Mike Rogers on Abdul El-Sayed: 'I Know a Con Man When I See One'
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
"I know a con man when I see one" is the kind of line that either lands because it's true or falls flat because it's just noise. Coming from Mike Rogers, a guy who spent years on the House Intelligence Committee sniffing out actual bad actors, it carries a little more weight than the usual convention-floor red meat. Whether it sticks to Abdul El-Sayed is a separate question, but the instinct to call it plainly instead of dressing it up in policy-speak is refreshing.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
The Michigan Republican Party held a nominating convention on August 22 to elevate candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. During the convention, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers also spoke and delivered a direct message about his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed: he's a con man, and Michigan voters should not fall for the scam.
Original source:
Read at TownhallHow We See It
New Republican Times Editorial Board
"I know a con man when I see one" is the kind of line that either lands because it's true or falls flat because it's just noise. Coming from Mike Rogers, a guy who spent years on the House Intelligence Committee sniffing out actual bad actors, it carries a little more weight than the usual convention-floor red meat. Whether it sticks to Abdul El-Sayed is a separate question, but the instinct to call it plainly instead of dressing it up in policy-speak is refreshing.
El-Sayed has built a career on the progressive activist circuit, running on Medicare for All and rent control promises that sound great in a stump speech and fall apart the moment you ask who pays for them. Michigan voters have already seen this movie once, when he ran for governor in 2018 and lost. Rogers is betting they remember the reruns.
What's notable here isn't really the insult. It's that a statewide Republican convention used its floor time to nominate down-ballot candidates and still made room to draw a sharp contrast on the Senate race. That's a party trying to build a full ticket rather than just coast on one name at the top. Michigan is going to be one of the more competitive Senate races in the country next year, and Rogers clearly knows that soft rhetoric doesn't win swing voters in Macomb County or Grand Rapids.
Call it blunt if you want. But voters have been sold plenty of promises by candidates who never had to explain the math. Somebody saying it out loud isn't the scandal here.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.