Abdul El-Sayed faces some pretty obvious challenges in his run for Senate. He's a progressive Democrat keen to avoid the dreaded "socialist" label. He's a brown-skin man trying his best not to be scary to voters conditioned to be scared. And he's a Muslim, which presents all sorts of traps and landmines.
But Mike Rogers has his own tightrope to walk. Because of his traditional Republican pedigree, it has to be so counterintuitive for him line up with the MAGA folks.
I'm sure Rogers would be happy to describe the GOP as "the party of fiscal responsibility," but the Trump administration has been gleefully blowing holes in the federal deficit, spending billions on war and vanity projects and pitching potential giveaways in the trillions.
I'm sure Rogers would be happy to describe the GOP as "the party of free-market economics," but the Trump administration has over and over unapologetically smashed the invisible hand with arbitrary tariffs (taxes) and so-called deals.
I'm sure Rogers would be happy to describe the GOP as "the party that abhors the government picking winners and losers," but the Trump administration has taken unprecedented opportunity for his government (and his own interests) to grab ownership stakes of private enterprises.
Still, it could be even more challenging for them — they could be women.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
