Detroit — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied supporters of Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit Saturday night, telling Michigan voters they faced a choice in the Aug. 4 primary of historical and national significance.
About 2,000 people gathered inside the Detroit Opera House to hear from Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers. All three have endorsed El-Sayed, a progressive former health official from Ann Arbor, in his race for the Democratic nomination against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Fain repeatedly touted El-Sayed’s push to guarantee government-provided health care coverage for everyone in the U.S. and blasted $50 million in spending on campaign ads that’s flowed into Michigan in support of Stevens.
Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said the campaign fight was “democracy versus oligarchy.” And Fain said the primary election was a “pick-a-side moment” for Michigan Democrats.
“The only reason we’re in the position we’re in in America right now is because too many Democrats can’t decide who the f*** they want to stand with,” Fain said, drawing a loud ovation from the crowd.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, said El-Sayed represented the politics of the future.
“Right now, there is a very clear choice before us,” she said. “We can choose $50 million and counting in dark money trying to buy the state of Michigan. Or we can choose Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.”
So far, the TV ad spending in the race has favored Stevens by a $12-to-$1 margin, according to tracking data reviewed by The Detroit News.
Stevens was first elected to the U.S. House in 2018. She’s been endorsed by U.S. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, who decided against seeking another six-year term, setting up the race for the open seat that’s now unfolding in Michigan.
In recent weeks, Stevens’ campaign has tried to paint El-Sayed as a wealthy podcaster and author focused on selling books.
“Who is closer to the billionaire class: A millionaire who gives paid speeches and continues to hide his financial information, or the only non-millionaire in the race focused on fighting for Michigan, beating Mike Rogers, and winning a Democratic Senate majority?” asked Arik Wolk, spokesman for Stevens on Saturday night.
The Republican Senate nominee will be former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township.
Rogers criticized the rally with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, who describe themselves as democratic socialists, saying they were attempting a “socialist takeover.”
“My opponents’ socialist agenda of defunding the police, abolishing law enforcement agencies, eliminating private healthcare and allowing the government to seize control of our lives will only send us into a death spiral,” Rogers said. “And Michiganders aren’t having it.”
Sanders: Voters need to ‘stand up for democracy’
Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary has become a national example of the battle for the future of the Democratic Party, with progressive and socialist factions contending Democratic leaders need to be more aggressive in opposing corporate political influence and military aid for Israel.
At one point Saturday, Sanders told the crowd the entire country and the world were watching Michigan’s primary.
“What they are asking you to do is to stand up for democracy,” Sanders said, adding that billionaires were attempting to buy Michigan’s vote.
While individual donors can give $7,000 directly to a U.S. Senate candidate’s campaign, people and corporations can spend unlimited amounts through super political action committees (PACs) that act independently of the campaigns.
United Democracy Project, which has been funded in part by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC, is slated to spend $28.5 million either supporting Stevens or attacking El-Sayed this year.
Bassam Sayegh, 28, of Sterling Heights was in the crowd for the event Saturday. He called the ads running against El-Sayed “ridiculous.”
“You can debate policy and all that,” Sayegh said. “But to just come up with fake attacks like that is annoying to see.”
Ocasio-Cortez contended that if people wanted a different type of politics, voters needed “to elect different politicians.” She referenced concerns some Democrats had that El-Sayed might not be able to win a general election. She said those worries weren’t really about his policy stances.
“It’s not about what he believes,” she said. “It’s about who he is. And it’s about their assumptions about what they think Michigan is. And we know they’re wrong.”
‘We can’t breathe’
Unlike Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, El-Sayed doesn’t label himself a democratic socialist. He’s not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the organization hasn’t endorsed him for that reason, said Lila Brickner, co-chairwoman of the Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America.
But Brickner was in attendance Saturday and said she supported El-Sayed. While knocking on doors this summer, Brickner said she’s encountered voters who are “sick of the centrist Dems that have a milquetoast message.”
“I think everybody just kinda considers her the AIPAC candidate,” Brickner said of Stevens.
After the rally, El-Sayed told reporters he knew he would face a wave of campaign spending, and that his plan to counteract it focused on building a movement based on having conversations with people.
He called the campaign ads a “crutch for a campaign that has no excitement.”
“It’s anti-democratic as hell to bring $50 million dollars into an election,” El-Sayed told reporters.
“Imagine there was no outside spending at all,” El-Sayed continued. “What would this race be?”
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, also spoke at Saturday’s rally and targeted two of her Democratic House colleagues: Stevens and U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit.
Thanedar is facing a primary challenge from state Rep. Donavan McKinney of Detroit, who has been endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. McKinney was given a speaking slot on stage Saturday.
Tlaib issued a message about groups funding Thanedar and Stevens, saying the sicker people in Detroit get, the more money those donors make. She suggested polluters are aiding Thanedar and Stevens’ campaigns.
“We see what corporations have done to us,” Tlaib said. “We can’t breathe literally.”
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Abdul El-Sayed backers see ‘pick-a-side moment’ in Senate primary
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
