BS BULLETIN:
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told supporters that an Abdul El-Sayed victory in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race could “break open the entire political calculus in America.”
- AOC called the effort a “generational project” and declared: “We are here to break the map.”
- El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open Senate seat on Nov. 3.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t treating Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign as just another race. She’s talking about it as a potential demonstration of how far progressive candidates can expand their reach.
Speaking Monday night at a New York City fundraiser for El-Sayed, the New York Democrat told supporters that victory in Michigan could have national implications.
“What we do is that we break open the entire political calculus in America — period,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Because if you can win, if Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere.”
And she didn’t stop at Michigan.
“We are here to break the map,” Ocasio-Cortez said, describing what she called a “generational project.” She talked about organizing voters in communities across the South and electing progressive candidates in other states.
AOC also framed El-Sayed’s candidacy as a test of a broader progressive argument: that candidates embracing policies associated with the party’s left can compete beyond deeply Democratic territory.
“We have written a check on the left, saying if you champion these policies that have popular support, we can win,” she said. “And now it is time to cash in.”
El-Sayed has said he does not identify as a democratic socialist, and the Democratic Socialists of America did not endorse him. His platform, however, includes several priorities associated with the progressive left, including Medicare for All, rejecting corporate PAC money and opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel.
El-Sayed narrowly emerged from Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary and now faces former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the race for the open seat. Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign with El-Sayed in Detroit on Oct. 24, the start of Michigan’s early in-person voting period.
That makes Michigan a very real test of the political theory AOC laid out Monday night. She clearly believes an El-Sayed victory would mean something much bigger than adding one Democrat to the Senate.
MY QUICK TAKE:
Well, at least AOC isn’t being coy about the ambition. That’s quite a lot riding on one Senate race.
Michigan voters, meanwhile, get to decide what they think of that pitch.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- ABC News — “‘If Abdul can win in Michigan, anyone can win anywhere’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outlines stakes for progressives at NYC fundraiser”
- RealClearPolitics — “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ‘If Abdul Can Win In Michigan, Anybody Can Win Anywhere’”
- Associated Press — “Obama is to appear with El-Sayed in Detroit as the ex-president gets more involved in the midterms”
- Washington Post — “El-Sayed, other progressives won in Michigan. Now they face Republicans”
