Nolan Finley: Ready or not, here comes Elissa Slotkin in '28

Ambition is the enemy of patience and preparation.

Just look at Sen. Elissa Slotkin. The Michigan Democrat has spent the past several weeks visiting the key presidential battleground states of Iowa and Ohio as she tests the waters for a 2028 run for the White House.

Slotkin, 49, told the Des Moines Register she wants to help the Democratic Party find a future path that is built around a new generation of leaders. A group she clearly believes includes herself.

"I'm not so arrogant as to think it has to be me," Slotkin said.

No, just arrogant enough to think her skimpy political resume and lack of substantive achievements during her brief time in Congress qualify her for consideration for the world's top elected position.

Slotkin went on to say, "Midterms is what I'm focused on right now, but if it comes to the point afterwards that I think there's not anyone else who's on the right path, I guess I wouldn't say no forever."

To whom is she saying no? Who is clamoring for Elissa Slotkin for president? Maybe I missed the "Draft Slotkin" movement, but before she turned up in Iowa, the first stop for anyone considering a presidential bid, the junior senator from Michigan wasn't on anyone's list of potential Democratic nominees in 2028.

Her visits to bellwether states are designed to force her name into a conversation that so far hasn't included her, and wasn't likely to without her self-promoting stunt.

Most amusing is her pretense to being a reluctant savior of the Democratic Party. She's not fooling anyone in demurring that, while she hopes she doesn't have to, if no one else will step up, she guesses she will.

Slotkin is a relentless climber. The former State Department and CIA staffer returned to Michigan in 2017 to run for Congress in a mid-Michigan district. She rode the 2018 Democratic wave to victory over incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Bishop.

She won reelection twice, and when Sen. Debbie Stabenow retired in 2024, Slotkin jumped into the race to replace her, narrowly winning in a race against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers.

Now, Slotkin has posted a trimmer, more youthful-looking official photograph and is daring to dream of the Oval Office.

Never mind that when the 2028 election comes around, she'll still be two years shy of finishing her first term in the Senate. And yes, Barack Obama had served just three years in the Senate and eight years in the Illinois Legislature before becoming president. But Elissa Slotkin is no Barack Obama.

Perhaps she's betting by the time the campaign starts in earnest, she'll have emerged as a leader in the Senate and will have put her stamp on policies that address America's substantive challenges. Maybe between now and then she'll have a chance to demonstrate a true gift for getting things done.

But that's not where she is today. Rather, today she's a competent, promising first-term senator with the potential to become ready for the position she aspires to, but not if she short-changes the preparation process. Think Thad McCotter, the former Michigan congressman who launched a premature presidential bid 15 years ago that ended poorly.

In repeating that mistake, Slotkin risks becoming just another egocentric politician who was given a job by voters and instead of doing it, she's going to spend the next two years focusing on her personal career ambitions.

_____

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 1:43 AM.