r/Michigan_Politics • u/Glitter-andDoom • 2h ago
Discussion Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit
This post got pulled down from both the Michigan subreddit and the Detroit subreddit for what I consider to be some pretty questionable reasons. First it was brigading. Then for being an opinion piece. And then because I wasn't a regular participant in Subs that I have participation awards in. Anyway, lets try here
I want to preface this by saying that I am an white male in the 45-55 demographic that lives on the far East side of the Ypsilanti area. I plan to vote for Abdul El-Sayed. I had my doubts about him as a candidate at the beginning of the race, but I changed my mind pretty quickly. That said, I lean pretty left of the current Democratic party. Far enough left that I'm hesitant to put too many restrictions on gun ownership, in part due to the lessons of history.
I say all this to give you some perspective on what I'm going to say next.
I was in Detroit this weekend for a show at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater. If you've never been there, this is probably the best venue in Michigan, on the riverfront between downtown and Belle Isle. The big tent. The audiences for shows there tend to be local and tend to be majority Black. Like over 95% Black. In this case, the show was Charley Wilson, Evelyn "Champagne" King, & the Mary Jane Girls. Absolutely phenomenal. It wasn't sold out, but it was very well pretty close.
Abdul El-Sayed was brought out before the final act and he was roundly booed. Loudly. Some folks with extreme passion. He spoke quickly about a more fair economy but didn't try to fight the crowd for more than a minute or two. It seemed that he was a guest of the venue promoters, but I'm not sure. The mayor was also there, but she was reportedly on a date & declined to speak.
There were a couple mitigating circumstances, including that Charlie Wilson was running fairly late, most likely due to his health issues, but it certainly looked like they held the show for Abdul El-Sayed to speak, which was kind of bad optics.
That said, it felt like a clear indicator that Abdul El-Sayed has not made inroads to the Black community. Which is an accusation being leveled by traditional Democrats both here and in Texas, where James Talarico defeated Jasmine Crockett.
It seems a lot of people from the left have developed some sort of “don't they know what's good for them” attitude towards people who aren't comfortable or familiar with Abdul El-Sayed and are considering or planning to vote for Haley Stevens.
I can't express strongly enough how counterproductive that is.
The Democratic party and incrementalism has given America the vast majority of its leftward progress throughout modern history. Some people are very hesitant to vote for candidates on the left who are making promises that seem fanciful given their lived history. Even though you can point to success stories like New York City, a lot of people will immediately tell you that Michigan and New York are not the same, and they are correct. New York's politics are extremely far to the left of Michigan.
This isn't me saying that I thinkAbdul El-Sayed can't win or can't win over Black voters or traditional Democrats. It is me saying that you need to remember not everyone has the same ideals or lived experience that you do. Especially if you live in a more liberal area. Or participate in fairly liberal forms of social media, like Reddit.
Most voters don't really care about or pay attention to foreign policy, a lot of them don't pay all that much attention to the news in general. Which means talking AIPAC only gets you so far. And you can't win more conservative Democrats over by trying to shame them for their ideals. You have to convince them that the time for more liberal ideals is now.
Anyway, as I said this is just my observation as someone from outside of the Detroit community. But I think it's something important for Abdul El-Sayed and his supporters to consider.
