The first Slotkin you see is a woman of the people. She walks slowly so a man in a wheelchair can keep up with her.
The facade soon breaks. Twenty seconds into the 100-second video, Slotkin starts referring to the man holding the camera.
He’s a tracker. They’re hired by politicians to attend all their opponent’s public events and capture every word on video.
Up to now, the tracker has been content to serve as a documentarian, but now that Slotkin has engaged him, he turns from filmer to questioner.
“Will you join the Medicare for All caucus if you get elected?” he asks.
This, apparently, is the smoking gun he was sent to get. America was still center-right back in 2018, when the video was shot, and this might have been disqualifying for a first-time candidate.
Slotkin knows what the tracker wants, and she knows better than to give it to him.
She holds open a door for the man in the wheelchair. She explains the presence of the man with the camera.
“That’s Mr. Bishop’s tracker,” Slotkin says, referring to then-Rep. Mike Bishop, her opponent in the 2018 congressional race. “He follows me around.”
The tracker disavows.
“I’ve never met Mr. Bishop, don’t work for him,” he says.
A Slotkin aide keeps the man at a distance while she says her goodbyes. The aide holds up a peace sign.
Slotkin heads to her car.
Now the tracker has her alone. It’s the moment he’s been waiting for. No staffers, no elderly voters, no handlers, no security—just a chance to ask her his question and maybe get a real answer.
“Ms. Slotkin, will you join the Medicare for All caucus if you get elected?” he asks, one last time.
Slotkin has opened her car door. She could close it and drive off, but a smile grips her face. As she descends into her seat, she asks: “How are Sloane and Leroy?”
Those are the names of the tracker’s dogs, not available on social media. Not available by any means other than having the tracker investigated.
“How do you know my dogs’ names?” the tracker asks. The video ends.
Years later, Slotkin is running for the U.S. Senate. But back then, she had yet to win her first political office. And she used her powers to intimidate a citizen with a question.
The tracker died three years later. The video hits differently after knowing that. A story in the Spectator notes that the tracker was shaken to have his dogs’ names mentioned. He felt intimidated by Slotkin, who is not shy about touting her CIA credentials on the campaign trail.
If she knew his dogs’ names, what else did she know?
And what wouldn’t she do to remove a person who stands in her path to power?
James David Dickson is host of the Enjoyer Podcast. Join him in conversation on X @downi75.
