Even Jesse Watters fell for this handsome doctor’s rizz. Could Michigan’s El-Sayed shift the balance of power in America?

Conservatives keep falling for the far-left’s charm offensive. First it was Donald Trump, beaming up at a stoic-looking Zohran Mamdani, then the newly elected mayor of New York City, at a White House visit that confounded Fox News and Mamdani’s opponents alike — even contributing to a Republican dropping out of the gubernatorial race against Gov. Kathy Hochul.Last week it was Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the winner of a hard-fought Michigan Senate primary, charming the socks off of Jesse Watters, the impish Fox News primetime host who took on the epidemiologist in a combative but also almost jovial interview where the two sparred on a wide range of topics and aimed sharp jabs at each other — but with a seeming bro-code respect.“I actually like Abdul. I probably shouldn’t like him, but I do,” admitted Watters on The Five after the interview aired. “I think he’d be a terrible senator and he’s a little bit of a lunatic…But at least he’s not your typical stiff.”With America staring down the midterm elections in just a few months, the fate of two congressional majorities is up in the air. Just one year ago, both Republicans and Democrats seemed confident that the GOP had built a strong Senate majority in the 2024 cycle, thanks to the crushing defeat of Kamala Harris. Many expected that majority to withstand the typical headwinds that form against the president’s party in off-year elections. But one year, one war in the Middle East and one trade conflict with Canada later, the map for Republicans looks wildly different.Abdul El-Sayed is described by Democratic and Republican strategists alike as naturally talented in front of the cameras (Reuters)Fox News host Jesse Watters sparred with El-Sayed in a combative interview, but one that left Watters declaring that he likes the far-left Michigan Democrat (Fox News)“This is not a question of if the Democrats are getting gains,” said Trevor Francis, a former GOP strategist. “It's how much, and where.”The retirements of two Republican senators, the interference of the president in GOP primaries, and the spiraling unpopularity of the president less than two years into his second term have given Democrats a realistic path to the majority — and an El-Sayed victory in Michigan, to hold a seat currently occupied by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, is critical to that path.But both Democrats and Republicans agree that also critical to that effort of winning a majority is running a new kind of Democratic campaign. Whether progressive, like El-Sayed and Mamdani, or centrist like Georgia’s Sen. Jon Ossoff, many Democratic campaigns operating since Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential defeat are utilizing a very different media playbook than she did — or even other Democratic House and Senate candidates were wielding in the last cycle. Gone are the days of avoiding Joe Rogan, Fox News, or avoiding controversy, as Ossoff revealed when he triggered a multi-day media cycle around Natalie Harp, Trump’s young aide whose relationship with the president has been questioned by some in the White House.At a recent campaign rally, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff made a remark about Donald Trump’s aide Natalie Harp that incensed Republicans and drew cheers from the left (AFP/Getty)Emily Suttle-Braun, whose firm Doodle Moms is supporting digital fundraising for both El-Sayed’s campaign and Jocelyn Benson’s gubernatorial effort in Michigan, told The Independent that it came down to two factors when analyzing El-Sayed’s recent success: A Mamdani-like message discipline and an aggressive media-focused campaign style that meets different groups of voters where they are.“These are candidates who have a very talented communication standard,” she said. “You can raise a lot of money, you can pay a bunch of money for ads, you can knock every door, but at the end of the day, that's that I think is what sets these candidates apart is how they communicate.”Mentioning El-Sayed, Ossoff, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Rep. James Talarico, Suttle-Braun added: “I think it's talent, and I think it's passion, right? And those two things do not always come together.”Rep. James Talarico, who vaulted to political fame after a clip of him went viral on The Joe Rogan Experience, is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, another state giving his party a chance at a majority (Getty)Francis, who previously served as national communications director for the Republican National Committee, differed over whether the Watters Fox interview would be of serious benefit to El-Sayed’s campaign. He argued instead that El-Sayed should be focused on local media appearances over the conservative cable juggernaut. But he agreed that the former Wayne County health department director was a “naturally talented communicator” who “embraces conflict media” like the Fox News sphere.“It’s less about where he shows up, but [more about] how he presents himself,” Francis told The Independent. “He is always very relatable and very authentic, and I think those are the two things that are the most important thing in any candidate.”Francis’ advice to El-Sayed was simple: Like Mamdani, the Michigander should “make the issue the issue” and constantly pivot back to discussion of affordability.“I think everything needs to be a pivot back to that,” he said. “Donald Trump has a unique ability of disrupting the media ecosystem, but he also is very good at redirecting the topic to where he wants it to be, and I feel like there is something to be said for Abdul's campaign to do the same thing.”Suttle-Braun, who described herself as more moderate, concluded that El-Sayed’s campaign was also indicative of one other dynamic: The progressive left’s embrace of younger staffers and fresher political talent beyond just their selection of candidates.“It comes down to who these campaigns are hiring, and the DSA candidates are-- they're modern, right? They're taking more risks. They're diversifying their paid media. They're putting much more money into sort of like clipping and social media and earned media than they are into like traditional paid media like TV, and that that is a bet that is really paying off for them.” ”They're hiring agencies, consultants, strategists like myself, tech companies who are not like regurgitating the same Democratic campaign ‘rinse, repeat’-like formula,” added Suttle-Braun. “And that's really cool, by the way, to see.”