RCP’s Phil Wegmann interviewed Michigan Democrat Senator Elissa Slotkin on Thursday’s RealClearPolitics podcast about her “economic war plan for the middle class,” the Trump administration’s accusations about “Russiagate,” and the “sacred cows” the Democratic Party needs to slay to find its way back to winning — including housing policy, immigration, energy, and “alpha energy.” About Trump’s “Russiagate” accusations, Slotkin said: “My 10-year-old nephew understood that the release of this report was meant to distract from the conversation Donald Trump doesn’t want to have-which is being in the files of a known pedophile.” Slotkin points to “overlapping, outdated housing regulations as the biggest driver of the housing shortage” and says Democrats should focus on cutting red tape at the federal level. “We have to accept that most regulation was put in place with good intentions-to protect the environment, support local control, those kinds of things. But the cumulative effect is keeping developers from building single-family, middle-class homes,” she said. “I want to take a blank-slate look at housing restrictions from the federal level. What’s outdated? What’s redundant? What doesn’t make sense anymore?” “Then we’ve got to have really hard conversations at the local level-even in Michigan. A lot of local restrictions are about preserving the “character” of a town. People get nervous when a lot of new housing is proposed. But we’re short 4 million units. That’s a crisis,” Slotkin said. “So, fix it federally, own the fact we’re over-regulated, and then engage honestly at the local level.” “Detroit is a place that’s getting it done. We hit rock bottom, went bankrupt, and now you’ve got restaurants, hotels, jobs, and HQs coming back. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s a Democratic-dominated city that’s made space for entrepreneurs and business. That’s a success story.” She is also advocating an “all of the above” energy policy: “I want clean energy, but I want more energy. Michigan is about to reopen a nuclear power plant-the first in the country to do so. That’s a big deal. I want R&D on cool stuff we haven’t developed yet. I want a bridge to a cleaner future. But I’m not going to pretend wind and solar are ‘woke’ and shut them down.” “Slaughtering sacred cows. We’re not supposed to agree on everything. Debate is healthy. I disagree with people in my party. I disagree with some Republicans who only back fossil fuels to line their campaign coffers. What we need is to acknowledge demand.” “The thing President Trump picked up on-and won on-was that this last election was a pocketbook election,” she said. “People felt underwater with the cost of living.” “You just had to look at the yard signs. Trump’s signs literally said: Trump, Lower Taxes. Harris, Higher Taxes. His ads were relentless and clear on that issue,” she said. “People didn’t know what Kamala’s priorities were. If you prioritize everything, no one knows what you really care about. When I was knocking on doors, Democratic doors, in Michigan, I had people say, I don’t like Trump, but I need more money in my pocket. And I think he’ll do that.” “Voters absolutely feel that the Democratic Party has cared more about identity issues than pocketbook issues-and that contributed to our loss,” she said. “Absolutely. I don’t think that’s even a question.” “My mom came out as a gay woman in 1986. I grew up in a gay home. You’re not going to get me to say that gay people should go back in the closet. What I’m saying is: speak to the majority of people. Speak to the broadest group. That’s how you bring people into your campaign, into your election, into your party. If you care about winning, if you care about pushing back on Donald Trump, then you have to speak to what people are actually worried about at night-not just identity issues, but economic survival.” On immigration, she said: “I don’t think a wall is an immigration policy. But if it’s built, I’m not going to tear it down. A border is a border. That doesn’t mean people fleeing death or persecution shouldn’t have a place here-like my great-grandfather did. But you can’t just walk across the border and stay 20 years. That’s not a functional system.” “You don’t need to get everything perfect, or have a perfect 18-point policy plan you can show everyone on your website. You need to know in your bones how to get us through this moment in our history,” she said. “Democrats have lost that. We’re so careful, we don’t want to say the wrong thing, we want everyone to feel good at the party. But the reality is to get out of this mess, you have to have a plan.” Slotkin also said President Biden was missing that “alpha energy.” “It’s not to say he’s not a great public servant, or that he didn’t serve his country well. But that forcefulness-that projection of confidence and vision-that’s what the American public needed during this moment. Because people were so anxious about their pocketbooks,” she said. “While he accomplished a lot legislatively, sometimes it’s about persona,” Slotkin said. “Do people feel like you know how to get us from A to B? That’s what Democrats need right now.” “The reason I’m sitting in front of you as a senator-and not as a former member of the House who failed in the last election-is because I just don’t believe Twitter represents America. I do not believe that the average American, certainly not the average Michigander, is looking for that kind of polarization,” she said. “The average person wants their government to work. They want it to be better. They want strong economic security, national security, and they want their democracy to be there for their kids. They’re not screaming on Twitter.”
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