Beware the false electoral prophets

The Spectator ^ | 1 Nov 2026 | Roger Kimball

[Rummyfan]

As the 2026 midterm election jamboree entered its final days, the punditocracy has been treated to a couple of cathartic and possibly clarifying shudders.

As I write, Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic Senator from Michigan, is scrambling to retrieve her standing after she told an interviewer that she favored having the deep state harass people who supported Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda. She didn’t put it quite like that, of course. What she said was: “I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration?’ I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that.’ I want that deterrence message sent.”

“Deterrence,” eh? Slotkin’s semi-veiled – or, rather, nearly naked – threats did not go down so well. Neither did her hysterical efforts to portray herself as a victim of “far-right” criticism when her remarks went viral. As of this moment, public sentiment has turned decisively against the CIA operative turned Democratic pit bull, notwithstanding the united front put forward by the legacy media. Item: “Trump’s Vile Tirade About Sen. Elissa Slotkin Exposes Sleazy MAGA Scam.” That’s from the New Republic. Similar instances of dispassionate reporting can be found wherever the organs of the deep state are operative.

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TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: elissaslotkin; michigan