Letting the left wing steal the show may become a debacle for Democrats in countless ways come November. The obvious part is that they would risk blowing winnable races this year. A late July poll showed that Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic firebrand who is currently deadlocked in a Michigan Senate primary as of Wednesday morning as votes continue to be tallied, is trailing his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, by three points in the general election. Meanwhile, El-Sayed’s more moderate opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, would kick off the general with a two-point lead.
But by flirting with the radical left in this year’s midterms, Democrats have also ignored the better paths being blazed by other candidates that may lead them to a durable majority. Nominating Stevens would put Democrats in the best position to hold on to a Michigan seat. But their best shot at flipping GOP seats and expanding their coalition can be found in one Senate race in the booming Sun Belt, and another in the stagnant Rust Belt. The experienced candidates in these campaigns capture what a winning future for Democrats may look like more than any of the left-wing spectacles in other statewide races.
Unless you live in North Carolina or Ohio, you probably haven’t spent much time following the campaigns of Roy Cooper and Sherrod Brown. Even journalists and political professionals tend to refer to these candidates with pat labels rather than the detailed analysis they’ve expended on far-left darlings such as El-Sayed—and Graham Platner, before a rape allegation forced him out of his Senate race in Maine. Cooper is the square, affable former governor whose middle-of-the road record will help him coast to victory in the purple Tar Heel State. Brown is the gravelly former senator, a skeptic of free trade and friend of the unions, who Ohio voters may rehire if the blue wave crests high enough.
