One of the few occasions recently when I felt confidence in Democrats’ ability to counter Donald Trump was Senator Elissa Slotkin’s response to his address to a joint session of Congress in early March. After Trump bloviated for 100 minutes, Slotkin talked plainly for about 10.
She kept it simple. The president, she said, was failing on three crucial fronts — the economy, national security and democracy. She presented the evidence. Suggested alternatives. Said good night.
That was all. And that was enough — a rejection of hooey and histrionics that underscored the Trump administration’s surfeit of both.
But in the DNA of every Democrat lurks the temptation to overthink and overcomplicate things, and Slotkin last week succumbed to it.
In an interview with Politico that previewed what she called her “war plan” for her party, she proclaimed that Democrats must no longer be “weak and woke.” I take her point. I question her alliteration. Contrived slogans don’t say: I’m getting strong and real. They say: I’ve got consultants and the time for semantic noodling.
Slotkin also confused plain-spokenness and profanity, dropping the F bomb at the start of an exhortation that her party “retake the flag.” That wasn’t the end of her expletives. I suppose she was going for earthiness, but that’s hardly a proxy for worthiness. It felt gimmicky — the exact opposite of her March remarks.
