Democrats give Republicans a chance in November

Democratic activists voted with their hearts last Sunday.

At a jam-packed endorsement convention, Dems selected Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit as their Attorney General pick, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II for Secretary of State and Amid Makled for University of Michigan regents.

Progressives are thrilled.

The People’s Coalition successfully overwhelmed organized labor and the trial lawyers, the groups that traditionally make these picks.

They nearly batted 1.000 in advancing candidates whose positions fall most closely to those of U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who was essentially anointed the king of the court.

It’s a ticket that prioritizes people over big corporations and monopoly utilities. They’re disgusted by anyone or anything that financially benefits from the Israeli government blowing Gaza into smithereens. 

Today’s Democratic Party is for Medicare for All, or at least universal health care in some capacity. They’re against money in politics. It’s a party that’s no longer trying to rally around their mutual disgust for President Donald Trump.

Candidates who can best relate to the plight of working people – their struggles paying rent or their mortgage, finding childcare, affording groceries – won this weekend. 

Everyone else … delegates didn’t have the time for them. 

U.S. Senate hopeful Haley Stevens, whose campaign was already in a death spiral, saw her hopes for her party’s nomination disappear down the drain amid a chorus of boos and hecklers. Whether she continues to hang around this summer and take third on Aug. 4 is up to her.

Stevens’ reception – while disrespectful and tacky – is natural. People are pissed off. 

They feel like the folks in charge don’t care about their frustrations. They feel those in charge are bought and paid for by a ruling class that takes and gives little in return. 

If the progressive grassroots don’t hear candidates who talk their language or if they hear someone uttering the same ol’ partisan talking-point bullshit, they’re not interested. They’re out.

It reminded me of the 2022 Republican convention, when Michigan Republican Chair Ron Weiser needed Matt DePerno’s help to keep things from jumping the rails.

A group of Republican delegates got what they wanted at that convention. They, too, voted with their hearts. They selected candidates in DePerno and Kristina Karamo who spoke their language of conspiracy and deep-state election fraud.

They selected candidates who got crushed in November. Republicans lost literally everything in 2022.

I’m not saying the Democrats will take a bath this November because the delegates selected Savit, Gilchrist and Makled. The political winds are blowing out of the left.

I am saying the Democrats made it harder for themselves.

Savit is the state’s most liberal county prosecutor, who pushed for a cashless bond and declined to prosecute sex workers or those who used magic mushrooms. I make no judgment on his positions, but Republicans already have. They have a foothold to make a claim that Savit ‘chooses criminals over victims.’

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald would have won in November by at least 10 points.

Gilchrist’s non-descript tenure as Lieutenant Governor is marked by not showing up to work as the presiding officer of the Senate since last August. I understand the Senate membership is at 37. The guy wasn’t in a position to break any tie votes.

However, I can tell you political arguments against no-show office holders work. Ask Laura Toy or Karen Whitsett. Republican interests can and will run commercials on this. They will be effective.

Running commercials on whatever Barb Byrum did or didn’t do to keep her kid in school are tricky for many reasons, not the least of which is that a court couldn’t find that she did anything wrong.

Fair or not, having Makled on the ticket opens the door to antisemitism claims that, at best, closes the pocketbooks of traditional Jewish funders. At worst, the checks go to Mike Rogers, Perry Johnson or John James.

Again, remember 2022. Republican delegates spit at their traditional funding base. Money dried up really fast. 

In the end, it may not matter. Trump’s numbers are in the toilet. Gas is pushing $4.50 a gallon. Few support the war in Iran.

But Democrats could have made the down-ballot races a done deal had they voted with their head. They voted with their heart instead.

(Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. You can email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)