2018 General Election Elected 51 – 47
Not your typical spy. Not your typical candidate, either
We are almost 14 months away from the 2018 election and almost a year away from the August filing deadline for candidates in Michigan. That’s a long time. If elections look as promising for Democrats as they seem now, unanticipated candidates could show up in MI 08 and elsewhere. Even now two Democrats are seeking the nomination for Michigan’s Eighth Congressional District. Eiissa Slotkinappears to be the serious candidate. She has national experience and strong local connections. Reluctant as I am to write about candidates in primaries, I also want to provide information about and generate resources for candidates who are willing to challenge Republicans. So, here is a note about Elissa Slotkin.
Michigan’s Eighth is not easy for a Democrat. It is now and has been a Republican seat. Trump carried the district 51-44.
Can ElissaSlotkin https://elissaforcongress.com/ carry the district? Here are three things to think about — her family is local and agricultural, her experience in national security including the CIA is deep, and her approach to the campaign is well thought out.
Elissa Slotkin lives on her family’s farm in Southwestern Michigan. Her grandfather, Sam Slotkin, was a butcher. He founded Hygrade, the company responsible for Ball Park Franks, the hot dogs sold in the Detroit Tigers’ Briggs Stadium. His son continued to build the meat processing business and started his own farm. For Sam and son, being a farmer was being an American. Sam’s daughter, Elissa, explains that Jewish farmers are not only on kibbutzim in Israel.
After high school, Elissa Slotkin went to agricultural school. Not any agricultural school. She went to Cornell. She wasn’t sure about coming back to either farming or meatpacking. She went on to Columbia to study international development. Elissa Slotkin’s first day at Columbia was September 10, 2001. Her second day was 9/11.
Elissa Slotkin’s interest clarified after 9/11. She sought public service and became an analyst for the CIA. She completed three terms of service in Iraq, worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and for the National Security Council under President Bush. She was the only Iraq adviser Obama held over from the Bush administration. Elissa Slotkin became a senior adviser on Iraq in the State Department under Hillary Clinton, then moved to the Defense Department. Obama nominated her to become Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in 2014. She served as Acting Assistant Secretary because the Republican Senate refused to confirm her.
The incumbent congressman demonstrated his tin ear. He compared Elisss Slotkin to Georgia Congressional candidate Jon Ossoff (slyly sticking in another Jewish name as a reminder). “They take (someone), transplant them into a district where they have little ties and try to make something happen. It didn’t work in Georgia and Michigan voters are skeptical of it.”
Elissa Slotkin has reminded the public that she was raised in Oakland County. The Detroit Free Press noted that she lived in Holly. Slotkin thought it “interesting” that her opponent, who she has characterized as a professional politician, would criticize her for time out of the state when she “was off serving my country.”
Elissa Slotkin’s view of politics was molded by her time in Iraq. “When you’re stationed in a combat zone, no one asks if you’re a Democrat or Republican …. You’re united behind the common mission of protecting the interests of the United States.…. In Washington, all you see are career politicians who seem to have forgotten that they are public servants elected to do one, simple job: improve the lives of the constituents they have the privilege to represent.” Elissa Slotkin described the incumbent as a “rubber stamp” for Republican leaders “regardless of the consequences back in Michigan.” She may be running for political office for the first time, but she is no amateur.
When Elissa Slotkin returned home shortly after her marriage to a helicopter pilot in Iraq, she had thoughts about running for political office. She decided against when confronted with how expensive a candidacy can be. In May, 2017, when the incumbent voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Elissa Slotkin reconsidered. The incumbent had held no public meetings on the issue. Elissa Slotkin decided she would raise the money and make the run.
Health insurance is a personal issue for Elissa Slotkin. Years earlier, her mother had discovered, nearly simultaneously, that her health insurance had lapsed and that she had ovarian cancer. Elissa Slotkin recalls her mother, prepped for expensive tests and waiting on a gurney until thousands of dollars were paid so the hospital would continue. Fortunately for Elissa Slotkin’s mother, the family had the resources to pay those medical costs. Elissa Slotkin has a good understanding of the virtues of the Affordable Care Act and is unrelenting in her criticism of the incumbent’s opposition.
Some Democratic candidates in Republican leaning districts try to minimize conversation about controversial issues — abortion, gun control, immigration. Elissa Slotkin goes these other candidates one better. Her website has no list of positions. From her stories, people know she is in favor of the Affordable Care Act and military preparedness. Otherwise, she emphasizes her capacity for bipartisanship and asks district constituents for their views about what is important to them. The incumbent would like to attack Elissa Slotkin’spositions. So far, Elissa Slotkin is not giving him much to work with.
Let’s give Elissa Slotkin https://elissaforcongress.com/ something to work with. She is making herself into a formidable candidate. Even modest donations are important. Monthly donations are especially important.