Few things could be more quintessentially American than watching your college football team on TV, followed by another game and then another.
And few things could be more quintessentially American than seeing an Islamophobic ad by Republicans against Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senator, followed by an ad painting him as a Communist.
The latter reminded me of how Richard Nixon earned his nickname “Tricky Dick” in his first run for the Senate in 1950, decades before the Watergate scandal.
El-Sayed faces not only the double whammy of the GOP attack ads, but the shenanigans of the Democrat he defeated to secure the party’s nomination, Hayley Stevens, who is trying to undermine El-Sated in his quest to defeat Republican Mike Rogers.
The thrust of her efforts is to paint El-Sayed as anti-semitic, another one of those old familiar tunes in American politics. (If he wins, El-Sayed would be the first Moslem in the Senate.)
Every time something like this happens it is a reminder that there are two Americas, one that actually believes in the equality for all and one that doesn’t.
HEADLINES:
Rift grows between Democrats Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in Michigan (CNN)
Democratic Discord Intensifies in Michigan Senate Race (NYT)
4 ways the polls could be wrong — or right — about who will win the Senate (WP)
District of Columbia and Virginia sue to block Trump’s triumphal arch plans (Al Jazeera)
GOP House member on ’embarrassing’ South Carolina prospects: ‘Darline is dragging Rs’ (The Hill)
Inside the Conservative Case for Voting Restrictions (Reveal)
Prediction Markets Face Their Biggest Accuracy Test Yet: The Midterms (NYT)
Conspiracy Theory (Journal of the Plague Years)
As Trump fans the flames of a world on fire, can diplomacy take back control? (Guardian)
Gen Z protests turn violent in Germany (FT)
Hundreds of thousands of protesters march across France for third week in a row (Politico)
Stocks take a pounding (Reuters)
Surviving “The Graduate” (New Yorker)
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