"US Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan delivers the Democratic Party's response to President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress."
"Hi everyone. I’m Elissa Slotkin. I’m honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight. It’s late — so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched.
I won’t take it personally if you’ve never heard of me. I’m the new senator from the great state of Michigan, where I grew up. I’ve been in public service my entire life, because I happened to be in New York City on 9/11 when the twin towers came down. Before the smoke cleared, I knew I wanted a life in national security.
I was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in Iraq, alongside the military. In between, I worked at the White House under President Bush and President Obama, two very different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.
You can find that same sense of patriotism here in Wyandotte, Michigan, where I am tonight. It’s a working-class town just south of Detroit. President Trump and I both won here in November. It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist all across the United States – places where people believe that if you work hard, and play by the rules, you should do well and your kids do better.
It reminds me of how I grew up. My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat. But it was never a big deal. Because we had shared values that were bigger than any one party...
"See, whatever you think of what Leigh McGown is proposing here, it's the wrong approach, even if you like what she's proposing. At least the politics of it, even if you agree with her ideas. What she's talking about is proposing an alternative to what House Republicans are trying to jam through the House right now, but seem to be short on votes.
I'm with James Carville on this:
When you see your arch-enemy is drowning in the ocean. don't throw them a lifeline. Let them drown.
When you see your arch enemy's house is on fire and no one is there to do anything about it, don't even offer to spit on the fire, let alone dump your own water on it, or call 911. Just let the house burn down...
As Fred wrote last Friday:
"Look, what do left-wing Democrats expect Chuck Schumer and company to do:
filibuster every piece of legislation that Republicans try to bring to the floor, just to prevent Republicans from passing anything at all?
Perhaps threaten government shutdowns unless Trump and company gives the Left everything that they want on every issue on every piece of legislation that is brought up?
Silly question. Of course the left-wing of the Democratic Party expects the Democratic Leadership to do that.
Maybe they want Hakeem Jeffries to tell all of his 215 members in the House to walk out every time House Republicans bring a bill up to a floor for vote. No maybe there. That's what the Democrats version of the political escaped mental patients (a phrase that was coined by The New Democrat) expects the Democratic Leadership to do for them.
But, just as Leigh McGowan is wrong about Democrats (who are the minority party both in the House & Senate) need to offer alternatives to the bad legislation that Trump and company are bringing up, so is the rest of the left-wing of the Democratic Party is wrong about how the Democrats should act as the opposition. As the great political humorist P.J. O'Rourke said many times:
"The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it...
"If RJ Eskow and Sam Rosenthal really want to know why they and the rest of the Socialist-Left (not progressive) are always on the outside looking in (including left-wing Democrats) and why mainstream Democrats (the real Liberals and Progressives) are always in charge of the party and why leftists are always trying get the Democratic Party move into a more left direction, they need to look into their own political mirrors.
You want to know why Hakeem Jeffries leads the House Democrats and not Alexandria O. Cortez or Al Green, or some other Democratic Socialist in the House... I'll tell you anyway: because the Democrats aren't a left-wing party in America. They have 215 seats in the House. Maybe 80 of those are Democratic Socialists, whether you are talking about dues paying members of Democratic Socialists of America, or people who are just inline with the Socialists ideologically, but aren't ready to be card-carrying members yet.
And if you look at Chuck Schumer in the Senate.... the same thing. He's the leader of the Democrats instead of let's say Elizabeth Warren, because the overwhelmingly majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus is center-left and in some cases center-right, like the JFK New Democrats. But they're not Democratic leftists.
Right now Republicans are proving to the American people that their form of government doesn't work...
Senator Elissa Slotkin laid out the game plan last night for how Democrats, not just in Congress, but at the DNC level, the state level, as well as the activist level. need to act as the opposition party.
What Senator Slotkin (Democrat, Michigan) said last night is inline with what Fred was talking about last week:
The Democratic Party shouldn't be acting like some shadow opposition party where they offer their own alternatives to every piece of bad legislation that Congressional Republicans bring up, or an unlawful, unconstitutional executive order that President Trump signs.
Or, instead to go to what James Carville was talking about last week: Democrats shouldn't become the obstructionist party (which is basically what the left-wing of the party wants them to be) but instead let the people see who bad Republicans are at governing, especially when they have all the power.
And what Senator Slotkin was doing was to layout how Democrats can come back and have a big year in 2026. Democrats should continue to not just say that Donald Trump is a bad President (3 things that you need to know that Donald Trump is a bad POTUS: brain, eyes, and ears) but factually describe why he's a bad President and why he needs a real check on his goal to have absolute power:
The cost of living is now more expensive than when he became President
Economic and job growth have slowed since he became President
Crime and plane crashes and accidents are up under President Trump's watch.
And she did it while trying to speak to both partisan Democrats that want the party to fight back, but also to Independents, as well as blue-collar Democrats who voted for Donald Trump. Here's part of her speech:
"Because whether you’re in Wyandotte or Wichita, most Americans share three core beliefs: That the Middle Class is the engine of our country. That strong national security protects us from harm. And that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.
Let’s start with the economy.
Michigan literally invented the Middle Class: the revolutionary idea that you could work at an auto plant and afford the car you were building. That’s the American Dream. And in order to expand and protect the Middle Class, we have to do a few, basic things:
We need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on: Groceries. Housing. Healthcare. Your car.
We need to make more things in America with good-paying, union jobs — and bring our supply chains back home from places like China.
We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future.
And we need a tax system that’s fair for people who don’t happen to make a billion dollars.
Look, President Trump talked a big game on the economy, but it’s always important to read the fine print. So: do his plans actually help Americans get ahead?
Not even close.
President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He’s on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America. And to do that, he’s going to make you pay in every part of your life.
Grocery and home prices are going up, not down — and he hasn’t laid out a credible plan to deal with either.
His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, cars — and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.
Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn’t work without going after your health care.
Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. And if he’s not careful, he could walk us right into a recession.
And one more thing: In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement – the Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn. The President claims he won’t, but Elon Musk just called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time...
A much very different approach to what Representative Al Green was doing last night in the House chamber by trying to heckle the President as the President was speaking. You know, I keep wondering why Al Green is not the House Democratic Leader. But I think he gave us a good clue last night.
So going forward for Democrats to get back into power and perhaps not just win the House back or win a governorship in a blue state or purple state or 2, but perhaps even win back the Senate (where they would need to pick up 4 seats) and give the American people a Democratic Congress again, I think both James Carville and Elissa Slotksin have given them the roadmap:
Don’t try to save the Republican Party from itself and become the obstructionist party just to obstruct them. If the Republican Party is really hell-bent on committing political suicide, let them to that to themselves. Let the American people see how bad they are at governing and why Republicans shouldn’t be allowed going forward to have The White House and complete control of Congress 2 years from now.
Democrats should explain to people why these Republican policies and their form of government is bad for them. And make it clear that the Democrats learned the lessons from 2024 and that they have to represent middle class Americans again. And that if they're given a chance to govern again, the middle class will become their top priority again.
This is how Democrats would go from trying to win elections by just holding the so-called blue wall states and all of the deep blue states, to a party that can compete and win in North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, and perhaps a few other Republican states, by becoming a middle class party, instead of just a blue wall and deep blue party.
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