Democrats have a socialism problem, and they have absolutely no idea what to do about it. Every time a candidate with radical views wins a primary, the party has two options: defend the indefensible or admit its coalition has a serious extremism issue. It’s a lose-lose situation for the establishment, which desperately wants to flip both the House and Senate.
Case in point: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) picked the first option, and it did not go well for her.
On Tuesday, the day of Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer pressed Dingell on her willingness to endorse Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whose rabidly anti-Israel rhetoric has been piling up for months. Dingell told Hemmer she'd back whichever candidate won the primary, El-Sayed or fellow Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), no matter who it turned out to be.
Hemmer wasn't satisfied with that answer, and he wasn't shy about saying why. "Just in the last month, Sayed has said Israel should not exist as a Jewish state," he told her. When Dingell tried to explain that she disagreed with El-Sayed, Hemmer cut her off. "Hang on, I've known you a long time, can you support that? And if so, how?" he asked.
Dingell didn't hedge on this particular point. "No, I categorically won't support that. Israel has a right to exist," she said.
"Then how can you endorse him if he is the candidate in November?" he asked.
That's when Dingell reached for a comparison that landed with an impotent thud. "Bill, I'm going to be very blunt, there are gonna be a lot of things I don't agree with Mike Rogers on, either," she said, likening her potential disagreements with an antisemitic Democrat to her disagreements with the Republican candidate in the race. Comparing ordinary policy disagreements with a Republican to embracing an antisemitic candidate who denies Israel's right to exist is quite a leap, and Dingell didn't seem to notice she'd made it.
She then argued that living in Michigan would help Hemmer understand the nuance he was missing. "I think I, more than most Americans, have lived between these two communities for decades. And both sides are hurting. I'm against antisemitism, I'm against those who are attacking the Muslim faith. We live in a country where we have freedom of religion," Dingell said.
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El-Sayed has become a fixture on cable news over the past several months, and every appearance seems to produce another quote Democrats will eventually have to explain away. He isn't the only candidate like this, either. Antisemitic rhetoric and radical foreign policy views have become disturbingly common among the party's rising stars, and Democratic leaders keep choosing loyalty to the ticket over basic moral clarity.
That’s where the problem lies. Voters nationwide get to watch Democratic officials tie themselves in knots trying to justify support for radical, bigoted candidates just because they’re running on the Democrat Party line. Independent and moderate voters, the ones who actually decide close elections, are watching this play out in real time. They aren't going to forget it when they decide who controls the Senate. Make no mistake about it, it’s going to be a very uncomfortable midterm general election season for the Democrats.
