Socialist insurgents eye Midwest gains as Dem civil war threatens must-hold Senate seat

Eighty million dollars to figure out who gets to lose to a Republican in Michigan. That's the joke buried in this story, and nobody on the Democratic side seems to be laughing. Abdul El-Sayed is running as the guy who wants to burn down the donor class, Haley Stevens is running as the guy who wants to keep it, and AIPAC is writing checks like this is the only race in America that matters. It might be, for them.

What's actually happening here is a party that can't decide what it is anymore trying to settle that argument in the most expensive way possible, in a state it cannot afford to lose. Michigan isn't a luxury seat. It's the difference between a Senate majority and a press release about "fighting back." And instead of coalescing around a candidate who can win a general, Democrats are staging a proxy war over Gaza, socialism, and who owes what to which donor network.

We've watched this movie before. The socialist wing thinks moderates are cowards bought by lobbyists. The moderate wing thinks the socialists are unelectable outside a Brooklyn coffee shop. Both sides are half right, which is worse than either being wrong. Meanwhile the actual electorate in Michigan, the union guys, the suburban parents, the people who don't have a dog in the AIPAC fight, are watching a party spend nine figures arguing with itself instead of making a case for anything.

If Republicans hold their nerve and run a normal campaign, this seat is winnable almost by default. Democrats are doing the work for us, one primary attack ad at a time.