Tired of the Status Quo

What's Happening?

Michigan candidate for Senate and Emgage endorsee Abdul El-Sayed won his electrifying primary election over Representative Haley Stevens in an intense race.

Dr. El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat, Muslim immigrant, Rhodes scholar, and epidemiologist, ran his campaign on three core messages: banning corporate money in politics, including refusing AIPAC funding, Medicare for All, and opposing unconditional aid to Israel. These platforms, typical of progressive candidates, tend to give pause to centrist and establishment Democrats, but appear to be winning over Americans, who have been increasingly vocal of their frustrations over dark money in politics and US foreign policy.

AIPAC, which has in the past enjoyed broad American support, continues to see a sharp decline in popularity, signaling how politically fraught support from the pro-Israel lobby has become. Despite pouring a record $32 million into the Michigan race, it didn’t help Stevens in a state that has become a hotbed for conversations surrounding the genocide. Support from groups like AIPAC and outside corporate entities, including Chevron and Philip Morris, has never been popular with Americans and Stevens, who promised to support comprehensive campaign finance reform, may have harmed rather than helped by their money, as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) summed up in his disapproving comment: “She is nothing more than an employee of these billionaires.”

Dr. El-Sayed will now face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers this November in one of the most competitive Senate races this midterm. If he wins, he will be the first Muslim Senator in American history.

Policy Perspectives

A clear message from voters

It’s often lost during primary seasons and election cycles that intra-party disagreement is perfectly acceptable, as candidates from the same party can disagree and have contrasting approaches to solving problems. But it’s a reality that needs to also be accepted not only by voters, but also by the establishment.

Progressive Democrats aren’t new and their demands are also not unexpected; in fact, their platforms tend to align more with what the average American has been asking for, whether it’s fair wages, a more affordable and equitable healthcare system, or generally policies that improve our daily lives. However, centrist and establishment figures on both sides of the aisle are caught in the crosshairs of who they answer to. On one hand, the corporations and wealthy donors that fund their election campaigns are expecting business as usual, but on the other, everyday Americans are exhausted, at wits’ end, and demanding change.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 New York race was one of the first to show the cracks in the status quo, shocking the establishment through her win against ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley. Dr. El-Sayed joins that break from special interest groups and corporate power, proving that Americans are starting to see through the façade. Dr. El-Sayed made a point to ask what Americans were all thinking. Does Israel have a right to our tax dollars? Should there be middlemen with job titles no one has ever heard of making financial decisions on our health?

Additionally, Trump and his ilk naturally have started their racist campaign against Dr. El-Sayed, who’s become their new target. Already, Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate for Senate and Dr. El-Sayed’s opposition in November, has echoed lies about him, claiming Dr. El-Sayed is “beyond antisemitic,” “extremist,” and “believes America deserved 9/11.”

But like their failed attacks against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the manufactured hate against Dr. El-Sayed isn’t really going to work, namely because Trump (like establishment Democrats) fail to acknowledge that Americans are simply fed up. Whether it’s stagnant wages coupled with soaring costs, a disconcerting obsession with funding Israel and its genocide while Americans struggle to afford basic necessities, or more empty campaign promises, Americans have had enough of the status quo of protecting corporations and the wealthy.

As a result, Dr. El-Sayed, like Mamdani and AOC, is seen as the antidote to this rising frustration of stale and timid politicians, signifying an alternative direction in which they promise to deliver on what Americans want.

An unfortunate reality of American elections

There is always a profound sense of optimism that arises from witnessing candidates from historically marginalized communities step forward, particularly those who firmly pledge their allegiance to Americans, rather than to foreign interests and corporate entities.

But it also comes with the barrage of hate and for Muslim candidates, a dangerous spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric and attacks. It’s also becoming way too normalized in races, with Muslim candidates and voters expecting to hear some of the vilest vitriol possible. Republican officials are all too happy to contribute to the rise with the typical drivel and accusations of extremism, antisemitism, and attempts to paint Muslims as outside invaders.

If it wasn’t so harmful, it would be terribly boring to hear the same recycled lies regurgitated by establishment figures who are terrified of the status quo changing. But what’s more insidious is the lack of pushback from Democratic leadership, which has failed to both condemn and penalise officials who spout anti-Muslim nonsense.

However, the failure to stem the attacks as well as the attacks themselves betray a very real fear for the establishment. They are scared of losing their influence, their connections, and their wealth. Third Way, a centrist think tank and advocacy organization, is already raising millions of dollars to discredit and mobilize voters against progressive candidates, like Dr. El-Sayed who they repeatedly and sharply criticized. Third Way president Jonathan Cowan, a member of the Democratic Party, labeled this rise of democratic socialists the “next war that is coming.”

So the irritating trend of dismissing progressive candidates as “radical communists” isn’t limited to the right; Democrats are also piling on and adding to the disinformation. There are thankfully signs that establishment Democrats are, albeit rather reluctantly, willing to embrace this direction. Senator Chuck Schumer (NY-D), who backed Stevens in the Michigan race, did endorse Dr. El-Sayed and the party have vowed to unite behind him. Following her narrow defeat, Representative Stevens also endorsed Dr. El-Sayed and in her speech noted, “We must elect Democrats up and down the ballot […] We need to win this Senate seat, because Elissa Slotkin deserves a partner like Abdul.”

Still, their criticism of candidates who challenge the system belies the fact that they aren’t offering policies or ideas that people want anymore nor delivering for them. On the other hand, Dr. El-Sayed, Mamdani, AOC and others like them are offering something Americans haven’t experienced but have been demanding: a government that protects and works for them. What really are Democrats losing if they’re elected?

ON OUR RADAR

SAVE America Act Stays on the Sidelines

The Senate headed into a five-week recess without advancing the SAVE America Act, despite it being a top legislative priority for Trump. Senate Republicans agreed to postpone action after it became clear they likely did not have enough votes to move the broader budget resolution needed to advance the bill. Instead, senators voted on a narrower voter ID proposal, which received 52 votes but fell short of the 60 needed to advance. The Senate returns September 14, leaving the SAVE America Act on the back burner…for now.

Birthright Citizenship Is Back on Trump’s Hit List

Trump is once again targeting birthright citizenship with a narrower executive order aimed at denying citizenship to certain children born in the United States, including those whose parents lack permanent legal status. The move follows the Supreme Court’s rejection of his earlier attempt and appears designed to test how far the administration can push its interpretation of the 14th Amendment. In doing so, Trump is once again challenging the longstanding principle that people born on U.S. soil are American citizens.

The Reflecting Pool Case Is Getting Murkier

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8) is opening a House investigation into the Trump administration’s prosecution of former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was charged with felony vandalism over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The DOJ later dropped the case, acknowledging the damage appeared to come from a botched renovation, not vandalism. Now, reports say the White House is pushing the DOJ to reconsider the prosecution, raising questions about whether prosecutors ignored or withheld evidence. It is highly unusual for the DOJ to reopen a case it dropped.

PLEASE VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN

Trump signed an Executive Order introducing a new federal childhood vaccine recommendation that reduces universally recommended pediatric immunisations for all children from 17 or 18 down to 11 diseases, separates the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into individual shots, and spaces out medical visits. The move has been severely criticised by doctors, pediatricians, and medical groups because it goes against decades of scientific research, common sense, and child safety as well as risks dangerous outbreaks and death.

WE CAN FIGHT BACK.