Elissa Slotkin Doesn't Own The Democratic Party
She's gonna have to share it at least.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin from Michigan said something interesting during her recent appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher. (No, I’m not joking, yet.)
“The average person just wants shit to work,” Slotkin told Maher. “I don’t give a shit if you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent — just live in the zone of practicality. And the far right and the far left live in a different universe.”
Slotkin’s HBO-approved, focus-group-tested profanity isn’t that interesting, but what stands out to me is Slotkin’s assertion that the “average person” just wants practical solutions to the country’s problems. This is what you might call the Technocrat’s Dream. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has described himself as a “get shit done Democrat,” suggesting that this is somehow a unique trait he possesses among Democrats.
Joe Biden was very much a “get shit done Democrat.” He passed a major bipartisan infrastructure deal and gun safety reform. The Inflation Reduction Act was a significant climate bill that also lowered prescription drug prices and cut health care costs (though I’m sure the Trump administration has shit on most of this). As Annie Wilkes would say, “Have you all got amnesia?”
Biden didn’t just sit around twiddling his ancient thumbs. What sunk him was inflation and immigration, and it’s not like border security was a genuine concern for people in Michigan, no matter what Fox News told them.
Political commentator Matt Stoller posted on social media in 2021, “I’m coining the term ‘deliverism’ as a complement to ‘popularism.’ Deliver and it helps you win elections. Don’t deliver and you lose. By ‘deliver’ I mean govern well using all levers available.”
While you might reasonably argue whether Biden governed well, you can’t deny that he tried “deliverism” and it failed politically for him. Perhaps Slotkin is the one struggling to exist in the “zone of practicality.” Like most centrists, she has a zealot’s belief that “average” Americans — that much acclaimed “middle” — aren’t ideologically driven and will support the politicians who deliver for them. It’s true that the average swing voter doesn’t have a consistent ideology but they are far more partisan than they’ll admit. Their partisan leanings greatly influence what they believe is important and who they blame for their problems and who they trust to fix them.
It’s not as if anyone asked, but Slotkin is clearly running for president on a “get shit done” platform. This means presenting herself as a “normal” Democrat, which usually involves her slamming large swaths of the nation. Last month, she posted this video on social media:
“I have a theory,” Slotkin says. (No, it’s not bunnies.) “What works in the middle of the country will work on the coasts, but not in reverse. That’s why we need to hear from people in places like Michigan, Idaho, and Kansas City. Because I’m in the business of winning elections. And we’re all seeing what happens when Democrats lose focus on the middle class.”
You’d think that a Gen-X Democrat would’ve watched enough West Wing to know that “I’m in the business of winning elections” sounds a lot like Josh Lyman’s criticism of John Hoynes’ morally vacuous campaign: “I don’t know what we’re for. I don’t know what we’re against — only that we’re for winning and against someone else winning.” (Watch below.)
I concede that Democrats must perform well in the Rust Belt, but does Slotkin not realize that middle class people live on the coasts? Middle class people saw their homes go up in flames in Alameda, California, and Trump continues to withhold federal disaster relief. That’s something a Democratic senator should constantly remind voters (as Republicans would if the situation were reversed).
Zohran Mamdani won the New York mayor’s race because he directly addressed concerns that middle-class New Yorkers had about affordability. Mamdani has also proven himself to be a “get shit done Democrat,” but because he’s “far left,” Slotkin dismisses him as a resident from another universe.
Trump’s current reign of terror isn’t because Democrats lost “focus on the middle class.” Biden and Democrats tried making “shit work,” but they fell victim to bad messaging, right-wing disinformation, and — sorry, Biden loyalists — a president who couldn’t effectively communicate or campaign.
Slotkin probably reasons that bashing the “coasts” as out of touch won’t hinder her political ambitions. Democrats will always carry California, Oregon, and Washington, while Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are more fickle. Of course, if she does run for president, she’ll definitely come around asking for that coastal donor money.
You’d think Slotkin would have more appreciation for California, considering that her childhood political hero Ronald Reagan was once the governor there. Slotkin’s father was a diehard Reaganite and a young Slotkin shared his worldview. During her State of the Union response, Slotkin claimed Trump’s economic policies would have Reagan “rolling in his grave,” which is overly flattering to the president whose own economic policies gutted the middle class.
Slotkin’s mother came out as a lesbian in 1986, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, which Reagan callously ignored. Slotkin says this is what caused her to become a Democrat. That’s fair, but I can’t help but notice how almost every major Republican comes from a family of Republicans, whereas so many (mostly white) Democrats are “first generation.” You’d think the Democratic Party didn’t exist until 1996.
I know Democrats were in the presidential wilderness from 1968 to 1976 (hi, Jimmy Carter!) and then from 1980 to 1992, but many Americans were still voting for Democrats. My earliest political memory is Walter Mondale’s crushing defeat with a measly 13 electoral votes, but almost 38 million people voted for him. Why aren’t their kids running for office as Democrats? Why is it always little Alex P. Keatons?
If not for her personal connection to the LGBTQ community, Slotkin probably would’ve ended up a “moderate” Lisa Murkowski-style Republican. That's fine, but I would love to see more “spokespeople” for the party who can talk about their parents voting for Mondale or even Jesse Jackson. I long for that Gen-X Democratic candidate who played Mike Dukakis in their middle school’s mock presidential debate.
Mondale actually won voters who earned less than $12,500 a year (about $40,000 today). He decisively won union households. That’s obviously not Slotkin’s background. I’m all for a Democratic “Big Tent,” but Slotkin’s Reagan affection directly impacts how she views and defines the “far right” and “far left.” Reagan himself led the “far-right” takeover of the Republican Party. The supposed “far left” has never held national power at that level. I also suspect that Slotkin feels more comfortable around her “far-right” colleagues (e.g. Tom Cotton or Ted Cruz) than she does the “far-left” members of her own party (e.g. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders).
Just started reading this post, and I have to make a comment already - when you lump the far left with the far right, you've lost me. One is filled with fascists who are out to destroy the Republic, and the other is filled with people who are out to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all Americans.
ETA: just to be clear - the far left is the group wanting healthcare for everyone and the far right want to destroy the Republic.
Altadena, not Alameda, but point taken! It is bitterly bemusing how Reagan is remembered by the nostalgic. We'd never be in the place we are now, if there hadn't been people still under the spell of that smooth fraud voting against their interests for Trump.