EAST LANSING, Mich. — A man held up a hostile poster a few rows behind Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin as she spoke. On other side of the room, allies hoisted a Slotkin-friendly banner. But what was perhaps most striking at Slotkin’s first town hall since President Donald Trump’s impeachment was a newfound sense of civility.
Inside East Lansing High School’s auditorium Friday there were no boos. No rowdy interruptions. No pauses in the program to let the tension pass, even in this swing House district at the center of a 2020 presidential battleground state.
It was a sharp contrast from the five raucous public gatherings during the House impeachment proceedings last fall. The tenor suggested that Republican attacks on Democrats for backing impeachment may fall flat in some places. And it offered a snapshot of how effectively Democrats are making that turn from the doomed process to their agenda and the November elections.
Slotkin, 43, does not adopt a harsh anti-Trump posture. She focuses instead on lowering prescription drug costs and making drinking water safe. She is testifying in Washington this week on infrastructure, and she’ll soon introduce a border security bill. When asked, she’ll discuss the contentious Democratic presidential primary, whether Trump himself is a national security threat and, of course, impeachment.