Like most Americans, I've been following the election, and Tuesday, Nov.3, is the last day we can vote.I have to admit that from the South Side of Chicago, I've been watching the state near me, Michigan, with a heavy heart.
On Tuesday, voters there will decide whether or not to send Abdul El-Sayed to the United States Senate.He is a progressive who wants to implement Medicare for All, and he wants to abolish ICE.
He has Sen.Bernie Sanders and Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his corner (Britannica).What interests me about him is that he is part of a broader push on the left that sees American principles as the problem.El-Sayed says that he is not a socialist.
He calls himself a capitalist, and the Democratic Socialists of America have never endorsed him.But one has to wonder if keeping that distance is part of his campaign strategy.
Between 2017 and 2020, he spoke at six DSA chapter events and even gave the keynote speech at a 2019 fundraiser.The socialist organizers have called him "a longtime friend of Detroit DSA" (Fox News).
In addition to this, 50 DSA members flew in from New York to knock on doors for him before the primary (Washington Examiner).I'll let Michigan decide what the most apt political label is for him.I'M DR.
ABDUL EL-SAYED.THIS IS WHY I WANT MICHIGAN'S VOTE FOR SENATEHe has made a concerted effort to show Black voters in the Detroit area that he is with them.
He lost the city in the August primary, and since then he has visited Black churches, stood with Black pastors and put out an agenda for Black communities with housing timelines, minority business loans and school repairs.In September, he told a room full of female faith leaders in Detroit, "When it comes to Black communities in Michigan, when it comes to Black communities in America, there are unpaid debts that have long since come due that we are unwilling to acknowledge, let alone pay down." It is important to notice the language here.He's talking to us as if we are people who a...