Dem senator says her party needs to ditch ‘wonky policies’ approach in favor of ‘alpha energy’

Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday that Democrats “respond to people’s pain with a long list of wonky policies.”

Slotkin also told the NYT that Democrats need to embrace their “alpha energy,” and be more “bold.” The report comes as the Democratic Party is seeking to regain control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the upcoming midterms.

“In the Midwest, alpha energy is about emotion,” Slotkin told the NYT. “Whether you’re a coach and you know what your team has put into the game, or you’re frustrated that they didn’t give it their all, you’re not speaking from wonky details. You’re speaking about your gut and your emotion. I think Democrats have lost that.”

Slotkin added that Democrats need to stop being “so damn scared” of their “own shadow.”

“Alpha energy is synonymous with being bold,” Slotkin said. “Call the tough play, take a risk, be bold. And don’t be so damn scared of your own shadow.”

In April, Slotkin signaled that that her so-called “war plan” to combat President Donald Trump’s political agenda may not succeed in helping the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.

Slotkin also told the outlet that the Democratic Party needs “fresh faces” and “innovative ideas.” The Michigan Democrat added that she thinks fellow members of her party need to speak “truth to power” even if it makes them “less popular with certain groups.”

“A very important point that some of my colleagues who have been in elected office for 20, 30 years are missing is that it’s not just Trump supporters who are frustrated with their government,” Slotkin said. “It’s across the board. While Trump is being sloppy about how he cuts programs and cuts personnel and throws tariffs on, very few people in America are hoping that we just return, hook, line and sinker, to the status quo from before Trump.”

Some prominent Democrats have claimed that the Democratic Party’s image is too “woke” and “toxic.” Similarly, Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told The Hill on Monday he thinks that Democrats are “still stuck in the same mud that they were in six months ago.”

Additionally, Slotkin told the NYT she believes that Democrats “need a new generation” of leaders “across the board.”

“[Democratic New York] Sen. [Chuck] Schumer, [Democratic New York] Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, have hard jobs being leaders,” Slotkin said, referring to her party’s leaders in each house of Congress. “But I have said, long before getting in the Senate, that we need a new generation across the board. That means at the Democratic National Committee, that means in the House, that means in the Senate, that means candidates running for the White House. It’s not any one person.”

“In the Senate, we don’t really divide into progressive versus moderate when we’re behind closed doors,” Slotkin added. “The real debate now is: Do you believe that Trump’s second term is an existential threat to American democracy, or do you believe Trump’s second term is bad but, like his first term, survivable if we just wait it out and let his bad policies boomerang on him?”

While there have been rumors that Slotkin could be a potential contender in the 2028 White House race, she told the NYT that “it’s just not where my head is right now.”