Return of the Wrecker

Well, Haley Stevens crossed the Rubicon, officially endorsing Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race.

One doesn't need to say much more than what Chuck Schumer did: "A despicable betrayal." Stevens' Democratic career was already dead, but now it's ... extra dead? Dead-dead? Whatever. I find myself not caring about the verbiage.

A few more notes:

First, we should not downplay Stevens' tacit decision to give approval to the despicable Islamophobia that Republicans have been thrusting out against AES. That choice is made more salient, not less, by the fact that Stevens is framing her choice around opposition to antisemitism. Remember: the same logic that tells some it's okay to endorse Islamophobes in order to fight antisemitism, also licenses others to endorse antisemites in order to fight Islamophobia. This approach to "fighting antisemitism" remains one of the most obviously bone-headed and shortsighted political strategies I've ever encountered.

Second, we also should not at all accept Stevens framing her treason around finding antisemitism unacceptable, because she doesn't. It bears repeating once more that just a few days ago one of Rogers' top surrogates, Ohio GOP Senator Bernie Moreno, told a crowd at a GOP rally that anyone who does not recognize that "Jesus came here for our salvation ... should be nowhere near Washington, D.C.." That is, to be clear, a declaration that no Jew (or Muslim) should be allowed to hold higher office in this nation. Even on the metric of "most antisemitic thing said by a surrogate" that dwarfs anything Hasan Piker has said -- and I say that with no love lost for Piker, but rather to underscore just how outrageous Moreno's comments are that they cleared even the bar Piker had set. And that doesn't even get into all the other standard-issue ways the MAGA movement threatens Jews.

Haley Stevens is not taking a stand against antisemitism and she's not trying to protect Jews. She is taking a stand for antisemitism -- and Islamophobia, and anti-democratic fascism -- to salve her own bruised ego. Don't get it twisted.

Third, over the past few days -- before the endorsement but while the Stevens/AES rift had exploded -- Rogers had started lavishing Stevens with praise ("courageous leader", "conducted herself with nothing but class"), and obviously that feting paid big dividends. From a campaign strategy standpoint, of course, this was very smart by Rogers. And one might notice that I'm not seeing a lot of angst from Rogers' voters mewling about "how dare he praise a Democrat" and "monoparty!" Cf. Liz Cheney. 

Finally, perhaps the most salient thing Stevens has "accomplished" is to completely invert the valence of who is a "wrecker" in Democratic politics. Up until a few days ago, if you had played word association around "which nominal progressives sabotaged Democratic chances in Michigan by refusing to support the Democratic nominee because of their views on Israel/Palestine", the general answer would have been Uncommitted sorts and other pro-Palestine activists. To be honest, in an era of nose-diving support for Israel, residual rage at that cadre for said wrecking behavior in 2024 might have been the main brake on burgeoning anti-Israel support. But now Stevens has turned that on its head and re-associated anti-Democratic (and anti-democratic) sabotage with pro-Israel and anti-antisemitism activists. Heckuva job, Haley!

Anyway, we should absolutely blame Haley Stevens for Haley Stevens' bad and immoral choices. The end.