TIT FOR TAT

Shakespeare said it best: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” As the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate continues to tighten up between the three players – Congresswoman Haley Stevens, state Senator Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, the knives are getting unsheathed and debatable behavior is getting unshackled. First, McMorrow, an active user of social media, posted a photo to Facebook with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker at a Democratic Party fundraiser, intimating to some that Whitmer was supporting her. The posting received 3,300 likes and 33 shares, at latest count, and over 2,500 likes on Instagram. After all – a picture is worth a thousand words. Stating she was a “serious lawmaker,” Stevens followed up by introducing articles of impeachment against the largely reviled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., charging him with “undermining public health, diminishing decades of scientific and medical progress and imperiling the health of the American people.” The New York Times noted it would be impossible for Stevens’ impeachment articles to get a vote with a Republican Congress, and that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was not backing it. McMorrow promptly mocked Stevens in an email, dismissing the impeachment as “political theater,” pointing out that as a state Senator she had passed a “raft of legislation” – most of which she is one of a group of co-sponsors, or voted for as a Democratic block – “to boost Michigan’s economy and keep money in Michiganders’ pockets,” she said in her email. According to The New York Times, Stevens responded with the impeachment articles after being approached by the grass roots organization Stand Up for Science, “which was founded in February and was looking for a champion for the move in Congress.” Stevens said in an email, “He has driven up health care costs while tearing down the scientific institutions that keep Michiganders and families across America safe.” Stevens said that she received an endorsement on her impeachment introduction of Kennedy from a coalition of Nobel scientists and physicians, as well as an endorsement of her campaign from 10 Nobel Laureates. The newspaper said some party observers say the Stevens impeachment effort was made because her campaign has “struggled to gain traction.” Some local political observers are speculating that McMorrow is still stinging from mocking she got for talking about oddball careers – like beekeeping and beer brewing – on the campaign trail when explaining the necessity to diversify Michigan’s economy, an issue highlighted by NBC national news in a piece. Hence the McMorrow attack on Stevens who is considered one of the hardest working members of the House and the Senate candidate favored by party leaders in D.C.

Mallory McMorrow

Haley Stevens