Wherever I read reports about Abdul El-Sayed's victory over Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan\u2019s Democratic primary in the USA yesterday, in which that party selected its candidate for the US Senate midterm elections this autumn, I could not help but feel the shock creeping from the pages of the mainstream press.<\/p>\n
Commentary in the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Washington Post all reflect the same sentiment. The shock of a democratic socialist being selected over a mainstream corporate Democrat is something that the mainstream media is having difficulty coming to terms with.<\/p>\n
Take this from the New York Times<\/a> for example:<\/p>\n Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, won a razor-thin victory in the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan that serves as the most significant triumph for his party\u2019s left wing this year.<\/p>\n Dr. El-Sayed prevailed in a highly contentious contest against Representative Haley Stevens, who argued to the end that he was unlikely to win a general election in a battleground state.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Can you spot the positive dimensions in there? No, me neither. Grudging disbelief coupled with foreboding naysaying is the one I am getting.<\/p>\n This is the FT take<\/a>:<\/p>\n Progressive challenger Abdul El-Sayed has defeated congresswoman Haley Stevens in a high-stakes Democratic Senate primary in Michigan that has delivered a stunning rebuke of the party establishment.<\/p>\n The result is a significant victory for the party\u2019s progressive leftwing and sets the stage for a blockbuster US Senate race in the critical swing state in November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Much the same sentiment is expressed as is seen in the New York Times. The message is one of sympathy for the Democrat hierarchy and their loss, and misses the point that they threw four times more money at this campaign than Abdul El-Sayed and still lost, as if they had to find out the hard way that money can't buy you love.<\/p>\n The sentiment is such that you almost believe that these papers are aligned with Trump, who said on his social media platform, as quoted in the FT:<\/p>\n Great news for the Republican Party. El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel is the projected winner in his race. Now the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That comment is worth noting. The language is patronising. As far as I can see, it would be hard to call Abdul El-Sayed a democratic socialist, let alone a communist, but this portrayal of the left by Trump (and many Democrats) is familiar, and alienating for anyone who cares about others.<\/p>\n As tellingly, the framing around support for Israel is significant: this reveals the real issue in US politics, which is whether the US should be a sovereign state, or one run for rhe the benefit of Benjamin Netanyahu's factions in Israel. Many in both the Republicans and Democrats take the second view. That is the great divide in US politics now, and maybe elsewhere as well.<\/p>\n The reality is, of course, that this is great news for politics in the USA. To get a sense of that, I had to read Robert Reich. He said in a Substack post:<\/p>\n With the victory of progressive Abdul El-Sayed over Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan\u2019s Democratic primary yesterday, prepare yourself to hear enormous quantities of bullsh*t about the Democratic Party now being \u201ctaken over\u201d by \u201cDemocratic Socialists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n