Michigan Democrats Announce Unity, Pending Agreement

Michigan Democrats are trying to bring Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and his former primary rival, Representative Haley Stevens, together before Tuesday’s election. A reported Sunday joint appearance remained uncertain Friday, with Stevens setting conditions and El-Sayed accusing her of relitigating the primary, according to Michigan Advance.

The announcement of unity is proceeding considerably faster than the unity. They have released the smell of dinner. Someone is still negotiating whether the oven can be turned on.

Representative Jim Clyburn is involved in trying to bring them together, alongside Representative Debbie Dingell. A separate Sunday Souls to the Polls event with Clyburn and El-Sayed had already been planned. The proposed appearance with Stevens is another matter.

Already we need two calendars to establish how well everyone is getting along.

Stevens said she expected El-Sayed to condemn an outside Rebellion PAC advertisement and apologize for past campaign statements. Critics, including the Anti-Defamation League’s chief executive, have described the ad as antisemitic. The group’s leader, Cenk Uygur, disputes that characterization, saying it concerns Israel, not Jews. El-Sayed’s campaign has said no outside entity speaks for it.

These are serious disagreements. Which makes announcing the reconciliation before establishing what anybody has agreed to a particularly ambitious choice. Most people assemble the bridge before inviting the bus.

Stevens said she had learned through party leaders and emissaries that El-Sayed was condemning the ad, and urged the press and voters to confirm it with him directly.

Ah. The unity announcement comes with some assembly required. Please find enclosed one celebratory statement, three accounts of a conversation, and an instruction to call the other person and discover whether the central event has happened.

Who is holding the little Allen key? Clyburn? Does Dingell have the diagram? Is there supposed to be a gap this large between the two sides, or have we attached the primary backward?

By Friday evening, El-Sayed was emphasizing prices, healthcare and defeating Republican Mike Rogers. He accused Stevens of relitigating a primary that ended three months earlier.

That does not sound like the triumphant final tightening of the screw.

I understand wanting the party to come together. There is an election in a few days. There are voters to reach, arguments to make, an actual Republican opponent. But look at the process. Democratic leaders are trying to negotiate a joint appearance while the participants issue statements explaining what the other participant should be doing instead. It is a three-legged race in which both runners have requested separate management of the third leg.

And now the public gets to check the progress. Is the appearance happening? Which appearance? The one already announced, or the one whose announcement requires confirmation of the agreement that apparently made it announceable?

Jesus Christ. Put the victory bunting down. We are still locating the nouns.

There is room for demands, objections and actual answers. There is even room for deciding that an appearance cannot resolve the disagreement. What is exhausting is the ceremonial unveiling of a finished reconciliation while everybody can still see a congresswoman under it holding a bag of unused bolts.

At this rate, the first thing they can jointly cut is the ribbon on the negotiations.

Careful with the scissors. Both sides still want a handle.