Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who was elected last year, is planning to give speeches saying Democrats need to change the perception that they are "weak and woke," Politico reported.
Slotkin, who won election despite President Donald Trump taking Michigan, wants Democrats to appeal to voters' sense of patriotism and to adopt the Alpha energy of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, she told Politico.
"It's a military-style operational plan," Slotkin said to Politico. "I don't understand how to rally us into a coherent approach if we aren't on the same page on where we're going. Trump is doing a whole bunch of things that I think are a threat to our economy and a threat to our Democracy, and I have a responsibility on behalf of my state to point that out and try to do something about that."
Slotkin said Democrats should focus on retaking the House in 2026 and wants Democrats running for president in 2028 to announce sooner rather than later.
She said the first step is to for Democrats to start winning battles in the court against the Trump administration.
"We need to have this fight as a nation about whether we should still uphold the Constitution and still believe there are three co-equal branches of government and the president is blatantly ignoring one of those branches right now," Slotkin told Politico.
Slotkin also proposed that Democrats form a shadow Cabinet, made up of ranking members on congressional committees to counteract Trump's own Cabinet, Politico reported.
Among other ideas, Slotkin proposes a Democrat "shadow Cabinet" made up of ranking members on congressional committees to aggressively bracket Trump's own Cabinet. Democrats should stop using the term "oligarchy," and say the party opposes "kings," Slotkin told Politico.
"I don't think we need to hide the fact that Trump is flooding the zone and making us look 12 different ways at the same time," Slotkin said. "But again, because I come from the national security background, there's no end to fighting unless you're dead."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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