AIPAC eyes another push against El-Sayed after $32 million defeat in Michigan primary

US pro-Israel lobbyists are considering spending millions on propaganda to boost the popularity of pro-Israel Republican Mike Rogers against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other special-interest groups have already wasted tens of millions of dollars in a failed attempt to stop El-Sayed during Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

On Wednesday, El-Sayed defeated his rival Haley Stevens, who enjoyed overwhelming backing from AIPAC as well as the Democratic Party establishment.

Stevens, who openly described herself as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat,” had received substantial campaign funding from AIPAC in return for her support of the Israeli regime.

To secure the nomination, El-Sayed not only overcame Stevens, a four-term Democratic congresswoman, but also the full weight of pro-Israel groups and Michigan’s Democratic power brokers, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who had endorsed Stevens.

AIPAC reportedly spent $32 million trying to promote her.

El-Sayed’s victory stunned the US political system. If he wins the Senate seat, he will become the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate. Immediately after the primary, US President Donald Trump rushed to label him a “Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel.”

“[I]f we come through this, when we come through this, Inshallah, we’ll have taken $70 million on the chin and kept fighting back,” El-Sayed said after his win, referring to the massive spending deployed against him.

Senator Bernie Sanders called the result the “most extraordinary victory” in modern US politics.

The win carries special weight because El-Sayed prevailed in a statewide race in a swing state that voted for Trump less than two years ago, despite the flood of money and establishment endorsements lined up against him.

Pennsylvania progressive Representative Chris Rabb said the victory sends a clear message to the Democratic establishment: “The things that used to work are old and arcane and do not reach the types of people that will come out who won’t vote for normal traditional Democrats.” Rabb added that El-Sayed’s ability to expand the party’s voter base will help defeat Rogers in November.

El-Sayed’s campaign slogan is direct: “Money out of politics. Money in your pockets. Medicare for All.” He has consistently argued that taxpayers’ money currently wasted on wars should instead be used to support communities across the United States and Michigan.

His victory demonstrates that when a candidate runs on a clear anti-war platform and is prepared to confront special-interest groups like AIPAC, American voters will support them, said Michigan Democratic Representative Alabas Farhat.

‌US Senator calls Iran war ‘disastrous’ as Senate blocks 5th bid to curb Trump’s war powers

A US senator has slammed war on Iran as “disastrous,” as the Senate blocked the fifth attempt by Democrats to limit President Trump’s war powers.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, will now face Republican former congressman Mike Rogers, a close Trump ally, in the November midterm elections. AIPAC’s heavy involvement and the growing unpopularity of the Israeli regime among Americans over wars in West Asia have become central issues in the race.

“AIPAC can try dumping millions of dollars into propaganda, but at the end of the day, American voters don’t want our tax dollars to go toward bombing families abroad. We want to fund healthcare, not warfare,” said Iman Abid, political director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action.

Sally Howell, a history professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who has pioneered research on Arab-American and Muslim-American communities, described El-Sayed’s win as “genuine change” for Michigan.

“It tells us that voters are very frustrated with the establishment – the establishment in Washington and the establishment in the Democratic Party,” she said. “They want leaders who are going to bring change, not more of the same.”

Undeterred, AIPAC has already announced it will escalate its efforts and push for significantly higher campaign spending in a desperate bid to defeat El-Sayed in November.

“Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” the group declared in a statement on Wednesday.

Yet social media commentator Russell Ellis, known as Jolly Good Ginger, observed that the more AIPAC pours into pro-Israel propaganda, the fewer votes it is likely to win. American voters across the country are showing they are fed up with the Israeli regime and its powerful lobby.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir