Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, stunned party officials Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers after Democratic tensions boiled over days before the election that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.

Stevens endorsed Rogers after attending a Detroit church service with him. The remarkable show of support for Donald Trump’s backed candidate in the tightly contested race comes after she was uninvited to a joint event the same day with El-Sayed, who defeated the congresswoman by a slim margin in the August primary.

“Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said video announcing the endorsement. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”

  • danc4498@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Then you might as well give up. I believe that the party is in the process of changing, and we just need to keep encouraging people like El Sayed and pushing for those types of politicians.

    The DNC isn’t some mystical being that can’t be changed. We have to fight for the change.

    • bss03@infosec.pub
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      5 days ago

      In this case, I’m for replacement rather than refinement. Working Families Party.

      Also, more left-leaning parties would encourage all left-leaning parties to implement Approval or Ranked-Choice voting, preferably a Condorcet method and that would be a good thing.

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
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        5 days ago

        They need power first, and a third part is never going to get that, just like this has NEVER WORKED INT HE LAST 80 FUCKING YEARS.

        This is our very last chance to have a country and you’re pulling out the “actually a vote for Jill Stein would be a really smart thing for our democracy” shit?

        Give me a break. Not ever ever falling for it again. Democrats have been leading way too far right since a bunch of Chamber of Commerce assholes got together and formed the DLC and now CAP and Third Way, and they have been pushing the party to the right since the early 1980s while posturing as the kindhearted progressives.

        Enough is enough, we are taking OUR party back from the hands of corporate greed and you can go form a centrist party if you want. Democrats get called lefty socialist commies all the time for openly stating progressive positions while rarely ever following through. It’s time to follow through.

        • bss03@infosec.pub
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          5 days ago

          I very clearly stated that I would be voting Democrat, and I didn’t encourage anyone not to. Nice strawman you’ve built there.

      • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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        5 days ago

        In case you weren’t aware, WFP candidates will run under the Dem ticket sometimes as a strategic decision.

        With the requirements some states have, its the sensible option. Its also one of the way to substantially alter the party OR increase the standing of WFP.

        Just because there is a “D” there, we shouldn’t assume establishment. This is why knowing who is running and getting in at the primaries is so important.

        • bss03@infosec.pub
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          5 days ago

          That’s actually one of the reasons I really remembered the Working Families Party after I learned about it: they understand the only way you can wield political power to change things (hopefully for the better) is to first acquire political power. With the way our current system works in most cases, it better to do that by getting a candidate to win one of the major party primaries rather than challenging both major parties in the general. But, that can change as power shifts or depending on the introduction of voting systems better than FPtP.

      • danc4498@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        This is the sams as giving up. We have a 2 party system whether you like it or not, and Dem will always be one of them. Any 3rd party will just give power to Republicans.

        • bss03@infosec.pub
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          5 days ago

          We might have a two-party system, but Democrats and Republicans haven’t always been the two parties. Strategic voting is not “giving up”, nor is support organizations other than the DNC and RNC. You sound quite out of touch with reality.

          Plus, two-party systems are generally the result of FPtP voting, and there are a number of better voting systems* being used in elections across the country and under those systems even voting for a 3rd party doesn’t “give power to Republicans”.

          *: Basically every voting system is better thatn FPtP, but a cloneproof Condorcet methods eliminate the traditional spoiler effect of a 3rd party on it’s most closely aligned major party.

          • danc4498@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            You sound quite out of touch with reality.

            Plus, two-party systems are generally the result of FPtP voting, and there are a number of better voting systems*

            How are you going to say I’m out of touch with reality then jump into a fantasy world where we somehow have a different voting system than we do? Unless you’re in a very specific region (Alaska for instance) it is all FPTP and all 2 party system.

            Third parties will only work in some districts. They are almost always spoilers, though. And acting like it is anything else is playing perfectly into the Republicans hands.

            Fact is, you say DNC and RNC haven’t always been the 2 parties, but it has been this way an incredibly long time. It is not changing. What has changed over time is the beliefs of the parties.

            Only realistic option is to vote for the democrats that represent what you want and hope enough will get elected that they can reshape the party.

            • bss03@infosec.pub
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              5 days ago

              Are you even reading my replies? You keep accusing me of doing things that I’m no where close to doing. Please take care of yourself.