Last Saturday, Barack Obama was at home among his people. The city of Detroit in Michigan is closer to being a cultural, political, and historical identity for African Americans in the United States. And when he goes there to reassure his fellow citizens that Abdul El-Sayed, the Arab Muslim, is an excellent choice for their local and public issues, it means that the Democratic Party has, albeit belatedly, acknowledged its slightly rebellious yet capable progressive children who can stir stagnant waters in the party that have long been stagnant.
The Democratic Party has a golden opportunity to wrest Congress in both houses from Donald Trump. All polls predict the Republicans will lose their majority in both chambers. But Democratic attention is on the Senate, as they previously supported a 'centrist' candidate in Michigan against the eager doctor who ousted her by a narrow margin, proving that swing states need a sharp message against Trumpism to attract voters, rather than a centrist speech, which finds its high popularity among the young people yearning for change after years of Democratic party's ineffectiveness, vagueness, and sluggishness.
Progressives have proven their worth. They manage election campaigns unburdened by the numerous calculations of the centrist establishment members. And after losing the White House and Congress two years ago, Democrats no longer have the luxury of ignoring the rising trajectory of the party's left more closely aligned with Trump's opponents in cities, whether among educated or working-class groups. And although the Democratic establishment supports its candidates in primaries against leftists, they would not make the mistake again of not supporting a candidate like Zohran Mamdani, for example, due to his open stance on Israel. It is a taboo that various factors, including Israel itself, contributed to breaking, but the progressives had the upper hand in daring to criticize loudly without fear of accusations of 'anti-Semitism'.
They also were not afraid of being questioned about their 'American-ness' when they frankly stated that they opposed the Iranian war, pointing out that America is fighting it on behalf of Benjamin Netanyahu. Donald Trump himself aided them when he failed to add the required national drama to every war America fights overseas. His weak reasons and failure to fulfill any of his promises regarding the war, even the division of his base over it, made progressives more acceptable to the moderate Democratic street, and to some extent the independent. This does not mean that a Republican in rural America will change their skin and suddenly lean towards the left, but America no longer views these individuals, who have names difficult to pronounce, and colors and religions not widely embraced, and accents foreign to their ears, with surprise. Progressives, in this sense, are no longer an anomaly, neither within the Democratic Party nor in America, especially as Donald Trump stands as the opposite phenomenon which America will need a long time to analyze and understand its reasons.
The day after Obama's presence in Detroit, Michigan was scheduled to see Trump, in St. Clair County, very Republican, very white. The two election rallies encapsulate the war that has returned to square one... Obama and Trump. Two stars and concepts of America in a new confrontation, though it was never direct between them. Obama leans slightly left this time, while Trump is his usual loud right. Next Tuesday will be a fateful day for everyone without exception, for both parties, inside and outside, for progressives and Trumpists, and especially for the unprecedented phenomenon in America... Donald Trump.
