Democratic centrists are waging a public campaign to make progressive streamer Hasan Piker toxic, and it's mostly backfiring — bad news for the party's old guard, good for the insurgent left.

• CNN ran an hour-long special casting Piker and the Bernie-style left as a threat to the Democratic party, while a centrist think tank called him a fringe figure who repels swing voters.
• Critics label Piker an anti-Semite for harshly criticizing Israel, though he openly rejects anti-Semitism and says he's spent years fighting the far right.
• The attacks are drawing more attention to him, not less — candidates he backs, like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, have jumped in the polls after being tied to him.
• Roughly two-thirds of Americans, and around 80% of Democratic voters, now oppose Israel's war, making the party's pro-Israel wing increasingly out of step with its base.
• Big money, including AIPAC-linked spending, is flowing into primaries to unseat progressive challengers and protect pro-Israel incumbents.

Outlook: The fight comes to a head in Tuesday's Michigan primary, seen as a test of whether the anti-establishment left can keep winning.