Jalal Sobh: Polls in Michigan were badly wrong. Democrats may now face a bigger reckoning

This is why Abdul El-Sayed's ties to Hasan Piker, the far-left streamer, and his refusal to call Israel an ally over Iran could cost him the Michigan Senate race against Mike Rogers.

Debates in the Michigan Senate heat up over foreign policy

The statewide Senate race is in the dark as voting this year has produced a series of spectacular upsets, particularly in Michigan, where polls in the primary battle between Democrats Abdul-Al-Said and Haley Stevens have given El-Said double-digit lead after double-digit lead. In fact, Al-Sayed won by 1 percent—not the 10-18 percent predicted. It appears that these polls may have suppressed voter turnout and encouraged some Stevens voters to stay home.

It is unlikely that anyone following this news will stay home during the general election in Michigan. Al-Sayed - at its best! - An Islamist Apology. He cannot have his past statements or campaign rhetoric.

He refuses to talk about his most important supporter in the primary: far-left broadcaster and YouTube personality Hassan Pekar, who is part crazy, part extremist. Peeker pushed Al-Sayed across the finish line in the primary, but now voters are going to accept Al-Sayed's deviations when they question him.

The historical paper savagely castigates Al-Sayed for hiding his past while endorsing his opposition.

Al-Sayed is a radical. He has done very little to hide his opposition to America's ally Israel and has gone so far as to equate Israel with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran, of course, has been at war with the United States since its revolution in 1979. The regime is responsible for the deaths of over a thousand Americans, whether it was blown up, the US embassy or the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 by Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, or just this past weekend, when another American was killed by another Iranian proxy, the Houthis, through a Houthi missile attack on Riyadh International Airport, Saudi Arabia.

However, al-Sayed cannot simply declare that Israel is our ally and Iran is our enemy. This should tell everyone everything they need to know about Alcide and cost him on November 3rd.

Al-Sayed tries to make peace with the Jewish democrats but draws the line at dumping Hasan Pikar

Across the country, Democrats have fielded fringe candidates, from Alcide in Michigan to James Talarico in Texas, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota and Troy Jackson in Maine. It's as if the Democratic National Committee hasn't made any effort to recruit candidates, or maybe they're just throwing darts at a sign marked "guaranteed to lose" above.

But Alcide is the worst... by far. And the stories continue as counterinquiries reveal facts about al-Sayed's past that he has tried to hide, including his claim of dual citizenship, which he has since denied. With nearly three weeks to go until the end of the polls, it's fair to expect more such vintage tapes and tweets.

Fetterman dares Alcide to stick with Pyker, claiming the Michigan candidate has "little man syndrome energy."

Alcide's Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, by contrast, is a mainstream, moderate Michigander. The former FBI agent and lieutenant in the Army before serving in the Michigan Legislature and then for more than a decade in the House of Representatives, where he ended up as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. (This is important, by the way, because the Intelligence Committee is a select committee, with members chosen by the Speaker and the House Minority Leader, traditionally because of national security issues.)

Rogers v. Al-Sayed should not be close. And it's likely not because of Alcide's reported problem with Detroit's black community, which Democrats have traditionally relied on to win the Wolverine state.

Rogers opens door to Democratic voters after Alcide primary win: 'There's still hope'

Report after report points to a long-standing alienation between the black and Arab American communities in and around Detroit, but hardly any pollster knows how to justify black voters' antagonism toward Al-Sayed.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama's campaign abandonments are as close as you can get to "break glass, alarm" emergency signals, but they don't do the trick.

Black voters, Jewish Democrats in Michigan wary of voting for Al-Sayed, say 'he's using privilege'

problem? Traditional democrats know Al-Sayed. He has previously run for political office. And he lost before. "Winning and kind" is not on his resume. Either way, he's the angriest major league recruit we've seen in decades. His refusal to answer basic questions about the body, about his family's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and about the effect of Medicare for All on union-negotiated health care plans (the former eliminating the latter) make Al-Sayed untrustworthy.

Rogers' early recall on election night would guarantee Republicans a Senate majority. (That result may have already been achieved with victories for Sens. Susan Collins in Maine and John Sonno in New Hampshire, but it will be a big relief to get Rogers' call as early as Nov. 3.)

However, beyond the far better man winning the election, a Rogers victory over Al-Sayed would be a victory for moderation and maturity and a rejection of the kind of extremism that Democrats have not flirted with outside of the dark blue urban areas that sent "AOC," Ilhan Omar, and the rest of the "squad" to D.C.

The United States needs two major parties committed to playing between the 40-yard lines of American politics. Losing Democrats to an extremist like Al-Sayed would be terrible for everyone, including, and especially, the Democratic Party.

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