Jesse Watters says ‘I actually like’ Abdul el Sayed after interviewing him

Jesse Watters saying he "likes" a guy he thinks would be a terrible senator is not the scandal some corners of the internet want to make it. It's actually the most normal thing that happened on cable news this week. Abdul el-Sayed is sharp, he's quick on his feet, and he doesn't talk like every other Democratic candidate reading from the same three approved talking points. Watters noticed that. So did a lot of people who've watched el-Sayed do interviews. Being likable and being right for the job are two different questions, and it's a little sad that has to be said out loud.

What's actually worth paying attention to here is why el-Sayed comes across as different in the first place. He's not "not your typical stiff" because he's moderate. He's the same Bernie-aligned, single-payer, defund-the-police-adjacent candidate he's always been. He's just better at selling it than the last decade of Michigan Democrats, who tend to sound like they're reading a press release even when they're angry. That's a communications problem for the party, not a character endorsement of the platform.

Conservatives don't need to pretend every Democrat is a cartoon villain to make the case against their politics. Watters gave the guy credit for being interesting and then explained, clearly, why he'd still vote against him. That's what actual political commentary is supposed to look like, as opposed to the screaming-heads version everyone's gotten used to on both sides. If more of these interviews looked like a real conversation instead of a gotcha ambush, voters might actually learn something about the people asking for their vote, instead of just their party affiliation.