Undaunted: Senator Elissa Slotkin

"America wants change. But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way."

It is a thankless task. Countless politicians—from water-gulping Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to SNL catnip, kitchen-bound, overly-affected Sen. Katie Britt (R-Tenn.) to wooden Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (speaking from what appeared to be an antebellum mansion)—have not only missed the mark but embarrassed themselves (and, by extension, their parties) in delivering the response to a presidential address to Congress.

Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who spoke Tuesday night, was not among the victims of this assignment.

Going on air past many Americans’ bedtimes thanks to Donald Trump’s Fidel Castro-length diatribe, Slotkin most notably appeared normal, civil, grounded in reality, and decent; a far cry from the mean and vindictive blowhard who had preceded her. And—bless her!—she was brief.

Though she began on a bipartisan note (to the groans of many Democrats sick of faux bipartisanship with raving members of the MAGA caucus) by stating that she was speaking from a town both she and Trump carried, she then swiftly got down to business.

“We just went through another fraught election season,” she noted. “Americans made it clear that prices are too high, and that government needs to be more responsive to their needs. America wants change. But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way.” And, she pointed out, we don’t need to lose our democracy in the process.

After a bloated, meandering, fallacy-riddled speech from Trump, Slotkin mercifully laid out three main issues to address, starting with the economy. The Democratic message can be boiled down to simple terms: Trump promised to help Americans get ahead but he’s ripping them off to line the pockets of billionaires. She came with receipts:

· Grocery and home prices are going up, not down – and he hasn’t laid out a credible plan to deal with either.

· His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, cars – and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.

· Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn’t work without going after your health care.

· Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. And if he’s not careful, he could walk us right into a recession.

· And one more thing: In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement – the Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn. The President claims he won’t, but Elon Musk just called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

Slotkin’s best line, however, focused on the issue that drew derisive laughter during Trump’s speech: giving power away to an unelected bureaucrat, Elon Musk. “[I]s there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts?” She asked. “No oversight. No protections against cyber-attack. No guardrails on what they do with your private data.”

If anything about the Trump onslaught is likely to unsettle even Republicans, it might be the thought of Musk and his tech bros pawing through our most sensitive tax data and personal information.

Slotkin, a former CIA officer deployed in Iraq who served both a Democrat and Republican president, has far more credibility on her next topic—national security—than Trump (who was the beneficiary of draft deferment for “bone spurs,” and whose contempt for the military has been made public by former aides). She was emphatic in denouncing Trump’s atrocious bullying of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday in the Oval Office. She summoned Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” to denounce Trump’s weakness through capitulation:

[A]fter the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling over in his grave. We all want an end to the war in Ukraine, but Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity.

And that scene in the Oval Office wasn’t just a bad episode of reality TV. It summed up Trump’s whole approach to the world. He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends, like Canada, in the teeth. He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions.

It was telling that she made no bones about the need for greater border security as a matter of public safety and national defense (as former vice president Kamala Harris did in the campaign). Plainly, Democrats want to disavow any notion that they are “weak on the border.” She reminded us that, for all of Trump’s talk, he still hasn’t sent a bill that would fix the immigration system.

Finally, Slotkin argued that Trump is putting democracy at risk. In a measured, relatable tone she pleaded with Americans not to trade in democracy for a system in which “a president decides he can pick and choose what rules he wants to follow, when he ignores court orders or the Constitution itself, or where “[y]ou can’t open a business without paying off a corrupt official. You can’t criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock at the door in the middle of the night.”

In wrapping up, Slotkin told the audience what ordinary Americans can do to fight back against the Musk-Trump autocracy threat: stay engaged, hold officials accountable (“Watch how they’re voting. Go to town halls and demand they take action,”) and organize around an issue you care about. She is right that democracy requires that the people take action, not that we wait for elected leaders to tell us what to do.

It’s little wonder Slotkin excelled at the CIA, survived multiple House races, and prevailed in a Senate race in a state Harris lost. She is calm in a crisis, level-headed, pragmatic, and steeped in American values—everything Trump is not. She is a symbol of hope in these dark times.

The Contrarian honors Elissa Slotkin for remaining undaunted as a canny public servant and a patriot who carries profound concern for our democracy. Democrats would be smart to follow her lead.