These women are the future of the country
by Kevin Ellis, for Conflict of Interest
With apologies to Jon Landau, I have just seen the future of the Democratic Party and it has several names — Elissa Slotkin, Mikie Sherrill, Abigail Spanberger and … several others.
I’m stealing the phrasing of Landau, the writer and producer, who wrote in 1974 that he had seen the future of Rock n Roll and its name was Bruce Springsteen.
While the names above may not yet have the impact on American culture that Springsteen has, they boast a set of qualities, not to mention a dash of plain-speaking courage, that could forge a new coalition that can speak to people’s needs, win elections and return dignity to American government.
First the background. Senator Slotkin of Michigan is a former CIA officer who served three tours in Iraq. She served on the National Security Council under George W. Bush and in the State Department under Obama.
She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and won a tough race for the Senate last year in a state won by Trump. And she grew up on her family’s farm in Holly, MI.
Sherrill and Spanberger are running for governor of New Jersey and Virginia respectively. One is a former Navy helicopter pilot. Graduate of the Naval Academy. The other is a former CIA officer. Both served in the House together with Slotkin.
You are about to hear a lot about these women, especially after Sherrill and Spanberger win the governorships of their states. The media will suddenly be all ga ga about these women as the future of the Democratic party. You heard it hear first.
These women are smart and qualified. Top-flght educations, military service, government service at the highest levels often in top-secret, very serious rooms. They have served for the right reasons in real-life situations that affect people’s lives, not the play-acting Fox News types now running the country.
Unlike current Democratic leadership, they speak the language. By that I mean they speak in a way that real people understand. When they talk, there are few acronyms, no initials. The words “synergy’’ or “leverage” rarely come out of her mouths.
“The single greatest threat today is the shrinking middle class,’’ Slotkin said recently on the Senate floor. “My mission is personal. Michigan is where the middle class was invented, where you could work in a car plant and afford the car you were building.’’
She is a supporter of Israel while representing the largest Arab and Muslim constituency in the country. She understands the difference between Israel and Netanyahu.
“Both sides need to get in a room and slaughter some sacred cows,’’ she says. By both sides, she means the left-wing of the Democratic party and the more moderate wing.
They all understand the dire consequences of AI for humanity.
Of Trump – Slotkin doesn’t dwell on his criminality, his behavior or his policies, which most voters have tuned out. She tells the truth and moves on to solutions for a better future.
“Governing is not about yourself and milking the cow that is America,’’ she says.
On ICE raids and deportations, Slotkin is clear.
“If a gang of people wearing masks in Flint come to arrest me, people have the right to know what’s going on when they are arrested,’’ she says. “It is un-American.’’
Their advice to the Democratic party, which has not yet been heard, is strikingly similar to Bernie Sanders and AOC. And therein lies the possibility of re-forming a grand coalition for freedom, equality and middle-class economic success.
I say “similar’’ not to say they are the same. They are not. But if you get beyond the canards of the right about AOC/Bernie, they make sense. Since Trump arrived on the scene and destroyed what’s left of our civil society, I found myself often saying: “Bernie was right.’’ And Slotkin/Sherrill/Spanberger come very close to these views.
- A health care program that covers everyone. (A public option)
- A rational immigration policy that provides security while inviting immigrants to come here for a better life.
- Get money out of politics. No corporate PAC money.
- Our government is not working for a majority of Americans. We have to hear that loud and clear.
- Break Big Pharma.
- Housing – Four million new units.
- Education – Schools that prepare kids for the future they want. Trade schools and apprenticeships.
- An “All of the Above’’ energy plan – natural gas, even nuclear as we transition to a cleaner future.
- Climate Change is here. But we have to get beyond the silly fights between conservationists and energy/climate activists.
- Public Safety – Freedom from fear in your own home. School shootings, personal privacy from predators like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
- National security – Slotkin says: “We need a military that understands the threats coming around the corner.’’
These three women are charting a path through the dark tunnel in which Democrats find themselves. Why? Because Democrats since Bill Clinton have fallen into the abyss of big money donors who then want to get something for their money. Voters know really fast when their senator stops listening. And voters since 2016 have been saying “Screw it. I’m voting the person who will shake things up.’’ So they vote for Trump because they don’t have a better choice.
And this is where we come to Zohran Mamdani/AOC/Bernie and Slotkin/Sherrill/Spanberger,
Put these political athletes in a room and you can solve alot. You might even find some Republicans willing to go along after Trump and his henchmen are gone from the scene. After all, Bernie Sanders has made a career out of speaking to the needs of rural conservatives.
You bring together two strands of a deeply dysfunctional political party.
You speak again to working people, recognizing that it’s not about trans rights to play sports, but about wages, health care and the chance to buy a home or rent an apartment and be safe in your community.
Lastly – and I think this is the important part. They are in it for the right reasons. Americans have long recognized – and Trump has capitalized on this – that too much of political leadership is in it for themselves, to get on TV, to get the book deal, get on a corporate board, to profit.
These folks are driven by service to country and constituents and a little bit of pissed offness that the country has been taken from good people and given to bad people. Tax breaks (socialism) for billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Private crypto deals for Trump’s kids.
Nothing illustrates the loss of faith in government better than the way Trump has covered up his relationship with the sex traffcikers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Or as Slotkin says it:
“The real work of the Democratic Party … is to have the tough conversations that we haven’t had in a long time about the future of the party and to get our act together even if those conversations are hard.’’
Or, as she is telling anyone who will listen:
“It is time for a new generation of leadership.’’
Now where have we heard that before?
Hint: 1960.