). The historic 1936–1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike forced General Motors to recognize the union and fundamentally reshaped American labor relations.
Michigan was a major epicenter of the 1960s “New Left” as groups like The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) drafted their foundational manifestos and built major strongholds at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The White Panther Party, founded in Detroit/Ann Arbor by John Sinclair in 1968, advocated anti-racist, countercultural revolution.
The Upper Peninsula has an equally radical history, where “Red Finns” — radical Finnish immigrants who worked the copper and iron ore mines of the Keweenaw Peninsula and Marquette Iron Range at the turn of the century — created the conditions that eventually led to the founding of the UAW.
Given that background, the rise of Abdul El-Sayed as one of the leading Democrats in the state is not surprising. He’s facing off against the establishment Democrat favorite, Rep. Haley Stevens, to fill the Senate seat of the retiring Sen. Gary Peters.
El-Sayed’s position on the state of Israel is toxic. He does not believe Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state. Since it would take a war of annihilation to alter the fundamental reality that is the state of Israel, El-Sayed has caused a massive Jewish backlash.
One way to understand the importance of the Michigan Senate primary to the overall trajectory of the Democratic Party is to examine how much outside spending flooded Michigan’s airwaves — nearly all of it intended to bolster Stevens and dent El-Sayed.
The biggest spender was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which pumped nearly $32 million into television advertising intended to defeat El-Sayed via the super PAC United Democracy Project.
Combined, outside spending benefited Stevens over El-Sayed by about a 30-1 margin — with $62.2 million supporting Stevens and $2.1 million aligned with El-Sayed.
El-Sayed is counting on the Bernie Sanders coalition to carry him to victory. White progressives and young voters, along with a smattering of minority voters, were key for Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) in winning the 2016 Presidential primary in Michigan.
Stevens flipped a red House seat in 2018 and established a moderate (for a Democrat) voting record. She is expected to carry a solid majority of black voters as well as older Democrats who don’t like the smell of radicalism from her opponent.
Stevens opposes single-payer healthcare insurance, as does most of the Democratic Party leadership. That may change in 2028 if the socialists keep winning. They will ram through a “Medicare for All” plank in the platform, making it hard for less-radical Democrats to run.
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The Michigan Senate race is not the only key contest involving socialists vs. the establishment. Rep. Shri Thanedar could become the next Democrat to lose his reelection bid to a democratic socialist challenger as he faces off against state Rep. Donavan McKinney.
Thanedar represents a majority-black district in Detroit, and the race has split the Congressional Black Caucus. This has endangered Thanedar, who is no moderate. He sponsored an impeachment resolution last year.
As Thanedar seeks a third term, he doesn’t have the political edge that has helped him in the past: A primary field of Black candidates who fractured the vote in several directions. Thanedar also angered some Democrats by pursuing a rogue effort to impeach Trump last year.
The unique dynamics of this race mean it might not carry the same broader implications about the direction of the Democratic Party as other primaries in which democratic socialists toppled incumbents in New York and Colorado.
A win by El-Sayed and other socialists doesn’t mean they can beat a Republican. The Democratic leadership knows this, and they fear an election-day wipe-out for most socialist candidates who are running in swing districts.
I think the massive GOP cash advantage will flood the airwaves with warnings of the “red menace” and be a difference-maker. It may have been used before, but everything old is eventually new again, and reminding voters what they are actually voting for by pulling the lever for a Democratic socialist can’t hurt.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
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