Well, here we go.
I'm writing about the two Democrat candidates for the United States Senate who will compete a week from today to take on Republican Mike Rogers and represent the state of Michigan in the upper chamber of Congress.
I've literally been hiding in plain sight during the lead-up to next Tuesday's election, but I've decided to break my vow of silence for the 300th time this year and start chiming in more on the upcoming election(s).
Michigan deserves competent leadership, and Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed aren't setting people's expectations too high here, nor should they.
Are we asking for too much here in the Great Lakes State?
My colleague Nick Arama had a take on El-Sayed yesterday that I found somewhat amusing. Even Democrats Are Blasting This Michigan Candidate's 'Ogre on a Pike' Remark.
He was arguing at a Zoom meeting about how they could advance their movement by him winning his race.
"Like that’s the best thing about the way they’re doing this is if I win … ‘Well, y’all came at me, so now I get to come at you.’ And you know, primarying people like John Fetterman, I have no problem to do that. Like I’m looking forward to it. And people are like, ‘We don’t primary the Senate.’ I’m like: watch me do it. Tell me why I should stop.”
El-Sayed summed up his stance as more of a winner-take-all champion than a big-tent coalition builder. “You’re gonna spend $60 million to beat me — OK, two can play at that game,” he said. “And then what happens is, ideally, you put one ogre on a pike, and then everyone else gets the message, and all of a sudden starts to sound a lot different.”
The use of that imagery — "ogre on a pike" — understandably upset people, including other Democrats. Some thought he might be referencing Stevens, although she wasn't mentioned specifically at that point, although he's talking about winning his race.
That is what we call a boo-boo in politics, and not one that you can get over easily.
Yet Haley Stevens has not been running as smooth as silk on the other side of the coin either.
As I pointed out yesterday in a post... Living in Michigan Can Be Tough in Election Years. Here's How the Trump-Backed Candidates Are Doing. Haley Stevens' viral video is all the rage, and while it is funny, I don't see how it makes her look... completely with it.
The perfect Democrat, some might say, and normally I would agree, but...
The party of the donkey in the State of Michigan must be absolutely thrilled with the box they have painted themselves into, or beating themselves with a club. This is the best they could do to send to the nation's capital?
Some guy who is talking about putting those who disagree with him like an "ogre on a pike" and a lady who is doing her best Chris Farley impersonation in the hopes you do not end up in a "van down by the river," and she means it.
Michigan, we have just over seven days before the primary occurs a week from Tuesday, then less than a hundred days until the general election to select not only who will be our next United States senator but also who will be our next governor and other offices down the line.
Lots of people have said over the years that this election is the most important, and I usually have rolled my eyes, but this one in November really is. It is incredibly critical that the people in this state make the right choice to move forward and elect or hire competent people to represent us in elected offices both in Washington, D.C. and Lansing.
Michigan, we will not have many more shots at this if we get it wrong this November.
I've got a feeling if we blow this election cycle, we are all going to be singing the blues in the Great Lakes State for a long time to come.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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