The author is a political commentator and former journalist, who served as deputy director of Public Information under Mayor Coleman A. Young from 1984-1991. He is the co-host of the podcast, Detroit in Black and White.
By Adolph Mongo
Abdul El-Sayed
The recent defeat of Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in that state's U.S. Senate primary should send a loud and deafening message to progressive Democrats around the country, and especially in Michigan: You cannot win statewide elections without a coalition of Democrats, moderate Republicans, and independent voters.
Is Abdul El-Sayed too out of touch with the voters of Michigan to win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate? Does he really care about winning? Or is it more important to him to just send a message — a message that he is against everything moderate and conservative Democrats stand for?
El-Sayed's take on criminal justice reform over the years is based in fantasy, not reality. His far-left positions in recent years, including defunding the police, are exactly the kind of policies that drive moderate and conservative Democrats out of the party.
In a June 2020 tweet, which he has since deleted, CNN reported last year, that he wrote:
“Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about."
In this senate campaign, he's tried to distance himself from that rhetoric, but not completely, telling the Detroit News last year:
“I want to be clear, I actually never, never called for defunding. My goal in that conversation was to help everybody to understand what we were talking about."
“Structurally, we have to get it right about the fact that too often crime is a function of the investment we make in certain communities, and I think we need to be making a lot more investments in things like quality education and housing.”
He's right about focusing on education and housing, but safety in neighborhoods is also a top priority.
Can we trust what he now says?
Defunding the police was never realistic. We all know the history of America's police departments and Black communities across the country. But many of these communities are besieged by crime, and police departments need to be fully staffed to help residents trapped in crime-ridden neighborhoods.
We need to work with police departments to improve relationships with Black residents. Defunding them, or reallocating police resources, is not the answer.
If his history is a good indicator, El-Sayed is not right for Michigan.
► In 2018, he campaigned for commuting all sentences for juveniles facing life in prison, which could result in some violent offenders returning to the streets before they show signs of reform.
► From 2019 to 2021, he served on the board of a climate group that lobbied to "defund and abolish the police" and described cops as "fascist pigs."
El-Sayed has the backing of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and is a proponent of Medicare-for- All. Theoretically, it’s a great idea. Realistically, it's a dream that's just not going to happen — at least not now or any time soon.
"A win for El-Sayed would represent an embrace of populist ideals and a sharp shift to the left in a state that has traditionally produced moderate senators, while a victory for either Stevens or McMorrow would represent voters’ desire for more traditional candidates," The Washington Post wrote in an article on Tuesday.
We cannot risk nominating someone like El-Sayed, who is so easily painted as too far to the left.
Progressives may think they appeal to the working class, but voters see through the rhetoric. El-Sayed doesn’t understand Michigan. He is more focused on campaigning on ideology than on delivering real solutions to real people. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is a cautionary tale — so consumed by foreign policy that she has largely ignored the pressing needs of her own district.
Congresswoman Crockett learned that lesson the hard way in her recent U.S. Senate race.
Michigan Democrats cannot afford to make the same mistake. The path to winning statewide runs through the middle — through coalition-building, pragmatism, and candidates who speak to the concerns of everyday Michiganders. If progressives refuse to heed that lesson, they will hand this Senate seat to Republicans on a silver platter.
