Slotkin leaves door open to 2028 bid

Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin on Tuesday avoided ruling out a 2028 bid for the White House, arguing voters are ready for a “new generation” of candidates. “We are not well as a country right now, and people are not looking to just go back to where they were,” the Michigan Democrat said at POLITICO’s Global Security Summit, downplaying the appeal of another Kamala Harris ticket. The Senate Armed Services member and former Pentagon official has emerged as a prominent Democratic voice on national security issues, even drawing President Donald Trump’s ire for participating in a video message with other Democrats urging service members to resist illegal orders. Slotkin, when asked whether she was considering a 2028 bid, didn’t shrug off the possibility. But she noted that she keeps a spreadsheet of nearly 30 people who are thinking about running and is meeting with those potential candidates. “It does not have to be me,” Slotkin said. “If I believe in someone, I will happily get on board and be like ‘Let’s do this!’ because I think it is important to win.” She indicated that having a governor on the ticket would be a wise move for her party. These officials have the demonstrated “ability to use executive power to get things done,” she said. The question of whether — and how — to forge a new path for party leadership isn’t the only dilemma Democrats are facing. The party is split over Israel policy amid the deadly Israeli military campaign in Gaza, with Harris’ presidential ticket ultimately damaged by the Biden administration’s support for Israel. That issue has become all the more pressing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s increasingly aggressive military operations in the region — and the joint U.S.-Israel war in Iran. Slotkin on Tuesday attempted to thread the needle on Israel policy. "I believe in a Jewish state of Israel, yes. And to me that isn't a radical thing to say,” Slotkin said. “I can say that in the same breath that I criticize the military policy of Bibi Netanyahu.”