A DOSE OF SWING-STATE SKEPTICISM Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin may be the slight favorite in Michigan’s Senate race this November, running narrowly ahead in every major public poll this summer. But as the Michigander prepares to take the big stage tonight, she has a healthy dose of skepticism about her own future, and the tough swing district that she’s vacating. And it’s in stark contrast with her party’s huge energy in Chicago. “I’ve been telling Democrats everywhere I go this week: Don’t get high on your own supply and think everyone is as energetic as you are. And if you do, you obviously haven’t been to a swing state in a while,” Slotkin told us in an interview. (Just how high is the energy? A supporter stopped Slotkin for a selfie mid-interview in the United Center.) Michigan is, of course, a must-win state for Kamala Harris — and also for Democrats hoping to preserve their Senate majority and take back the House. There are four competitive House seats alone in the Mitten state, including three that Democrats must defend and one they’d love to flip. Slotkin’s not alone in her expectation-setting. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who holds the other soon-to-be vacant seat, is working hard across the state to help elect Democrats in November. He said Democratic campaigns have more volunteers and more donors — but still need to convert the energy into votes. He cautioned: “We've got work to do. Michigan's going to be a close race.” His seat remains a top concern of Democratic leadership, though there’s new internal polling being distributed to Democrats on Thursday for the Flint-area seat that has his potential successor, Kristen McDonald Rivet, up 5 points against second-time GOP candidate Paul Junge, according to a person familiar with the poll. A recent DCCC poll had her slightly behind. “I feel good about it,” he said of her race. But he added: “Because I know the district so well, it is clearly a district that can go either way.” “I’m not on a sugar high,” added Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who famously sounded the alarm in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was on track to lose Michigan. At the convention this week, Dingell made the rounds at labor events and women’s events and said she stressed the same message — Michigan is a swing state today, and it will be until November. She may have the most Democratic votes in any district in Michigan, but she can still take you to neighborhoods where there are Trump signs “in every yard.” As for the party nickname some Democrats gave her in the last presidential cycle, Dingell said: “I’m not ‘Debbie downer,’ I’m ‘Debbie determined.’” Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it this way, in an interview with POLITICO on Thursday: “There’s so much euphoria. But there’s nothing automatic here.” Another unknown: Whether Michiganders who voted “uncommitted” in the primary in protest of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war will vote for Harris on election day. Although the “uncommitted” delegates won some major concessions from the DNC this week, like a panel about Palestinian human rights, they’re pushing to get a Palestinian American speaker on the main stage, and some are currently staging a sit-in just outside the United Center. But with just hours left in the DNC, there’s not much room left for another speech. — Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Aug. 22, where Sarah and Nick are (to their D.C. colleagues’ horror) hitting their limit for Chicago-style hot dogs. UP NEXT FOR TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT PROBE The bipartisan task force investigating the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump will head on Monday to the site of his July 13 rally. Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who chairs the panel and represents Butler, Pa., in Congress, and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), the top Democrat for the task force, will lead a group of approximately 10 members of Congress to the Butler Farm Show grounds, the site of the shooting, according to the task force. The group will meet with local law enforcement and hold a news conference with reporters. It marks the first formal trip to the site for the task force — though some of its members have previously visited — and is the latest sign that the leadership-blessed panel is ramping up its work after using the start of the August recess to staff up and send out a sweeping request for documents. One nugget: In addition to the site visit, the FBI briefed the task force on Wednesday, a person familiar confirmed to us. Reminder… When the House unanimously voted to create the task force last month, it gave it jurisdiction over the chamber’s investigations into the assassination attempt — superseding a network of then-ongoing committee actions. But some members of the conference’s right flank have publicly kvetched about Speaker Mike Johnson’s picks for the task force and are forging ahead with their own plans. GOP Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Cory Mills (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas) will hold a forum on Monday in Washington, D.C., examining the assassination attempt. — Jordain Carney JOHNSON FACES PRESSURE TO PUT RECA ON FLOOR When Speaker Mike Johnson stumped for former Rep. Yvette Herrell at a stop in New Mexico’s 2nd congressional district on Wednesday, he was greeted by a group of protestors who were calling on him to act on legislation that would extend and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The problem? The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support 69-30 earlier this year — it was heavily pushed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — but the House didn’t take it up in time to extend the funding, which expired June 7. “This is not a partisan issue,” said Tina Cordova, the co-founder and executive director of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, one of the groups protesting the campaign stop. “It's not lost on us that they're on the inside and we're on the outside. That's where they place us … The majority of people that were there were there to represent our issue.” Herrell said in a statement to POLITICO she supports the legislation and reiterated her support to Johnson on Wednesday. “I conveyed the importance of RECA to Speaker Johnson again yesterday, and remain optimistic that RECA extension and expansion will get over the finish line soon,” she said in a statement to Inside Congress. There are several reasons why Johnson hasn’t put the bill to a vote, a person close to the Speaker said, including the legislation’s high price tag that isn’t offset and also because Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) has been pushing for the House to pass the broader bill called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act. Johnson was in New Mexico to campaign for Herrell, who is trying to win back her seat from freshman Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) in a tight race in a swing district. — Daniella Diaz
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