Jonathan Cohn: Pure Michigan Chaos ⁠57%

By Sarah Longwell⁠95% Jonathan Cohn⁠15%

8/1/2026, 1:57:14 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 10 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Indoctrination, and Quote-first Misdirection, with Attempt to Sell a Product or Service as the most egregious example at 33.8% saturation with 69 hits. Analysis detected 283 faulty-reasoning hits from 204 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 48.2% and a BS Rank of ⁠57% (11,320 of 26,004 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 56.50% of the article peer group.

At the end of one of the most expensive Democratic primaries for Senate in American history, Abdul El-Sayed appears to be pulling away. 
We've been talking to Democratic primary voters in Michigan about El-Sayed and Rep. 
Haley Stevens, and what they like (and don't like) about each candidate. 
Jonathan Cohn, author of the newsletter 
<em>The Breakdown </em>and <em>The Bulwark</em>'s resident Michigander, joins the show to discuss a primary that Sarah thinks has gone on for way too long. 
<em>show links</em> 
<a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed-michigan-senate-race"><span>How Old-School Race Animus Could Shake Up the Michigan Senate Race</span></a><br/><a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-gretchen-whitmer-senate-endorsement-michigan-matters-haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed"><span>Why Gretchen Whitmer’s Senate Endorsement Matters</span></a><br/><a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-mallory-mcmorrows-campaign-didnt"><span>Why Mallory McMorrow’s Campaign Didn’t Survive</span></a> 
<strong>There are more tickets to see Sarah and JVL on September 8 in NYC! 
</strong><span>We are about to sell out the orchestra section—but we want to sell out the balcony, too. 
It’s a point of pride. 
Come hang with us. </span><a href="https://www.92ny.org/event/sarah-longwell-how-to-eat-an-elephant">Tickets are here.</a> 
Watch, listen, and <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/s/thefocusgroup">leave a comment</a>. 
<em>Ad-free editions like this one are available exclusively for Bulwark+ members on the site, the Bulwark App, via your member-only RSS feeds, and the Substack mobile and TV Apps. 
Upgrade now to listen without ads and to join the community in the comments. </em> 
Confirmation Bias
6.4%
Anchoring Bias
0%
Availability Heuristic
0%
Representativeness Heuristic
0%
Hindsight Bias
0%
Overconfidence Bias
0%
Framing Effect
0%
Loss Aversion
7.4%
Status Quo Bias
7.4%
Sunk Cost Effect
0%
Optimism Bias
0%
Pessimism Bias
11.3%
Negativity Bias
0%
Self-Serving Bias
2.5%
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%
Actor-Observer Bias
0%
In-Group Bias
0%
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%
Halo Effect
0%
Horn Effect
0%
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%
Recency Bias
11.3%
Primacy Effect
0%
Blind-Spot Bias
0%
Ad Hominem
0%
Straw Man
0%
Appeal to Authority
0%
False Dilemma
0%
Slippery Slope
0%
Circular Reasoning
0%
Hasty Generalization
0%
Red Herring
0%
Bandwagon
0%
Appeal to Emotion
0%
Begging the Question
0%
Post Hoc (False Cause)
0%
Tu Quoque
0%
Burden of Proof
0%
Appeal to Nature
0%
Composition/Division
0%
Anecdotal
0%
No True Scotsman
0%
Ambiguity (Equivocation)
0%
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%
Middle Ground
0%
Personal Incredulity
0%
Special Pleading
0%
Genetic Fallacy
0%
Unattributed Quote
0%
Quote-first Misdirection
11.8%
Biased Writer Voice
25.5%
Indoctrination
21.6%
Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
33.8%

204 words analyzed.

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.