I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when Sen. Elisse Slotkin began the Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday as she emphasized her background as a CIA officer and the bipartisan household she grew up in.
“We had shared values that were bigger than any one party,” she said, describing a political reality that no longer seems to exist. When coupled with her comments from November about Democrats needing to move beyond “identity politics,” I was concerned that she would fail to properly stress the needs of the moment that we’re living through.
But as she went on, while she definitely sounded like a standard center-left Democrat, Slotkin managed to do so in a way that felt like a more sincere expression of her values than a calculated attempt to win over suburban moderates.
As she ticked through the chaos that Elon Musk has caused with his random cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency and the uncertainty Trump is sowing around the world, I felt like what she was saying would make sense to people who aren’t reading every political headline.
What really won me over though were her suggestions for how Americans can take action during this chaotic time:.
First, don’t tune out. It’s easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever. If previous generations had not fought for democracy, where would we be today?
Second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable. Watch how they’re voting. Go to town halls and demand they take action. That’s as American as apple pie.
Three, organize. Pick just one issue you’re passionate about — and engage. And doom scrolling doesn’t count. Join a group that cares about your issue, and act. And if you can’t find one, start one.
Some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottom up.
That’s more or less in line with what her former House colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the party’s best communicators, previously suggested in her own Instagram Live comments. Nobody is going to confuse the two of them as being on the exact same part of the political spectrum. But it emphasized how, as muddled as their message can be at times, Democrats do still share a common vision for the bare minimum of what this country deserves.
Slotkin’s speech also managed to serve as a welcome reprieve to the reports we’ve seen of Democratic officials feeling fatigued by the pressure from their constituents to stand firmer in opposition to Trump’s consolidation of power. And while she might not have meant it quite this way, the senator is right that the best way to get elected Democrats to hold the line is to be willing to drag them onto the right side of history — or find themselves facing a very credible alternative come primary season.
