El-Sayed's Winning Path in Michigan

By Thomas L. Friedman

The New York Times — Opinion

August 11, 2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/opinion/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-jews-israel-mamdani-aipac.html

"A swing-state Democratic Senate nominee needs to keep saying this: Jews have a right to a Jewish homeland."

I confess that I never expected to see an American election where the choice of candidates in more than a few districts will be a democratic socialist versus a Republican monarchist — but live long enough and you'll see everything.

As I listen to these democratic socialists and King-Trump-right-or-wrong Republicans, one of my favorite movie lines keeps coming to mind. It's from the 1997 film "As Good as It Gets," when Jack Nicholson, playing a misanthropic writer, answers his door to find a neighbor asking him to walk a dog and offering cheery advice about opening window curtains to see "God's beautiful work."

Nicholson says to her, "Where do they teach you to talk like this?" He adds: "Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."

How I wish I could say that to both these extremes: We're all stocked up on crazy in American politics. Sell it someplace else.

But because this is the only country I have, because the midterms will be razor close and because I am convinced that two more years of Donald Trump completely unchained — controlling the House, the Senate and tacitly the Supreme Court — could bring about the end of America as we have known it, I have to think about how to make the best of some not great choices.

The case most deserving of attention is in Michigan, so here is some free advice for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate there. Why him? Because his victory or defeat could determine whether Trump continues to be able to rule as a monarch without any congressional oversight.

[--- PAYWALL ---

The remaining portion of the article (approximately 4 paragraphs) is behind the NYT subscription paywall. Based on the article's description and keywords, the paywalled section contains Friedman's specific advice to El-Sayed regarding Israel, AIPAC, Jewish voters, and his comparison to Zohran Mamdani.

Keywords: Jews and Judaism, Israel, Palestinians, AIPAC, Netanyahu, Mamdani, Democratic Party, Michigan

Audio version: 9:02 min — available on NYT subscription ---]

Author: Thomas L. Friedman is the foreign affairs Opinion columnist. He joined the paper in 1981 and has won three Pulitzer Prizes. He is the author of seven books, including 'From Beirut to Jerusalem,' which won the National Book Award.

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