CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Elissa Slotkin
Interview
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BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT now, one woman running for the first time, who President Obama has endorsed, who he rallied for last week, Elissa Slotkin. She's running for Congress in Michigan's eighth district.
Thanks so much for coming in.
ELISSA SLOTKIN (D), MICHIGAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for having me.
BOLDUAN: Four days away. The latest polling has you three points behind your opponent, Congressman Mike Bishop. It's within the margin error. How are you feeling today? What are you hearing out there?
SLOTKIN: Yes. I mean, we feel great. We've got 1,500 volunteers pounding the pavement. Half of our volunteers have never done anything political in their entire life. So, they are really energized. And we're just hitting the pavement. I still believe that neighbor talking to neighbor, friend talking to friend is the way that you win tight elections. That's what we are doing.
BOLDUAN: President Obama, he campaigned for you last week. His track record kind of over time has been he is great at turning out the vote when he is on the ballot. He is not great at turning out people for other Democrats. Do you think you need Obama to win?
SLOTKIN: I don't think it's about any one individual, to be honest. I think that people want to hear from people who are talking about actual issues. At least here in Michigan, people are sick of just the polarization.
We are a very purple state. You know, I grew up. My das was a Republican, my mom was a Democrat. We never used to fight about politics here.
So, it's tone and tenor that's imported from Washington that people can't stand. And they want to just get to work. That's what Michiganders do.
So, it's not about any one person that's going to turn this election for anyone. It's about who is talking positively about changing the tone and tenor in Washington and about issues like health care and prescriptions drugs.
BOLDUAN: Yes, the issues matter absolutely. And definitely have been drowned out by the rhetoric that we've been hearing. But folks think anger turns people out to the polls is at least one theory. President Trump acknowledged for the first time today at a rally that Republicans could lose the House.
[19:55:04] Listen to this.
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BOLDUAN: Add to that this week, Nancy Pelosi, top Democrat in the House, she stopped kind of couching her predictions. She went all in and says Democrats are going to win the majority.
When it's all about turning out voters, when you talk about people to people, neighbor to neighbor, motivating people to take time to show up and vote, do those kinds of predictions help you?
SLOTKIN: No. They don't. I'm sorry, on neither side. I mean, I just -- I just feel like people have just got the sense that Washington is broken. Kind of -- people I talk to here, there is a lot of people who proudly tell me they don't vote. I knock on doors and there will be someone who is proud about that.
And we'll say, what do you mean, come on. They say, you know, both parties are broken. The system is corrupt. I'll out. These are often young people, people bowing out of their first and second election. And someone who's a national security professional by training that is a threat the our democracy.
I don't think it helps to have senior politicians saying we are going to win or we are going to lose. I think what matters, how are you helping people's pocketbooks or their kids? If you can't speak to that as a candidate, you don't deserve their vote, period.
BOLDUAN: Elissa Slotkin, thank you so much. We will be watching it very closely to see what happens on Tuesday. Thank you.
SLOTKIN: Thanks so much.
BOLDUAN: And if you want to know, we did invite Elissa's opponent, Congressman Mike Bishop, on the show and he has not accepted our invitation. It still stands.
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