Abdul El-Sayed says he is a progressive and not a democratic socialist, but will it make a difference in November?

 On the news this morning, the not-yet-called Democratic Michigan Senate Primary...a very close victory for Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed says he is a progressive and not a democratic socialist, but will it make a difference in November? The question that is hanging out there is whether El-Sayed will be painted as a democratic socialist and ripe for deceptive and vicious attack ads by GOP candidate Mike Rogers, which will doom the seat for Democrats. It will take an enormous effort on behalf of El-Sayed to educate unsophisticated voters that he is not a democratic socialist but is indeed a pro-capitalism progressive seeking reforms, not revolution. El Sayed has made it clear and is on the record as being in favor of capitalism, the kind of democracy, and the form of government we once had for 250 years.

El Sayed was not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose platform proposes to upend both, replacing capitalism with socialism and replacing our checks-and-balances system with a parliamentary form of governance, among other very controversial planks. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AJCcNbFfLd4

The GOP is already salivating at their prospects by attacking those adhering to or looking like they are adhering to the Democratic Socialists of America's platform.' There is beginning to be a realization among voters that the Democratic Socialists of America's platform is very close to communism and is very vulnerable to being charged as that.

The DSA is more extreme than their kin in Europe and is nothing like Bernie Sanders' benign version. This is why we are seeing more and more progressive candidates distancing themselves from the DSA as fast as they can and self-described moderate and progressive Democrats positioning themselves as "not the DSA."

The media is reporting this controversy as a self-defeating internal party fight. There is one, but the Democratic Party can survive if DSA candidates clarify what parts of the DSA plank they do not support.