Abdul El-Sayed was the Democratic non-incumbent Senate candidate that Republicans wanted to run against in the general election. Republicans were flat-out giddy when El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, but things have not gone as well or as easily as Republicans expected.
El-Sayed has shown himself to be a good campaigner and an even better communicator.
There were many questions that Meet The Press’s Kristen Welker could have begun her interview with El-Sayed with. The number one issue on the minds of voters is the economy. Welker could have asked about gas prices, diesel prices, inflation, or any other economic that is front and center.
Instead, she chose to ask:
You announced that former President Obama is going to join you on the campaign trail a little bit later on this month in Detroit. You have been critical, though, of President Obama. After voting for his re-election in 2012, you wrote, quote, “Obama was not the right choice. He just wasn’t the wrong one. This leader has perpetrated war, violated our civil liberties, deported more people from our shores than any other president before him, and the list of his failures goes on.” Do you still see President Obama’s presidency as a failure?
Every trip to the gas station and grocery store is painful, but Welker chose to start with Obama in what looked like a bit to stoke controversy and divide Democrats.
It didn’t work.