When Elissa Slotkin narrowly won her Senate seat in Michigan last fall, she was one of only four Democratic senators to claim victory in a state that voted for Donald Trump. It made other Democrats take note: since then, the Party has turned to her as someone who can bridge the red state–blue state divide. In March, Slotkin delivered the Democrats’ rebuttal to Trump’s speech before Congress, and she’s been making headlines for criticizing her own party’s attempts to rein in the President and the Republican Party. She thinks Democrats need to start projecting “alpha energy,” that identity politics “needs to go the way of the dodo,” and that Democrats should drop the word “oligarchy” from their vocabulary entirely.Slotkin prides herself on her bipartisanship, and she believes that Democrats must use old-school collegial collaboration in Congress. And, as different Democratic leaders have appeared on The New Yorker Radio Hour in the past few months, discussing what the next four years might have in store, Slotkin tells David Remnick about a different path forward.
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When Alyssa Slotkin narrowly won her Senate seat in Michigan last fall, she was one of four Democratic senators to claim victory in states that also voted for President Trump. And it made other Democrats sit up and take some notice. Since then, the party has turned to her as someone who can bridge the red-blue divide.
She delivered the Democratic Party's response to Trump's speech before Congress back in March. And so the party is putting Slotkin front and center. But she's also giving the Democrats a dose of tough love. She thinks that they need to start projecting what she calls alpha energy.
She said identity politics needs to go the way of the dodo and that Democrats should drop the word oligarchy from their playbook. Senator Slotkin prides herself on bipartisanship. She believes that finding a path forward for the Democrats absolutely demands old school collaboration in Congress.
For me, as someone who's new to this body, 30 days in this body, I will always seek to work where I can with my colleagues, but not at the expense of the fundamental freedoms and our democracy. That may not be politically palatable back home, but I don't care. Because if we can't do it, what is the point?
What is the point of being senior elected leaders in this body if you don't stand up for the country that you love? There's no king in this country. There's an elected president. Please stand up on behalf of your country.
I spoke to Alyssa Slotkin last week. Senator, you won the Michigan Senate seat in a state that voted for Donald Trump. And given your own track record, what do you think those voters saw in both you and the person they voted for for president?
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