The populist Democrat taking on his own party (with Abdul El-Sayed)

**Abdul El-Sayed** (0:00)
How much time are we going to talk about Democrats worrying? This is why people hate our party. Let's just sit here and worry.
You know what we're not worrying about? Everybody's so worried about words, and they're less worried about the actual people who can't afford groceries.

**Dasha Burns** (0:15)
Hello, hello, and welcome to The Conversation. I'm Dasha Burns. Every week on this show, I talk to the most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in Washington and beyond. And this week, I sat down with Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan, a must-win state for Democrats.

**Abdul El-Sayed** (0:35)
The worry you're hearing from the establishment in my party isn't about whether or not I could lose. It's about whether or not I might win and actually challenge them on the fact that our party is supposed to be a party for working people, not for corporations.

**Dasha Burns** (0:46)
El-Sayed is a relative outsider to politics. He's got a background working in Michigan public health and ran a failed campaign for governor in 2018
But despite being a newcomer, he's earned Progressive's most coveted endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative AOC. That's because El-Sayed is looking to shake up the Democratic establishment in 2026, the way Sanders and AOC have in past elections. And he's pushing priorities that have not been championed by most mainstream Democrats.

**Abdul El-Sayed** (1:15)
I want money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all.

**Dasha Burns** (1:18)
Despite these deeply held progressive beliefs, El-Sayed maintains that he's not a Democratic socialist, regardless of how he labels himself. This upcoming primary will test if Michigan Democratic voters support a progressive or a more traditional candidate going into the midterms this fall. And what electability means in this era. As we inch closer and closer to November, we'll be covering the midterms from all angles and talking to a lot more candidates. Make sure you're subscribed wherever you're listening or watching so that you'll be notified when those episodes drop. And now Abdul El-Sayed joins The Conversation.
Abdul El-Sayed, thank you so much for joining The Conversation.

**Abdul El-Sayed** (1:59)
Yeah. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

**Dasha Burns** (2:01)
There is something happening in the Democratic Party right now.
Some people are scared of it. Some people are thrilled by it. You are definitely a part of it. So I want to ask you, what do you think is going on?

**Abdul El-Sayed** (2:18)
I think a lot of us have realized that so long as our party is not speaking to the needs of everyday people, we are missing the whole point of what politics is about doing. And right now people are pissed off. They are pissed off because life has just gotten way too unaffordable. You talk to people who say, look, I got a skimp on what I buy in the grocery store. I don't know what will happen if I get sick. I'm never going to be able to afford a home. And I've been working the same job for 20 years. And I feel like I'm on the cusp of losing it to a robot. And I think that's people's everyday experiences. And the problem with it is that politics on both sides have been bought off by exactly the same corporations and special interests who have led us down this path. And they're trying to dominate our political system, despite the fact that people are waking up to it. And I think there are some of us who recognize that if you are actually about listening to real people, proposing solutions to their problems, standing up against the corporations and the special interests that are trying to dominate our lives, that in fact people might vote for you. I know it's a crazy idea, but when you actually speak to the needs of everyday people, it turns out that they're willing to listen now. So it's so flabbergasting to a lot of politics as usual, is that they'll point to us and say, but don't you know we're calling them names? And I think everyday people are being like, yeah, but you don't have any clue about the life I'm living, and these folks are actually standing up to me. Here in Michigan, I've been to 110 different cities, 470 public events.
And if you actually do the work of politics, of listening to people and talking about the problems that they are facing and what you want to do about it, it turns out that you can build something that is strong and impervious to the attacks that you get on TV, even if they're spending $50 million to do them.