Running for you, not for Donald Trump
By Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
At a town hall in Grand Rapids last week, a young boy asked me a question: “What was the driving factor for you to run for Senator?”
I didn’t have to think twice. My answer was as simple as it was automatic: “You.”
As a father, my “why” in this race has always been clear. Our kids are the whole point. In every child, I see my own children.
My brilliant daughters, Emmalee and Serene, are eight and three. I’m running for Senate because I want them to grow up in a world where they and all the children they’re growing up with have a shot at the future they deserve.
But right now, our politics are keeping that out of reach. For far too long, billionaires and
corporations have rigged the system against us all. Special interests buy and sell politicians while everyday Michiganders strain under record-breaking costs and stagnating wages. Utilities, insurance premiums, mortgages, gas and groceries—none of them are affordable alone. Together, they’re pushing us to the brink.
I’m running for Senate because in the richest, most powerful country in the world, it shouldn’t be this hard to simply get by. That’s why I’ve never taken a dime of corporate money and never will. And on day one as Michigan’s next Senator, I will champion legislation to overturn the catastrophic Citizens United ruling to get corporate money out of our politics—so that we can finally build the world our children deserve.
I am not sure what Mike Rogers would say if he were asked the same question. We may never know because he doesn’t do town halls where such questions are often asked. Considering the
consequences of the full scope of his career, his honest answer would likely be the exact opposite: “To make more money.”
We’ve seen what happens when Mike Rogers gets a taste of power. We’ve suffered through it before.
Rogers spent twenty years in the state Senate and then in Congress abusing his office to enrich himself at the expense of Michiganders.
He took money from Big Oil – then voted to keep gas prices high.
He took money from Wall Street – then voted for higher credit rates.
He took money from Big Pharma – then voted to gut Medicaid and raise prescription drug costs.
And upon leaving Congress, he spun through the revolving door to rake in millions by advising the very corporations he was supposed to regulate in office.
Mike Rogers has never met a billionaire or a corporation he wouldn’t eagerly sell us out to. We know this to be true: life gets harder for Michiganders when Mike Rogers is in charge. Because like his puppetmaster Trump, Rogers represents the worst in our politics.
As I’ve crisscrossed the state over the past year, I’ve had a chance to speak with voters of all
backgrounds. We’ve held over 600 events in each corner of Michigan, and everywhere I go, I hear the same concerns. Trump is running wild in Washington without any checks or balances, and it has led us into a disastrous trade war with Canada as well as an immoral regime change in Iran. Mike Rogers has only cheerled Trump’s extreme policies, and, if elected, he’d rubber-stamp them without a second thought.
Folks can’t afford their groceries. Gas is too expensive. Young people worry they’ll never be able to hold a job or own a home, and healthcare access continues to be stripped away.
This November, we can do something about that.
We can get money out of politics. We can put money in your pocket. And we can deliver Medicare for All.
This election is a referendum on politics as usual.
We have a choice between a government that serves Michigan or a government that serves Donald Trump and the corporations off of which he’s enriching himself.
Michiganders, the choice is yours. Our children are counting on us.
