Messy Michigan primary leaves Democrats licking wounds

Abdul El-Sayed has just three months to convince a fractured Democratic Party to unite behind him after a nasty primary.
Even before his narrow win over moderate Rep. Haley Stevens became official Wednesday, El-Sayed had begun the difficult process of trying to patch things up with a moderate wing of the party he'd spent months flaying as corporatist stooges as Republicans launched their first wave of attacks of the general election. He says he looks forward to "building relationships" with Jewish voters. And some top Democrats in Michigan and Washington alike are largely filing behind him in a show of unity ahead of November's high-stakes election.
"To all of our supporters here tonight, watching on TV, tomorrow we begin to mend fences," El-Sayed told a crowd of supporters early Wednesday before the race was called, asking them to show "magnanimity in victory."
"We need to move forward and start bringing this party together," El-Sayed reiterated on MS NOW's Morning Joe hours later.
And, in a speech formalizing his victory after it was called at 10 a.m. Eastern, he said: "Whatever differences that we might have had in the primary, they pale in comparison to what unifies us."
Michigan Democrats plan to hold their so-called post-primary "unity breakfast" Thursday morning in Southfield, where they will rally behind party nominees. The contest was separated by less than a percentage point when the AP called the race Wednesday morning. Stevens immediately conceded and called for unity.
Republicans are already plastering the airwaves with their preferred attack: Painting El-Sayed as "radical" and "dangerous" while emphasizing the full name of the American-born son of Egyptian immigrants.
"Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, the most radical Senate candidate in America," a new National Republican Senatorial Committee ad says.
"Abdul El-Sayed: Dangerously radical," says a new Senate Leadership Fund ad.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Rogers called El-Sayed an "extremist" who "campaigns with people who refuse to condemn terrorism" - likely a reference to comments made by his ally, far-left streamer Hasan Piker, which Piker has since said he regretted. "I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice," said Rogers, a former FBI special agent. "Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11."
El-Sayed could have the most work to do in rural, working-class areas and among Black voters. He won just 34 percent of the vote in Detroit, according to unofficial returns. And Stevens won a majority of votes across counties where less than 30 percent of adults have a college degree, according to a POLITICO analysis.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). said he preferred Stevens in the primary, but he released a statement Wednesday saying he and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand "look forward to working with Abdul and Democrats across Michigan to win this seat in November."
"Tough result for Democrats," said Adrian Hemond, founder of a Michigan-based bipartisan advocacy and outreach firm. "The promised populist wave was a dud. If you think the primary was nasty, just wait until next week. General election voters are less college educated and less ideological, so they have to find a way to sell ideology to normal people."