Elissa Slotkin will deliver Democratic response to Trump's Joint Address. I'm disappointed by this choice.

[Nanjeanne]

And once again, IMHO, - Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries disappoint by being tone-deaf and choosing Slotkin. Slotkin - she who was the first candidate for Liz Cheney to get behind. Slotkin - she who voted over and over for Trump's cabinet picks . . . including Kristi Noem. Slotkin - opposer of Medicare For All, opposer of Green New Deal, opposer of abolishing death penalty, voted for Laken Riley Act, opposed student debt assistance, voted to bar security clearance to anyone who used cannabis, voted with Republicans to ban a bill giving aid to Syria in their war against Yeman.

Now I think it is great that she won her seat and it was not an easy win. BUT honestly if you want to put a new face on the Democratic Party and you want to show that Democrats are seriously presenting an alternative to Republicans - you don't choose freaking Elissa Slotkin!

My God . . . why did they not choose a fighter - a person that someone sees as a fighter - a new face - we have some people doing dynamite work out there. Sorry she isn't going to inspire anyone who give confidence to anyone looking for real bold change to get behind and to fight Trump/Musk and the scared Republicans in Congress. Murphy, Schatz, Warren, Whitehouse, Van Hollen. If it doesn't have to be a Senator - why not AOC, or Maxwell Frost or Jasmine Crockett?

It is so disheartening to me to see any opportunity to do something bold and big squashed like a bug by ineffectual leaders.

[BoRaGard]

1. Weak weak weak

[Celerity]

2. I have said for ages that the Problem Solver Slotkin was my pick to become the 'new Sinema' to Fetterman's 'new Manchin'

I SO wish Dana Nessel and/or Mallory McMorrow (Whitmer is likely going to run for POTUS in 2028 and Jocelyn Benson is running for Governor to replace the termed-out Whitmer) had run against Slotkin in the 2024 Democratic Michigan US Senate primary. It was too soon after his move from IN to MI for Pete to run for that in 2024.

Slotkin has so far voted to confirm 8 Trump Cabinet nominees

Only (Dems) Ruben Gallego, Maggie Hassan, John Hickenlooper, Jeanne Shaheen (all four with 9 Trump confirmation YEA votes)

and Fetterman (with 10) have voted to confirm more so far.

[Nanjeanne]

5. You betcha!

[AStern]

3. The reason Dems lose is because of their shift to the right and trying to cater to AM Talk Radio listening right wingers

Here is one more example.

I am allowed to be upset by this.

[Montauk6]

21. Actually about that AM thang...

That's a battle long since lost as they should have taken, way back when there was still a Fairness Doctrine, AM talk and shortwave radio far more seriously as persuasive media instead of looking down their nose at it dismissively as a bubble for conspiracy nuts, conservative wackos and bigots. Might've even saved MY young Black ass from sucking up all that brain-tenderizing sludge that took me years to finally clean out.

BUT what's past is past. HOPEFULLY Slotkin will surprise us all, the bar's set pretty low with Gotham's worst gangsters running amok.

[Passages]

4. That's why she was chosen.

And another reason why we're likely to keep losing.

House gone, Senate gone, White House gone.

[Nanjeanne]

8. An opportunity for national exposure and it goes to a Kristi Noem confirmer. Way to reward that betrayal

[Celerity]

12. So far she has voted to confirm:

The worst (IMHO) are in bold

Jamieson Greer (US Trade Representative)
Kristi Noem (Homeland Security)
Scott Bessent (Treasury)
Brooke Rollins (Agriculture)
John Ratcliffe (CIA)
Doug Collins (VA)
Doug Burgum (Interior)
Marco Rubio (Sec of State)

[Passages]

14. Very frustrating because of the dire circumstances we are in I have lost all respect for the leadership.

Please move on if you don't want to change. If what you were doing was working, we would not be in this situation at present.

Blaming voters is NOT a strategy, nor is leaning into and confirming autocrats.

[lostnfound]

6. It feels like another FU to the liberals on the left

good luck with that.

[Autumn]

10. It feels like another FU to the liberals on the left because it is one. Then the complaining starts because

the left doesn't vote for them.

[CrispyQ]

30. And the pleas for money never stop. - nt

[Celerity]

34. God seat dun come cheap

[Autumn]

45. That. The one thing I will never move past.

[Bengus81]

47. He forgot to mention eggs in that one.............

[claudette]

51. Seems like

God is not interested in helping us.

[Celerity]

40. Only 4 House Democrats were more ideologically to the right than Slotkin.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/report-cards/2022/party-house-democrat/ideology

House Democrats

most politically right

#1 0.47 Rep. Josh Gottheimer [D-NJ5, 2017-2026]
#2 0.43 Rep. Henry Cuellar [D-TX28, 2005-2026]
#3 0.42 Rep. Jared Golden [D-ME2, 2019-2026]
#4 0.37 Rep. Abigail Spanberger [D-VA7, 2019-2024]
#5 0.35 Rep. Elissa Slotkin [D-MI8, 2019-2022]
#6 0.35 Rep. Stephanie Murphy [D-FL7, 2017-2022]
#7 0.35 Rep. Dean Phillips [D-MN3, 2019-2024]
#8 0.34 Rep. O’Halleran [D-AZ1, 2017-2022]
#9 0.32 Rep. Cindy Axne [D-IA3, 2019-2022]
#10 0.32 Rep. Susie Lee [D-NV3, 2019-2026]

Most of those 10 (not Axne, and she is the ONLY one of the 10 who was never a Problem Solvers member) are or were vocally anti-progressive (especially the first 7) and some were also anti-Pelosi for Speaker (including Slotkin, see below), plus some were vocally amongst the first calling for Biden to drop out (or in Dean Phillips' case, ran against Biden and was entertaining a 3rd party run in 2024).

Gottheimer is retiring to run for NJ Governor, Cuellar is under federal indictment for money laundering, bribery and conspiracy charges, Golden may retire to run for ME governor, Slotkin of course is now in the US Senate, Spanberger retired to run for VA governor, Murphy retired due to her facing a hard race caused by FL re-districting, Phillips retired to run for POTUS, O'Halleran lost for re-election in 2022, as did Axne. Come January 3, 2027, only the Problem Solvers vice-chair Susie Lee may still remain in the US House.

[yellow dahlia]

7. Schumer and Jeffries have been consistent lately in their ability to not meet the moment. n/t

[CentralMass]

36. They are certainly not awe inspiring

[Kid Berwyn]

9. She is awesome. I think we all will be surprised.

Senator Elissa Slotkin stands up for We the People and has sacrificed to defend the Constitution. I think her rebuttal State of Union address will, figuratively, shove all holy hell up the ass of Putin's unstable and moronic puppy.

I also think Sen. Slotkin is one of the real leaders around which the Democratic Party will build its next majority. Until Trump and his stooges put me against the wall, I will stand with her.

Almost forgot: Yes, I voted for her.

[Nanjeanne]

11. I don't think confirming Kristi Noem is standing up for anything except detention tents and forced

separation of families. I don’t think voting for Laken Riley is standing up for We The People. I don’t think - Opposing abolishing the death penalty is standing up for people. Opposing Green New Deal - nope not standing up. Opting for Laken Riley Act that empowers Donald Trump's ICE to detain people without due process - not we the people.
- Voted for 8 of Donald Trump's cabinet nominees, while his administration dismantles the entire government - operated not the leader I want
As a House member:
- Opposed student debt assistance on a vote supported by 93% of her caucus - nope not standing up
- Voted against 85% of her caucus on whether the US should even study the impact of its sanctions on other countries
- Voted to overturn locally enacted criminal justice and voting rights reforms in Washington, D.C.
- Voted against 94% of her caucus to bar security clearance from anyone who has used cannabis
- On UAW strike: "You can't let a perfect deal be the enemy of a good deal."
- Voted with Republicans against a bill banning US aid to Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen
- Voted against a bill to remove US troops from Syria

Nope not the future of the party unless we want to continue losing.

Hey as I said I’m glad she won instead of a real Republican but no this better not be one of the real leaders which the Democratic Party builds its next majority on. We tried wooing those Republican lite people last election and it didn’t work. We keep trying that over and over and we’ll keep having the same results.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. You're so right. She's voted for some awful and abhorent things.

A bit of why I -- an old man -- have high hopes for her, courtesy of Google:

Fluent in Arabic and Swahili, she served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst. During the George W. Bush administration, she worked on the Iraq portfolio for the National Security Council. During Barack Obama's presidency, she worked for the State Department and the Department of Defense.

The thing is: My friends who know her, trust her. And I trust them.

As for getting to where she got put in a position of voting for Trump's stooges, I blame greedy nation and political malpractice by the leadership of the Democratic Party. Going up against a felon unable to complete a coherent thought in public and his couchhumping sidekick should have made 2024 a Democratic landslide.

We need more change and less division. And we need someone who knows what to do with enemies of the Constitution.

[Nanjeanne]

17. She's not being asked to head a Veterans Committee. She is getting a big spot to make a big

impact. The party needs to start being viewed as a fighting corruption, pro working person, anti money in politics antithesis to TrumpMusk. I think her rebuttal will be ok. She will not say something stupid. It will just not be a memorable start to something exciting and new that people who know her voting record are going to say “yeah that’s the leader I want to follow”. And choosing her. - well it doesn’t meet the moment we are in, IMHO.

[Kid Berwyn]

19. I'm a Kennedy Democrat.

I didn't vote for JFK, but I remember the day he died. The nation has been on the wrong track ever since.

How I saw it in 2006: Know your BFEE: At every turn, JFK was opposed by War Party

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1366764

[love_katz]

31. Bookmarking this thread so I can read all of the posts.

My Pennsylvania German ancestors used to say, " we are too soon old, and too late smart,". That seems to apply here.
I often find that my hunches are correct, but I'm willing to fact check them, and change my mind if new information seems to point in a different direction.
Currently, the War Party is careening head long into a war, with our long time adversaries or our former allies. They don't seem to care as long as they get to attack somebody, grift and thieve up a storm, and take a wrecking ball to what is left of our society.
I deeply wish that the information you provided was available long ago, rather than at this late date. Maybe our political direction would have been redirected for the better, just like we would be better off if Nixon and Agnew had been publicly prosecuted and convicted for their crimes. The DOJ did not do the country any favors by treating most of the citizens as if we were children, incapable of coping with bad news.

[Kid Berwyn]

46. Like Karl Rove said, the winners invent history and they hire shills to tell it their way.

A few more you may enjoy:

Answers sought on CIA role in ‘78 JFK probe
https://democraticunderground.com/10025705286

Generals mocking JFK behind his back during Cuban Missile Crisis caught on tape...
https://democraticunderground.com/10021414805

CIA Successfully Conceals Bay of Pigs History
https://democraticunderground.com/10024985423

BFEE Just-Us
https://democraticunderground.com/10026954410

Thank you, love_katz! You made my DU day. Your Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors were most wise.

[karynnj]

43. I think of the rebuttal to the SOTU as a "do no harm"

It often has become a liability for whomever does it, especially for the Republicans. Think of Katie Britt, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Christine Whitman, all considered potential superstars before their rebuttal.

[ancianita]

20. I'll trust your judgment. Thanks.

[hatrack]

27. A commendable dream, and we'll know more in about a week . . .

.

[LessAspin]

13. Elissa Slotkin

Slotkin was my representative in Congress and now the US Senate.

Gerrymandering made our district very difficult for the Democratic Party but because Slotkin was very much a centrist (if not right of center) she was able to win that seat.

I thought it was a mistake to anoint her in the Senate race over the more progressive candidate Mallory McMorrow.

Slotkin won the Senate seat but we lost the House seat. McMorrow may not have won but I felt she offered the best opportunity to hold both seats.

I think Slotkin will be fine giving the rebuttal but it does feel like this moment calls for something more.

[Nanjeanne]

15. Exactly. It's good she won the Senate seat. But this is a big moment. A big opportunity. It demands a

Big, bold and exciting voice to articulate the New Democratic Party and a vision. To paraphrase Linda Loman from Death of a Salesman “Attention must be paid”.

[lostnfound]

22. I didn't know Mallory was a possibility, i really respect her ability and strength. Nt

[ancianita]

23. What if

that "something more" is that she's a woman. The very thing the felon hates about government is the women in it. So here's a young woman speaking for the party. Women are half the voting electorate. Maybe... what could tip more women to vote Democratic is this -- to see young women promoted by this party.

She's got grit and smarts and thinks on her feet. I'm thinking she might be a better choice than DU'ers know. Just sayin'.

Maybe Schumer and Jeffries might actually be "meeting the moment."

[Cha]

50. I'm thinking you were right, ancianita.

I thought Sen Elise Slotkin would be good, too.. and she is!

[Celerity]

35. Dana Nessel and/or Mallory McMorrow were my two wishes to have run for that MI US Senate seat

[Mysterian]

18. A republican-lite

I'm losing hope the Democratic party will evolve to save us from this disaster.

[stillcool]

39. they will never save us from this disaster

but your state elected officials might.

[SocialDemocrat61]

24. Since the person who delivers these responses

typically disappears into irrelevancy afterwards, the real question is does leadership have a grudge against her? Or maybe they see her as most expendable. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Scrivener7]

26. Ugh. I agree with everything you say. Terrible choice. Yet another disappointment.

[BannonsLiver]

28. I had to look her up.

Strictly C list.

[Oopsie Daisy]

29. Boo hoo... He can't please everyone.

And some folks will never approve or have a positive word for anything he does. There are more important things to be outraged about, thank you very much.

[Mysterian]

32. It would be nice if Democratic leadership acted as if they were outraged

and started letting the republicans know we are going to hold them accountable for their crimes against the American people.

But all we get is mush-mouth like it's business as usual and we're compromising with our partners across the aisle.

[Nanjeanne]

33. Hey I can walk and chew gum at same time. So I can be outraged at more than one thing.

No I believe I said disappointed. But you can add sad. And sorry. And let down. And discouraged. And dispirited. And depressed.

Don’t believe outraged was ever in the discussion. But thank you for jumping in to share your thoughts. I love how we can count on you.

[writerJT]

37. Depressed?

Over a SOTU response?

Don’t do that to yourself.

Some of the most famous recent SOTU responses are Katie Britt, Marco Rubio, and Bobby Jindal — all because of how awkward and comical they were.

No one gives a crap about a SOTU response. Hell, I doubt a SOTU itself has ever had a big impact on the political landscape.

[Nanjeanne]

38. Depressed that I see this as a missed opportunity. And I agree that people don't give a crap which

is why I wished we had better communicators that made people give a crap.

[Oopsie Daisy]

41. Yes, anyone can attack the GOP while also taking random pot-shots at Democrats who don't deserve it.

But the idiom "walk and chew gum" indicates one's ability to successfully do two entirely different or unrelated tasks simultaneously. Such as (1) attacking the GOP while (2) supporting Democrats. See? It's about doing two ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS.

It requires no special talent to be in a perpetual state of outrage, spraying criticisms in every direction without discrimination.

Think of it this way... It's like spraying "Round-Up" on the entire garden in order to get rid of a patch of dandelions. It's indiscriminate, unnecessary and causes more LONG TERM DAMAGE than using a more precise approach. Everyone and everything suffers because the gardener is unwilling to target ONLY the weeds. But instead, he sprays the grass, vegetables and the flowers... while being boastful about their gardening skills.

The reality is that anyone can indiscriminately spray poison everything within a hundred-yard radius (both Republicans and Democrats). But, that's doing just ONE thing. — Instead, I encourage folks to focus their anger where it belongs: aimed squarely and exclusively at the GOP!

The real skill is when people are wise enough to select their targets carefully and focus their anger ways that accomplish something positive.

The foot-stomping and arm-flailing temper tantrums that attack Democrats serves no good purpose. It's only divides and weakens Democrats, it suppresses voter support. Those things only serve to benefit the GOP.

Rather than continually shitting on Democrats and nitpicking every exaggerated or imagined imperfection the real skill comes with being wise enough to select one's targets carefully and focusing on weakening and destroying Republicans... NOT Democrats.

[betsuni]

42. Exactly!

[Nanjeanne]

44. Deleted the whole response because really, what's the point I ask myself.

[Kaleva]

48. Kick

[orleans]

49. yeah, i just read that other thread that linked to this one. so i'm kickin & recommended this too nt