The big news here at our house is that an old bird house just outside the window where I write each morning was re-occupied this spring for the first time in a long time. So I am now greeted each morning with the new parents scurrying around taking care of their chirping chicks. Here’s a close up of my view:

Here’s mama bird standing watch:

We need these moments of joy, peace and renewal to help counter the deep sense of betrayal and disbelief that we all rightly feel from Trump, John Roberts, and the malicious extremists doing so much harm to our country and our democracy. For an American governor to try to cancel an already underway election by declaring a state of emergency is a breathtaking expression of tribalism and racism……

Honestly, I am still reeling that something this like this could happen in America, in 2026, and articles about the Civil War never ending are coursing through my various social media feeds this weekend…..

Subscribe now

From this outrage must come a deeper commitment to fight and defeat this dark and dangerous political movement that has seized power in America. I felt that resolute commitment at the Maine Democratic Party Convention this week. In my remarks to the Convention on Friday I read the entire Gettysburg Address for inspiration, and share it here once again for its words still speak to us 163 years later…..

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I also draw inspiration this weekend from these words from Thomas Jefferson:

I now more than ever believe that our pro-democracy movement must make explicit our goal of overcoming and defeating white supremacy itself. Here is something I wrote in October of 2020 about my hopes for a possible Biden Presidency:

Of all the big things we have to do in the coming years there is one more – to honor and build on the work of FDR American leaders should forcefully denounce white supremacy in all of its forms. We have to make clear that American, Western, liberal, Four Freedom values are universal values, values of all people everywhere, regardless of race, religion or country of origin. They belong to all of us. White supremacy is not just a malicious legacy belief system from our racist and colonial past, it’s also profoundly anti-modern; for who could, after seeing the advances and potential of the people all over the world over these past fifty years ever believe that any race or religion or culture was somehow not capable of extraordinary things, and the people of all nations not deserving of the opportunities and freedoms we cherish. Trump’s white supremacy must be returned, aggressively, to the dustbin of history, where it belongs.

And I am deeply encouraged by the parade of polls we’ve seen these past few weeks showing Trump dropping further, reaching new levels of rejection and repudiation. The latest comes from ABC News and The Washington Post this morning. Just look at this astonishing chart, documenting how much the nation has turned on Trump and his ugly political movement, how much people now see and understand this to be a failed Presidency:

In my weekly talk and post I talked about how post-Callais Democrats were going to have build something new, a new politics suited to the moment and the new opportunities and challenges we now face. I don’t exactly know what this new politics is going to be, but listen to James Talarico here talk about rot and corruption. This feels new, and powerful, and where we are headed, and not where we’ve been:

Stuart Stevens is coming by tomorrow at Noon ET for our monthly catch up. Register here to join us live, and I will be sharing a recording of our discussion Monday afternoon. Catch my weekly talk and post for my thoughts about we should be thinking about our politics now, post-Callais, and feel free to spend time with some of our wonderful and courageous candidates today if you want to lift your spirits a bit. Links can be found below……..

Now, my friends……

It Is Time To Get Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $22,900 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $633,600 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $64,300 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $88,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $133,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $547,900 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $108,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $172,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Here I am with Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman:

And here’s a message to our community from the Executive Director of the Maine Democratic Party, Devon Murphy-Anderson:

Also sharing this interview we did with Chair Dingman last November right after Maine Dems - with this community’s support - defeated a terrible GOP ballot initiative that would have restricted voting this November:

Yesterday I spoke to a Convention break out session or 300 people or so. It was great to meet so many members of our community in person. If you have a photo of the event you’d like to share please send it to community@hopiumchronicles.com.

Overall I would say that the vibe I felt at the Convention was upbeat, positive, can-do. Maine Democrats are aware that they have an opportunity to have a very good year, potentially defeating Susan Collins, winning the governorship, growing their narrow majorities in the state legislature, and keeping a tough House seat, ME-02. The talks and training sessions were overflowing yesterday - people were ready to get to work!

My luncheon talk built on my Hopium talk from earlier this week - we entering a new era for the Democratic Party, one where we have to compete and win in hard, tough places in order to take power away from MAGA and forge a “new birth of freedom” here and everywhere:

I’ve come to believe that our national electoral map, and the “maps” (those people we were targeting and speaking too) in our states, have been too narrow. Trump and MAGA’s historic failure and betrayal have given us an opportunity to reach places and people that have been hard for us to reach; and we must now build a new politics for the Democratic Party that allows to successful reach these hard to reach places, win over voters that have not often heard from us, and build a new durable majority for our pro-democracy movement and the Democratic Party. Given the threat of MAGA to our democracy and to the American people themselves we have no choice now but to build something new and better, together.

For reference today Trump is at his lowest point of his second term in the FiftyPlusOne job approval tracker, hitting -23 for the first time.

While Maine has voted reliably Democratic at the Presidential level we have not won a Senate seat there since 1988. ME-02 is the most Republican district held by a Democrat in the country, and the current holder of that seat, Rep. Jared Golden is retiring, as is the current Democratic Governor, Janet Mills, who has been the most successful state wide elected Democrat in the last generation of Maine politics. So these Maine Dems have hard work ahead of them this cycle - unseating Susan Collins and winning our first Senate race since 1988; holding on to the toughest House district in the country and the governorship; growing narrow state legislative majorities; all while seeing the retirement of two of the most successful Democrats Maine has seen in many years.

The other hard work Maine Dems have ahead of them, and this is something I talked about at length yesterday, is that after a very competitive and tough primaries for Senate, Governor and ME-02, they will have to come together and rally around their nominees. This is going to be particularly true after a very rancorous Senate primary, which appears to be ending now with Governor Janet Mills’ exit from the race on Thursday. While there are two other Democrats in the Senate primary, Graham Platner appears on a path to win the Democratic nomination on June 9th, and become our nominee for US Senate.

What I asked of every Mainer in that room yesterday was to become a leader in the coming together of the party after the primaries. Whomever you support today do the hard work of bringing us together, as our opponents are going to be doing everything they possibly can - in this race, and every other race in the country - to keep us divided and focused on fighting with one another and not with them. Our primaries are ending, the general election has begun, and we must, at all costs, hang together in these coming or we will hang separately.

Maine has been one of the five states in our Audacious Expansion Fund that we launched last year to support state parties in hard to win reach states, to give us a chance to do hard things this year, including flip the Senate. Our fund has raised over $545,000 for these five states so far, and what is so remarkable is today our Senate candidates lead in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and are within mid-single digits in Florida. In the most recent poll in Maine, one conducted by a Republican firm, Platner leads Collins by 5 points and is over 50%:

For those who want to learn more about Graham Platner you may want to start with this powerful video his campaign has released:

That’s my initial report from Maine. It was great to see members of this proud, plucky community of patriots yesterday. It was good to be back in New England, which after all these years, still feels like home. It was encouraging to see the ambition, the drive, the can-do-let’s-go-win-this-thing of the Maine Democratic Party and the Mainers I met at the Convention. In this next six months we have a lot of very hard things we need to do, together. First among them is winning this Maine Senate seat, for there is no path for us to win back the Senate majority without beating Susan Collins. With our help the Maine Democratic Party feels up to the job and ready to go do what they need to do for our democracy and the good, hard-working people of Maine…….

Now, Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!

You can help Maine Democrats by donating to our Expansion Fund or by giving to the Maine Democratic Party directly. We will be making endorsements in the other Maine races after the primary on June 9th.

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $21,100 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $631,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $64,100 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $88,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $133,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $545,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $108,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $171,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

Brent crude starts the day at $110 a barrel, near its wartime high. Gas has surged more than 40 cents just this week here in the US, and starts the day at $4.41 a gallon.

For more on the economic impacts of Trump’s failed war, including the new terrible inflation numbers we got yesterday, see yesterday morning’s Hopium post, Inflation Has Surged, Our Economy Has Slowed, And Everything Trump Is Doing Is Making It Worse.

The Callais Aftermath

I recommend these two initial articles on what comes now:

• “Trump has no clue what his Supreme Court has unleashed” - Greg Sargent, TNR

• “How Democrats are fighting back after Callais, Jacob Knutsen” - Democracy Docket

Yes the Governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency in order to cancel - yes cancel - elections already underway to get more Congressional seats for fellow Louisianan Mike Johnson this November:

Meanwhile in Georgia:

In my weekly talk/post I talk about the need for Democrats to now compete and win in a very different national battleground and map:

G. Elliott Morris has a related, nerdy and worthwhile look at the next tranche of voters available to Democrats in 2026 in a new analysis, Pundits are wrong about the Democrats’ “missing” voter.

Subscribe now

More News

The New York Times is reporting that as predicted millions are dropping their health insurance due to the GOP’s subsidy cuts (gift link):

Millions of Americans appear to be dropping Obamacare coverage in the months since Congress failed to extend the generous subsidies that had become a defining feature of the Affordable Care Act.

Initial sign-ups had already fallen by about 1.2 million people. But insurance companies, state officials and industry analysts are reporting that many more have lost Obamacare coverage now that people are facing long-term higher costs. The federal government has yet to report current enrollment data.

Many insurers and analysts are estimating overall declines of about 20 percent, dropping to around 19 million from the 24 million who were covered under the A.C.A. last year. Other indications suggest there could be even larger potential losses by the end of the year, a deep retrenchment for Obamacare coverage and a reversal of significant gains in the last several years.

The Washington Post has new polling on Trump and the war that gave us this memorable headline:

And here’s the current homepage of The Guardian. Similar headlines are being seen all over Europe today:

Now, Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $19,100 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $630,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $64,100 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $88,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $132,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $544,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $108,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $171,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

I am speaking at the Maine Democratic Convention tomorrow so our “most Fridays” get together will resume next Friday at 1pm ET.

Produced two meaty posts today:

And there are great candidate interviews and my new talk with Katie Phang to get you through the weekend…..

Yes, my friends, we have a lot of work ahead of us:

Read more

I made three main points last night:

1 - Trump’s failed war has pushed his already terrible poll numbers down further and it is now clear 2026 has become a year of significant opportunity for Democrats. We’ve seen polls in recent weeks with Democrats leading in the AK, GA, IA, ME, NC, OH, TX Senate races, outcomes that would give Democrats the majority. Our incredible overperformances and stretch wins in elections all across the country have continued; we’ve stayed very competitive or even bested Trump in the pre-Callais mid-decade redistricting wars; we have strong and grounded candidates running across the country who are raising lots of money; and now we have a big opportunity to take away two Supreme Court seats in Georgia on May 19th.

2 - Trump’s regime is rotting, decaying, failing. Turnover and turmoil have increased. Inflation has soared, and the economy has slowed. Iran is besting him in the war. Congressional Republicans are struggling to get even simple things done and party infighting has intensified.

As we discussed with Katie Phang last night an increasingly desperate Trump, enabled by a villainous Todd Blanche, has in recent days escalated his illiberal attacks on perceived “enemies” and opponents, growing more unhinged, paranoid and dangerous. Blanche is clearly willing to go much further in satisfying Trump’s dark impulses than was AG Bondi, and we will have to start organizing ourselves more effectively to counter their new authoritarian ambitions.

Subscribe now

3 - Callais, and our new national map. First, I’ve pulled this text from a social media thread yesterday from NYT journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on the Callais decision:

The Voting Rights Act is essentially dead and it’s quite possible that we will, like when a similar SCOTUS gutted civil rights at the fall of Reconstruction, see a disappearance of much of the Black congressional representation, especially in the most heavily Black states, which are in the South.

We must understand the racist political rhetoric, the erasure and attacks on Black history, the reinstalling of Confederate names and monuments, all go hand-in-hand as the Court and Congress legitimize the taking of political rights and the end of multiracial democracy itself.

‪Folks will try to parse language around this, using words such as “limits” the VRA or “diminishes” the VRA, but the acts most potent tools for ensuring Black representation or that Black people can pick their representation have been eliminated.

And to be clear, in case it’s not, democracy cannot and will not exist without these protections. We already see a South so heavily gerrymandered that numerical majorities cannot win elections and where a minority holds supermajorities in state legislatures.

There are people still living who fought — and watched their compatriots be murdered — for the passage of this act and to attempt to democratize America. To see it completed felled in the span of their OWN lifetime is just absolutely devastating.

I say it again and again: Because we don’t learn the real history of this country, we do not understand what this country is capable of. After 1870, 22 Black men served in Congress. By 1901, because of racist SCOTUS rulings, electoral coups and election cheating and violence, there were none.

Next, our new national map. It has been a core understanding here at Hopium that there was urgency to Democrats expanding our map, and learning how to win again in red states and red places in order to regain our majority and take power away from MAGA. This strategy was driven by three realities: 1) the tough 2026 Senate map (and to a lesser degree a tough House one too) 2) population shifts that will give Republican states more Congressional seats and Electoral College votes after the next census 3) the possibility of an aggressive Callais ruling.

The 2026 Senate map. Look where we are competing now - Alaska, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, maybe Florida. All states Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024, all states where we have not regularly competed in statewide elections in decades. We are diving deep into very tough territory for us, as we are to a lesser degree in the House, way outside the traditional geographic and demographic targets of recent national Democratic campaigns.

Census/2032. The NYT has a very good overview of what is likely to happen after the census and the traditionally every 10 year redistricting:

NY, MN, PA are all likely to all lose a seat, California three. So unless we can gain power in these four currently GOP-led states we will lose 6-7 additional Congressional seats and 6-7 Electoral College votes in 2032, making majorities to both gain and keep.

Callais. Here’s an initial look at what the GOP is likely to try over the next two cycles in 2028 in AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC, TN and TX:

So, taken together, what this means is that Democrats need to start visualizing “the battleground” not just as the traditional battlegrounds of AZ, GA, NV, MI, NC, PA,WI and but also now AK, IA, OH and AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, SC, TN and TX too.

While at first blush this all may seem daunting, hard, overwhelming, it is what we have to do now, where we have to fight. And as we discussed last night, it has been the big argument of the new Ken Martin-Jane Kleeb era of the DNC - we need to compete and invest everywhere now, not just in the traditional 6-7 Presidential battlegrounds, as the new DNC has been doing. Our party must now grow, evolve, and become something different than we were. We need to build the next thing, together - for Trump represents a discontinuity, a before and after event, and we really don’t what our next generation of politics will look like, or who will lead us. And so far, this cycle, we’ve been pretty successful, winning all across the country in red places and red states. We’ve new leaders emerge like Acton, Ossoff, Sherrill, Spanberger, Talarico, and Anderson Clayton, Mamdani, and AOC. Our Senate candidates are competitive and even leading right now in Alaska, Iowa, Ohio and Texas - something that would have been unimaginable a year ago. In Florida in recent years we’ve flipped the two largest cities, Jacksonville and Miami, and even just flipped the Mar-a-Lago state legislative seat - very encouraging stuff.

We may already be further along in building the next thing that we currently understand.

This need for us win in places where we’ve not been winning has been driving our electoral strategy at Hopium all cycle. Our Audacious Expansion Fund made early, critical investments in what are now the battlegrounds of this election. The candidates we’ve been supporting are in stretch districts and states, where we’ve not been winning regularly - Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and rural parts of blue and purple states.

I don’t know what happens now. But we should be visualizing success and not only failure. Look at what we’ve been flipping this cycle; look at how we’ve bested Trump in the pre-Callais redistricting war; look at where we are competing now in the Senate. We can stretch and grow this party; field new and diverse candidates of all kinds, ones suited to their districts and states; make new arguments and advance a new agenda suited to the moment.

I will end this post today with a passage from an article I wrote in the days before the 2020 election, one that spelled out my hopes for the possible Biden Presidency. It is perhaps more today relevant today than it was in six years ago:

Of all the big things we have to do in the coming years there is one more – to honor and build on the work of FDR American leaders should forcefully denounce white supremacy in all of its forms. We have to make clear that American, Western, liberal, Four Freedom values are universal values, values of all people everywhere, regardless of race, religion or country of origin. They belong to all of us. White supremacy is not just a malicious legacy belief system from our racist and colonial past, it’s also profoundly anti-modern; for who could, after seeing the advances and potential of the people all over the world over these past fifty years ever believe that any race or religion or culture was somehow not capable of extraordinary things, and the people of all nations not deserving of the opportunities and freedoms we cherish. Trump’s white supremacy must be returned, aggressively, to the dustbin of history, where it belongs.

That’s what we talked about last night……

Now, everyone……

Let’s Get To Work!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $17,500 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $627,200 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $63,500 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $87,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $131,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $541,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $171,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Also some breaking news - Governor Janet Mills has dropped out of the Maine Senate race. I am heading to Maine later today to speak at the State Democratic Party Convention so I will have more on this important development in the coming days…..

Now, the economic news. The bottom line - q1 GDP growth came in lower and the PCE inflation measure higher than expected. First quarter GDP growth was 2%, lower than the consensus 2.2%. PCE for the month came in at 0.7, higher than the Cleveland Fed Nowcast of 0.58. “Core” PCE also came in higher than the Fed Nowcast. What this means in simple English is that the economy was slower in the first quarter and inflation higher in March than was expected. Great work Donald.

Let’s go to our Hopium economic charts to remind us where we are now under Trump….

Here’s our an updated version of PCE (personal consumption expenditures). Of the 3 main inflation gauges PCE is the one favored by the Fed. Note that throughout our inflation charts you will see that Trump’s tariffs had caused inflation to rise and push it above the Fed target rate of 2% prior to the war.

Here’s “core” PCE, without energy or food, year over year:

Here’s the OECD forecast for US GDP growth this year and next, with this q1 number coming in line with the forecast. Trump’s policies have significantly slowed the US economy from the one he inherited.

Oil prices continue to bounce around all time highs for the war as it becomes clear to all that Trump has no way of ending the war and opening the Strait. Gas prices in the US have surged to their highest of the war:

Here’s our latest CPI chart. This is the every day inflation gauge. It exploded in March:

Here’s our chart of the third main gauge of inflation, PPI. Everything is way, way above the Fed’s 2% inflation target:

The job growth data shows how much damage Trump’s tariffs have done to the great American job engine:

Over his two Presidencies Trump has had the slowest job growth of any President since Hoover:

And the slowest economic growth too:

Slower growth, higher inflation/interest rates, and his unaffordable tax cuts have all left America in a far weaker fiscal position today:

These surging prices and slower growth has lead to the lowest consumer sentiment reading in the respected University of Michigan survey in 65 years:

Here’s a top story in Politico right now, A top GOP super PAC warns ‘The Republican Senate majority is at risk’:

Top Republicans are growing increasingly anxious that the Senate, once seen as a lock for the party to hold in the midterms, is at risk of flipping as Democrats continue to hammer President Donald Trump for the cost of living and foreign intervention in Iran.

That fear is laid out in a new memo, shared exclusively with POLITICO, from the powerful GOP and Koch-aligned super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action, whose leaders are calling on the GOP to lock in on the cost of living or risk losing power in Washington.

“As it stands today, our view is that the Republican Senate majority is at risk,” AFP senior adviser Emily Seidel and Executive Director Nathan Nascimento write. “Our internal polling in several battleground states and one-on-one conversations with voters show that for the first time, Democrats are more trusted on the economy and inflation.”

Their warning comes with a clear plea for the GOP: Figure out how to message on cost living, and fast.

“The window to act is now,” they said.

In their view, there’s a clear path forward, but it requires a coherent message and “relentless focus on driving costs down and keeping them low.”

“Every policy fight, every floor speech, every campaign event should answer one question—what are you doing to lower the cost of living for working families?” they write.

The memo comes as polling shows Trump’s approval rating continue to slip on economic issues: A Reuters/Ipsos survey released this week found just 22 percent of Americans approved of his handling of cost-of-living issues.

As I look at all this what I keep thinking is that as Trump was preparing to go to war he and his team had access to all this economic data showing inflation rising, job and economic growth slowing, and they went ahead with the war anyway. And here we are - inflation surging, the economy slowing, a war that has failed, his poll numbers tanking, consumer confidence plummeting, GOP mid-term prospects growing far dimmer - and rather than fixing it all he is fighting for his ridiculous bunker and attacking his enemies.

I don’t think we’ve yet to really process the scale of his failure, of how much damage he’s done to the country and the world; so yet, as bad as it is for Republicans today, it could get far, far worse for Donald Trump is clearly the greatest fuck up in all of American history.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections to win, together! - Simon

A reminder that Hopium paid subscribers will gather this evening at 7pm ET.

We’ll follow our usual format - I’ll offer up my latest take on things and then open it up for questions until 7pm ET. For those who can’t make it live our discussion will be recorded and released on the Hopium site tomorrow morning.

If you are not yet a paid subscriber and want to join us you can sign up here or below.

Read more

Look, it's a first of its kind. It is the very first lawsuit that has been brought pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act. And I've kind of boiled it down to the following… this case is about forcing lawyers to obey the law, simply put, because the lawyers themselves are the Department of Justice, but more accurately, it's acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. And candidly, the prior iterations of this lawsuit identified Pam Bondi as the defendant until she got summarily fired. The Epstein Files Transparency Act is incredibly simple on its face. It requires the DOJ — and it required it, past tense — to comply by December 19th of 2025 with the production, in a searchable public format, of a slew of information, documents, photographs, videos… and there was only the allowance for very limited redactions or withholdings. Those redactions had to be done to protect the victims and survivors of Epstein, Maxwell, and others. Otherwise, and we heard from Todd Blanche, there are no national security implications and there are no national security redactions.

Blanche has been served. He has to respond. We reasonably anticipate the Department of Justice is going to represent him, and they will move to dismiss my lawsuit, claiming that I don't have standing as a plaintiff to even get through the front door. We are prepared to fight back.

In our discussion Katie also gives her initial reaction to the Supreme Court’s Callais decision today that gutted the Voting Rights Act, and to what has been a series of deeply troubling actions taken in recent days by Trump’s interim Attorney General, Todd Blanche and others in the regime. Here is how I wrote about the Trump-Blanche escalation in Hopium this morning:

……I think the big story in DC now is the escalating weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, the FCC and other agencies against Trump’s perceived foes. As he rages his cowardly quislings are starting to do ever more dangerous, illiberal and outrageous things. Here’s Axios this morning:

The Trump administration moved Tuesday against three enemies of the MAGA coalition: a former Anthony Fauci adviser, Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis, and Jimmy Kimmel.

A fourth, former FBI director James Comey, was indicted for a second time after a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s case against him last year.

Why it matters: The retribution campaign at the heart of President Trump’s second term is escalating, not easing, as gas prices climb, the Iran war grinds past 60 days and his approval rating sinks to record lows.

Much of the activity has come in the 26 days since acting Attorney General Todd Blanche assumed leadership of the Justice Department following the ouster of Pam Bondi.

Zoom in: Each of Tuesday’s actions channels federal power against a long-running MAGA grievance.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, once the criminal defense lawyer to both Trump and Paul Manafort, has also

• buried the Epstein report, claiming there is nothing left to release

• accelerated a deeply corrupt DOJ investigation against those government officials who looked into the Russian campaign that helped get Trump elected in 2016

• signed a completely unhinged DOJ Trump gilded ballroom court filing

• misrepresented/lied about what happened at the WHCD on Saturday night - the suspect apparently did not fire his weapon after all

It is clear that the Acting Attorney of the United States, assisted by a weakened and out of favor FBI Director, is now just doing whatever impulsive, insane, and illegal shit Trump is asking him to do. Another one of Trump’s hollow men, FCC Brendan Carr, clearly prompted by Trump, announced an investigation into Disney/ABC to punish them for another Jimmy Kimmel monologue the MAGAistas didn’t like.

This Friday Katie will celebrate one year since leaving legacy media. You can find her work here on Substack and on YouTube. Powered by the MeidasTouch Network, her YouTube channel is a great place to follow her engaging commentary and discussions and learn more about this courageous new lawsuit she has filed against the Department of Justice.

Enjoy this timely conversation with one of our great pro-democracy warriors of the moment, and keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

National gas prices here in the US have risen to $4.23 a gallon today - the highest of the war. Trump keeps getting terrible polls, the worst of his 2nd term. Here’s a selection of what we’ve seen in the last few days:

This morning I’ve struggled to put into words what I’ve seen over these last few days but here’s my best shot - as things slip from their grasp, as the failures mount, as the rot and decay becomes clearer to all, Trump and his regime appear to be spiraling out of control, losing their shit, becoming simultaneously more ridiculous and more dangerous.

Subscribe now

First, the King’s visit. Yes, an English King came here in part to advocate for democracy and limits to executive power as his contribution to our 250th anniversary celebration of our successful rebellion against one of his ancestors. Here’s The Guardian’s summary of his speech to our Congress yesterday:

King Charles has extolled the importance of Britain’s “special relationship” with the US in a speech to Congress that made pointed reference to the importance of Nato, the defence of Ukraine and the climate crisis.

In a speech that will be read as a veiled plea to Donald Trump to return to the US’s traditional European alliances and restore his country’s role as a defender of liberal values, Charles said: “America’s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more.”

Charles’s appearance before the joint session of Congress – the first such royal address in 35 years – was billed as the centrepiece of his four-day state visit to the United States, where he and Queen Camilla are taking part in celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of independence.

Charles praised the historic bond between the two nations, saying: “The alliance that our two nations have built over the centuries – and for which we are profoundly grateful to the American people – is truly unique.”

But in comments that appeared to draw an approving response from Democratic lawmakers, he noted the roots of “the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances” in one of the UK’s foundational legal documents, Magna Carta.

And he urged “unyielding resolve” in the cause of “Ukraine and her most courageous people” in order to “secure a truly just and lasting peace”.

Speaking from the dais of the House of Representatives before an audience that included lawmakers from both parties and top military officials, he also emphasised the importance of action on the climate crisis.

I am going to resist sharing all of Trump’s vainglorious buffoonery from the day yesterday except for this post from the official White House account:

There was also this moment:

Here is the clip of King Charles III that Zelenskyy’s Twitter post references. It is a powerful (and somewhat humiliating) challenge to the US to rejoin the European fight for Ukraine:

Meanwhile, there are more signs of Trumpian rot and decay on the Hill this morning. Here’s Punchbowl News’ lead story:

Here’s a bit more from the article:

The wheels are coming off the House Republican Conference.

In a week that was supposed to set the tone for a furious period of election-year legislating, Speaker Mike Johnson’s House GOP majority is once again the epitome of discord and dysfunction.

It’s not really clear how House Republicans will get through the next few days. Johnson’s leadership team may lose yet another big rule vote. There’s constant grumbling inside House Republican leadership circles as people snipe at one another. Senate Republicans are furious with their House GOP counterparts. The White House seems fed up with the chaotic House GOP conference too. Plus, the stakes couldn’t be higher, politically and policy-wise.

……..

“This is chaos, it’s incompetence, amateur hour,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Rules Committee, said of the “shitty” GOP leadership. “This is not a normal process. This is dysfunctional,” McGovern added.

But I think the big story in DC now is the escalating weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, the FCC and other agencies against Trump’s perceived foes. As he rages his cowardly quislings are starting to do ever more dangerous, illiberal and outrageous things. Here’s Axios this morning:

The Trump administration moved Tuesday against three enemies of the MAGA coalition: a former Anthony Fauci adviser, Somali-run daycare centers in Minneapolis, and Jimmy Kimmel.

A fourth, former FBI director James Comey, was indicted for a second time after a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s case against him last year.

Why it matters: The retribution campaign at the heart of President Trump’s second term is escalating, not easing, as gas prices climb, the Iran war grinds past 60 days and his approval rating sinks to record lows.

Much of the activity has come in the 26 days since acting Attorney General Todd Blanche assumed leadership of the Justice Department following the ouster of Pam Bondi.

Zoom in: Each of Tuesday’s actions channels federal power against a long-running MAGA grievance.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, once the criminal defense lawyer to both Trump and Paul Manafort, has also

• buried the Epstein report, claiming there is nothing left to release

• accelerated a deeply corrupt DOJ investigation against those government officials who looked into the Russian campaign that helped get Trump elected in 2016

• signed a completely unhinged DOJ Trump gilded ballroom court filing

• misrepresented/lied about what happened at the WHCD on Saturday night - the suspect apparently did not fire his weapon after all

It is clear that the Acting Attorney of the United States, assisted by a weakened and out of favor FBI Director, is now just doing whatever impulsive, insane, and illegal shit Trump is asking him to do. Another one of Trump’s hollow men, FCC Brendan Carr, clearly prompted by Trump, announced an investigation into Disney/ABC to punish them for another Jimmy Kimmel monologue the MAGAistas didn’t like.

My point - Trump’s desperate “off with their heads” Mad Kingy illiberalism is escalating, spinning out of control now. More guardrails are falling. As we all expected as his failure becomes more acute and clear to all, he is escalating and attacking - it is his only play. And we must gird ourselves for this new and consequential fight.

I will be talking about all this and the new malevolent SCOTUS Callais decision with Katie Phang today live here at Hopium at 230pm ET. You can join us by clicking here, and for those who can’t make it live we will be sending out a recording this afternoon.

We will also be talking about it tonight at our weekly paid subscriber gathering at 7pm ET. Register here for that one.

Now, my friends, it is once again time……

To Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $14,300 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $624,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $63,100 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $87,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $130,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $536,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $170,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

Given how much the national landscape has tilted towards the Dems since 2024, and with a very popular Governor Shapiro at the top of the ticket this time, PA-10 with Janelle Stelson as our candidate is one our very best House pick-up opportunities this year. It’s why we are all-in on this race.

Janelle was one of the first candidates we endorsed this cycle, and I am proud to say that as of today this remarkable community has raised over $92,000 for her 2026 campaign. A video of our discussion is above, Janelle’s full bio is below, and here’s a map of PA-10:

Janelle is one of the twelve candidates in our community’s Winning The House campaign, a collection of candidates most likely to flip red House seats blue this year and retake the House for Democrats next January. You can support Janelle by giving to all twelve candidates with a single contribution split evenly among them, or by giving to her campaign directly.

Subscribe now

This is the second time Janelle has come by to talk to us about her campaign this cycle, and it is interesting to see how the race has evolved. Her opponent, a leader of the 2021 insurrection, has now taken a series of bad votes that will be very hard for him to defend - he’s voted for the tariffs and higher prices; he’s voted to gut our health care system, making care more expensive and harder to get; he’s voted for the war, higher inflation, higher fertilizer prices, and higher gas and diesel prices; and he’s voted to cut taxes on the wealthy and the privileged while all of us get less.

We also spent some time diving into an ambitious anti-corruption agenda she announced a few weeks ago. Here is how one local news organization, The Keystone, covered her announcement:

With broad support from the Democratic Party within Pennsylvania, and around the country, former WGAL anchor Janelle Stelson is looking forward to her general election rematch against US House Rep. Scott Perry (R-York) in this year’s midterm election.

Stelson, flanked by dozens of supporters and union members, went on the offensive against Perry while rolling out her campaign’s anti-corruption agenda at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 229 union hall in York County on Tuesday.

“Career politicians like Scott Perry have stopped listening. He shows what he thinks of us, the taxpayers, by refusing to hold an in-person town hall since 2019,” Stelson said. “An in-person town hall, he has not held since 2019 because he is a coward.”

During her rollout, Stelson called for a litany of reforms that include reigning in prediction market corruption; banning members of Congress and their family members from trading stocks; passing constitutional amendments to overturn Citizens United; curbing a president’s pardoning power; and establishing age limits for members in Congress.

“Our campaign is not about a party. It’s not about a side,” Stelson said. “It is about ending the culture in Washington where politicians stay too long, get too comfortable, and begin serving the system instead of the constituents.”

Based on our discussions with our candidates over these past few weeks there is clearly a growing interest on the ground in Democrats offering anti-corruption, renewing democracy agendas like the one she offers here.

Watch our conversation, get to know another one of our intrepid patriots leaving it all out there on the playing field for us, consider supporting Janelle Stelson today, and keep working hard all - we have a country to save, and elections to win, together! Simon

Subscribe now

Bio - Janelle Stelson, US House Candidate Running in PA-10

A former award-winning television news anchor, Janelle Stelson has been telling our stories for more than three decades. Now, she’s taking on Congressman Scott Perry to be our voice in Washington.

For more than 30 years, Central Pennsylvanians have relied on Janelle to tell the truth, trusted her to shine a light on our problems, and counted on her to get answers and hold the powerful accountable. Whether she was with small business owners, riding along with local law enforcement, or covering the rising costs of housing and healthcare, Janelle has been listening and telling the stories of countless families across the district. She has heard over and over how people in Central Pennsylvania are sick and tired of career politicians who have been ignoring them and their problems.

Janelle will fight for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and a woman’s right to choose. She will work with Republicans & Democrats to lower costs, invest in small businesses and family farms, and ensure we have access to affordable housing and child care. She supports term limits, banning members of Congress from insider stock trading and prohibiting members of Congress from becoming lobbyists when they retire, exploiting their former relationships.

Janelle is not a politician. If you are looking for someone who will listen to you, who will work for real solutions, who will fight for term limits, and who will sit down with anyone who has a good idea about how to make life better for all of us in Central Pennsylvania, then support Janelle Stelson.

You can learn more about this race and volunteer for Janelle here.

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

Brent crude is back over $111 a barrel, just below its wartime high:

Gas prices in the US have surged in recent days to their highest level of the war:

And this is what the pathetic, Epstein desperate dude-who-has-totally-lost-it-in-chief posted this morning to try to calm the global markets. It’s laugh-out-loud ridiculous, a further humiliation of the United States on the global stage, and of course crude prices rose since he spit this out this morning:

David Ignatius has an encouraging report from Ukraine in today’s Washington Post, one that highlights another emerging grand strategic failure for Trump - for just as he is losing the war in Iran, he and Putin are losing the war in Ukraine:

KYIV — Strange as it sounds, it’s uplifting to visit Ukraine these days. This is a place where the good guys are winning — or at least holding their own. And they’re surviving with help from a stalwart Europe rather than a retreating United States.

At the Kyiv Security Forum here last week, European defense leaders voiced solidarity with Ukraine in a war against Russia that they now see as a common fight. “We should be in awe, admiration, and gratitude for what Ukraine is doing,” Adm. Tony Radakin, Britain’s former chief of defense, told the gathering.

And there was a palpable anger here at President Donald Trump, who European leaders see as pulling away from NATO at the very moment when Europe most needs American help. “The United States is not an ally anymore,” warned Nicolas Tenzer, a prominent French defense analyst. That’s an extreme view, but it reflects a common consternation that Trump has broken the trust that sustained the transatlantic alliance.

The deep concerns I’ve heard in past wartime visits here have eased. Ukrainian troops held firm against Russia’s ferocious assault on the front lines last fall, and its cities survived a terrible, frigid winter despite a Russian blitz on energy infrastructure. Now spring has arrived: It’s warm again, and the power is still on. Ukraine has taken Russia’s heavy punch without buckling.

“We are definitely not losing,” affirmed Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the former head of military intelligence who is now the top aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in remarks to the forum. That’s about as upbeat as the taciturn Budanov ever gets. But European defense chiefs gathered here seemed to share the assessment that, as one put it, “the Ukrainians have outpaced Russia in spite of being outgunned.”

A year ago, I wondered whether European nations would be willing or able to take over from the U.S. as Ukraine’s protector. The desire is now clearly there, although the capability lags. During the conference, a representative of the European Union announced approval of a new 90 billion euro loan (about $106 billion) for Ukraine. Gen. Sean Clancy, the chair of the E.U. Military Committee, promised: “Europe will continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

On March 27th the US Senate unanimously passed a bill to fund the parts of DHS other than ICE and CBP. Speaker Johnson signed on to the strategy a few days later. On April 30th temporary funding for DHS runs out. Johnson has still not passed the Senate bill through the House, and in the last few hours Johnson announced he is crafting a new bill to fund DHS, rejecting the Senate bill he has already endorsed. Insidery DC pubs are full of stories like this today. It’s an unbelievable shitshow on the Hill right now:

Here’s the lead story on the NYT website this morning:

Some excerpts from the story:

President Trump’s approval ratings are down. Gas prices are up. Congressional Republicans are heading to the exits in record numbers. And Democratic enthusiasm is cresting.

With a little more than six months until the midterm elections, anxious Republicans are confronting a foreboding political climate that party leaders fear could lead to a wipeout in the fall if it does not improve.

The House is now favored to fall into Democratic hands while control of the Senate — not so long ago seen as a G.O.P. bulwark — is increasingly up for grabs as Democratic candidates up and down the ballot build substantial war chests.

In private, Republican political strategists are grimly trading synonyms to describe the darkening environment: sour, ugly, bad, bleak. They note that much can change before November, holding out hope that the days of $4 gas and the war in Iran pass before the election.

“If the election were in May, Republicans would lose,” said Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker, who urged his party’s leaders to “get reality a little better — and get communications a hell of a lot better” to salvage their majorities this fall.

“The war, the sense of affordability and gasoline — some of that has to be cleared up in order to win,” Mr. Gingrich said. “If it doesn’t change, I’ll start tearing my hair out.”

……..

Some of Mr. Trump’s allies are quietly exasperated at the president’s lack of focus, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen Republican strategists who spoke anonymously to discuss private conversations. Even events specifically designed to sell politically popular policies have been overshadowed by unhelpful and unnecessary fights.

Exhibit A was his public relations gambit earlier this month to highlight the “no tax on tips” provision in last year’s tax bill, when a DoorDash courier delivered a McDonald’s order to Mr. Trump outside the Oval Office. But Mr. Trump stepped on his own staged event by talking about his ongoing feud with the pope.

Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist, described the climate as a moment of “panic” for the G.O.P., joking about a “spike in liquor sales to Republicans” who are seeking to numb the political pain.

Why it’s possible the events over the weekend give Trump a little bump the first poll out with interviews from over the weekend, this morning’s Economist/YouGov, showed Trump losing ground from last week, and near the lowest point in this poll this 2nd Trump term:

Note this remarkable data from the poll, something we are now seeing in other polls too - Dems are now consistently leading on the economy:

Subscribe now

Let’s wrap today with the wonderful first ad from Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin in Georgia:

Now, Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Rallying For Jordan and Rankin For Georgia Supreme Court - This is our next big opportunity to make good trouble all. The Election is May 19th, early voting has begun, and we have 2 great candidates, Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who have a serious shot at flipping two GOP-held Supreme Court seats. Watch our new interview with Jordan and Rankin, donate to their campaign, and volunteer no matter where you are! In just one day we’ve already raised $6,000 towards our $50,000 goal!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $621,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $62,800 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $86,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $128,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $536,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $170,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Remember you can find all of our interviews with our inspiring 2026 candidates under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site and on our channels on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

Please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and elections to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Despite Democrats winning statewide races in recent years, and having two Democratic Senators, the Georgia Supreme Court is 8 to 1 Republican. Georgia Democrats are following the model of Wisconsin and North Carolina in building a multi-year campaign to flip the court. The goal is to win these two seats this year, and flip another two in 2028, giving us a 5-4 majority. And yes the election itself - not a Democratic primary - is on May 19th. So we need to get to work!

Here’s a note Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey asked me to share with you:

Democrats have the momentum in Georgia.

Democrats won the November 2025 Public Service Commission elections – our first non-federal statewide wins in two decades – by a margin of 26 points. We flipped 22 counties from red to blue and shifted towards the Democrats in 157 of our 159 counties.

Then, a month later, we flipped a Trump +12 State House seat in Northeast Georgia.

And even in seats we haven’t won, we’ve been dramatically overperforming, showing just how strong Dems are and how weak Republicans are even in “safe” districts.

And this month, Shawn Harris posted a jaw-dropping 25-point overperformance in Marjorie Taylor Greene's former district in deep-red Northwest Georgia—the most Republican congressional district in the state.

Georgia and others across the country – you don’t have to wait until November to take a stand for your rights. On May 19th, every single Georgia voter can vote on Justices for the Supreme Court of Georgia and on judges for the Court of Appeals.

I don’t have to tell you all that the federal government no longer protects our freedoms – instead, it attacks them. Now, the fight to protect our rights plays out state by state, and state courts are where these freedoms are won or lost.

The Georgia Supreme Court is the last line of defense for Georgians’ fundamental rights, from voting rights to reproductive freedom. That’s why it’s so critical that we elect pro-rights, pro-democracy candidates – and those candidates are Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin for Supreme Court!

I would add that latest statewide polling we have in Georgia shows a very favorable climate for us there now:

Early voting has begun. We are in the home stretch people!

Monies donated to our Jordan/Rankin ActBlue page go to the Judicial Fund of the Democratic Party of Georgia, which is the campaign account for these Supreme Court races.

To get involved in the campaign here are a few ways to do it!

• Phone bank with the Georgia Democrats on Thursdays and Sundays.

• Call registered Democratic early voters anytime.

• Sign up to canvass in Lawrenceville, GA.

The very capable Georgia Dem Chair, Charlie Bailey, is driving the strategy behind our far more aggressive - and so far successful - efforts to score wins/overperform in special elections and these critical statewide races for Public Service Commission and state Supreme Court. It’s another example of how strong, ambitious state parties can help us win in races and places that have been out of reach for us in previous cycles.

So, here we go peeps. These Georgia Supreme Court races are a chance to build on our recent wins and go get some more. It’s a sprint now - just three weeks until Election Day. Watch our discussion and consider supporting or volunteering for these two great candidates today!

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections like these to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Bio - Miracle Rankin, candidate for GA Supreme Court

Miracle Rankin is running for the Supreme Court of Georgia to ensure that our State’s highest court remains a place where the Constitution protects the people — not the powerful.

As a trial attorney representing victims of catastrophic truck wrecks, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and corporate negligence, Miracle has built her career taking on the most powerful interests— and winning. She has secured eight-figure resolutions for her clients. But more than the numbers, she measures success by the trust she builds and the dignity she restores to those who feel powerless.

Now, she is stepping forward to serve all Georgians and to uphold the Georgia Constitution. Miracle will ensure that the courtroom remains open and accessible to everyday citizens — not just those with power and influence.

A graduate of Spelman College and the University of Georgia School of Law, Miracle has served Georgia’s legal community with distinction as the 40th President of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. Her work has been recognized nationally, with Miracle receiving the National Bar Association’s “Award of Achievement for Outstanding Service”, Congressional recognition for service to the community, and being recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer.

As a wife and mother of two young children, she understands that justice should not depend on wealth, status, or influence. Miracle Rankin is running to ensure Georgia’s Supreme Court remains a guardian of liberty, fairness, and equal justice under the law for all.

Learn more about Miracle Rankin here.

Bio - Jen Jordan, candidate for GA Supreme Court

Jen Jordan (pronounced Jer-Dun) has spent the last 25 years as an attorney, and then as a state senator, fighting for everyday Georgians.

Jen grew up in Dodge County, the oldest child of a single mother who worked as a hairdresser and who taught her daughters the value of hard work and perseverance.

As a girl, Jen learned those lessons and benefitted from the support that Georgia offers determined students, going to Georgia Southern University on the encouragement of her public-school teachers and a HOPE scholarship, and then working her way through law school at the University of Georgia, where she graduated at the top of her class.

It was in law school that Jen found her voice and came to believe deeply that the courthouse should be a place where everyone is treated equally and that the law can be a powerful tool for justice.

Jen’s small-town background informs her approach to the law and public service. Put simply, she believes in helping people when they need it the most. Jen has put those beliefs into practice throughout her career – fighting to protect Georgians’ right to vote and right to privacy, to prevent corporate polluters from poisoning Georgia’s air and water with cancer-causing chemicals, and to protect children from sexual predators and abusers.

Because of her real-life experience in the courtroom and out of it, Jen knows that now, more than ever, we need a Supreme Court that will take a stand and fight for the rights of each and every Georgian. That’s why Jen is running – to protect the constitutional rights of her children and every other Georgian.

Learn more about Jen Jordan here.

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

Meanwhile an emboldened Iran has sent its Foreign Minister to Moscow today, shoring up the Iranian-Russian alliance, an alliance that is currently fighting against Europe and Ukraine in Ukraine, and against the US in the Middle East:

Trump’s continued appeasement of Putin while Russia and Iran fight wars against the US and Europe remains among the most corrupt, dangerous and traitorous acts of his regime - and something Democrats should be challenging far more forcefully.

Subscribe now

In Israel two of the main anti-Bibi parties merged yesterday, creating a far more formidable block six months before Israel’s October 27th general election. From The AP:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Israeli political heavyweights on Sunday said they would join forces in elections scheduled for later this year in an effort to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid served as prime ministers in a rotation agreement as part of a coalition government they formed in 2021, ending 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule. Now they plan to merge their parties into single faction headed by Bennett, calling it a partnership between the center and the right.

…….

Lapid urged Israel’s political center to unite behind Bennett, adding that “this country needs unity like air to breathe.”

Bennett had served as prime minister for the first year of their 2021 agreement until the coalition fractured. Lapid then held the top job as caretaker prime minister for the final six months until elections brought Netanyahu back to power.

Lapid has served as Israel’s opposition leader since that time, while Bennett took a break from politics.

The two men have ideological differences. Bennett is an Orthodox Jew with hard-line views toward the Palestinians, while Lapid is secular and seen as more moderate. But they enjoyed a close working relationship during their short-lived coalition.

“We have been through a great deal together. We have made difficult decisions together. We know we can count on one another,” Lapid said.

We will be paying close attention to the Israeli election this year, and this effort by the opposition to overcome their differences and unite to wrest control from the authoritarian party - as Peter Magyar was just able to do in Hungary, and we are attempting to do here this November.

Punchbowl has a good summary of the week ahead on the Hill in their am post, House GOP has an impossible week. Here’s an excerpt of what is going to be a very consequential week in Congress (read the article for far more detail):

Congress is staring down an absolutely brutal week that will set the tone for the rest of the legislative year. There are 190 days until Election Day.

King Charles III will address a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday (his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did so in 1991). FISA Section 702 expires Thursday. The House will try to pass a farm bill and a GOP-drafted budget resolution to allow funding for the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE and Border Patrol. The DHS shutdown has now reached a disastrous 72 days.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has informed lawmakers that the Trump administration won’t be able to keep paying DHS employees past April 30. That means Congress has to move this week.

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger celebrated her first 100 days in office with this video celebrating the very real progress her new Administration has made:

In an interview for 60 Minutes recorded yesterday and released last night, Trump completely melts down when confronted with this line from the WHCD gunman’s manifesto:

I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.

As there is a lot of wild stuff flying around about what happened on Saturday night I strongly encourage folks to read this two articles from people with a great deal of experience on domestic security matters:

• “The Correspondents’ Dinner Was a Security Success*” - Shane Harris, The Atlantic

• “A quick analysis of last night’s shooting: So far, it appears the system worked as intended” - Garrett Graff, Doomsday Scenerio

I agree with Bill Kristol:

And agree with David French’s argument here that Zelenskyy has replaced the American President as the leader of the free world:

As an example, yesterday Poland and Ukraine announced a joint project to protect the Polish people and this front line NATO nation with a “modern drone armada”:

Now, my friends, inspired by the courage and bravery of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, it is….

Time To Get To Work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $620,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $62,600 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $86,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $129,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $534,600 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $170,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Remember you can find all of our interviews with our inspiring 2026 candidates under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site and on our channels on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and rescinding the tariffs that are doing so much damage to our economy.

And please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon

Hopium paid subscribers will gather this Wednesday, April 29, at 7pm ET.

We’ll follow the normal format - I’ll offer up my latest take on things and then open it up for questions until 8pm ET. For those who can’t make it live our discussion will be recorded and released on the Hopium site Thursday morning.

If you are not yet a paid subscriber and want to join us on Wednesday you can sign up here or below.

Read more

In fact this is what people heading to the dinner last night were reading about FBI Director Kash Patel:

Here’s an actual headline on The New York Times website right now:

Here are the two best things I’ve read about last night:

• So far, it appears the system worked as intended - Garrett Graff

• I’ve covered Trump for a decade. At the White House correspondents’ dinner, darkness came viscerally close - David Smith, The Guardian

Here are a few other things I’m tracking today on this cold and dreary morning in Washington, DC….

Yesterday Trump was once again forced to acknowledge that his war is a monumental failure, and that he no plan to get the world out of the extraordinary crisis he has created:

On Friday the University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer sentiment recorded it’s lowest reading in its 65 year history:

FiftyPlusOne’s Trump approval tracker clocked in at 36.9%-59.2 (-22.3) after the worst week of polling Trump has seen in his second term:

Some other things of note:

• “Iran caused more extensive damage to U.S. military bases than publicly known” - NBC News

• “Trump officials consider sending 1,100 Afghans who aided US forces to Congo” - The Guardian

• “Trump outs National Science board members” - The Washington Post

• “The Trump Regime’s Heinous Attack on a Legendary Civil Rights Organization” - Norm Eisen, The Contrarian

As I wrap up this Sunday post my overarching sense of things this morning, after a terrible night in Washington, is that our great nation desperately needs a new and better path…….

Subscribe now

Yes, We Need To Keep Working Hard Everyone

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $618,200 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $62,400 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $86,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $128,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,000 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $531,400 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $170,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Remember you can find all of our interviews with our inspiring 2026 candidates under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site and on our channels on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and rescinding the tariffs that are doing so much damage to our economy.

And please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

These buys are an important window into how parties see the map and the election unfolding. Washington got a big wake up call a few weeks ago when that big $342 Senate Republican PAC media buy allocated most of its money to defending seats they currently hold, including in deep red states like Alaska, Iowa, and Ohio. It was an official acknowledgement by the GOP that they understood their Senate majority to be in jeopardy. Here’s how Politico played it for example:

And here’s the breakdown of the Senate buy:

The new House Dem SuperPAC buy announced Thursday is enormous and aggressive - $272m over 22 states and 68 media markets. Note that the initial House Republican SuperPAC buy was only $153m, over $100m less than ours. Folks have wanted Dems to be on offense, fighting, “going big” - well, here is what offense looks like everyone:

Washington, D.C. – House Majority PAC is placing $272 million in initial television and digital reservations for the 2026 election cycle across 68 media markets, marking the largest early investment in the organization’s history. Nearly 80% of these reservations are in offensive districts—underscoring HMP’s commitment to aggressively expanding the House battlefield and putting more seats in play than ever before.

These initial reservations allow HMP to lock in lower rates early and prioritize expensive and crowded markets as Democrats expand the battlefield and build momentum toward taking back the House majority.

HMP’s initial reservations include a digital reservation that totals $80 million. This represents the largest digital advertising reservation in HMP’s history, double our $40 million reservation in 2024. HMP will prioritize reserving CTV/OTT, premium, non-skippable inventory across the battlefield for the cycle.

The combined sum of these reservations is nearly $86 million more than HMP’s initial reservations in 2024. Specifically in Spanish language programming, HMP’s reservations have increased 140% from the first round of Spanish language reservations in 2024.

HMP’s initial ad reservations totaled $186 million in 2024 and $101.8 million in 2022.

“HMP’s historic television and digital ad reservations reflect that Democrats are firmly on offense heading into November,” said HMP President Mike Smith. “While Democrats are expanding the map nationwide, House Republicans are losing ground after failing to lower costs, making health care more expensive, and dragging us into another costly and unpopular foreign war. Democrats will take back the House in November, and elect Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker.”

You can find the complete press release, including details on how much HMP is spending in each state and media market, here. Here’s what readers of the Wall Street Journal saw on Thursday morning - Democrats strong and on offense, Republicans weak and on defense:

These buys confirm that the 2026 election has become one of opportunity for Democrats. We are pushing deep into red states and red places, expanding the map. House Democrats are playing in 22 states - 22 states! - and Senate Dems are playing hard and competitive in states that we have not regularly won races in for decades. So many voters who have not heard from Democrats very often in recent years are going to be hearing from us this year:

Yes, the Senate can really flip this year:

It’s exciting, encouraging stuff all. We are having the election we all hoped we would have. Now, we have to keep our heads down, keep doing the work, and seize the opportunities in front of us across the country…..

Yes, We Can Do This People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $608,700 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $62,200 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $86,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $127,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with US Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper, and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,00 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $530,400 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $107,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $169,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Remember you can find all of our interviews with our inspiring 2026 candidates under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site and on our channels on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and rescinding the tariffs that are doing so much damage to our economy.

And please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

Getting Sherrod Brown to run again was one of Leader Schumer’s biggest recruitment successes this cycle. While he lost in 2024, Brown outperformed Vice President Harris by almost 8 points in Ohio, losing by just 3.6 points, 50.1%-46.5% to Harris’s 55.1%-43.9% (-11.2). Brown has been elected to the U.S Senate three times, and is the only Democrat to win races for Senate or Governor in Ohio in the last 18 years. The last time Brown won, in 2018, he won by almost 7 points, 53.4%-46.6%. Note how much better he has done in non-Presidential years:

Current polling has the Senate race, and the Acton-Ramaswamy race for Governor, close, within margin of error. Here’s the summary of a new poll from Bowling Green State University:

While Donald Trump has won the state handily three times, we see a lot of trouble brewing for him and his policies in the state. He has had a negative approval rating for a year now, and many of his policies are not popular. That about 15% of his voters now regret their vote to some degree suggests his grip on the state is not absolute.

Every sign is pointing to close races for governor and U.S. Senate in Ohio. President Trump is generally unpopular, Democrats are far more enthusiastic, and the economy is a major concern for voters. Taken together, this midterm likely provides the best opportunity for Democrats to win statewide offices in 20 years.

As a sign of how worried the Republicans are about losing to Brown we’ve learned their Senate SuperPAC has committed more money to Ohio than other battleground state:

In our discussion you will hear from Brown what we’ve heard from so many other candidate in recent weeks - his opponent’s embrace of destructive Trump policies that have done so much harm to working Ohioans - the tariffs, cuts to health care, the war - has put Husted on the wrong side of all the issues that matter to voters this year. You will also hear Brown talk about what may be an unprecedented opportunity for us in farm country, as the tariffs, loss of markets, rising diesel and fertilizer costs have pummeled farmers across Ohio, leaving them far more open to engage with Democrats than in years past.

Hopium has launched a Winning Ohio campaign that splits contributions evenly among Brown for Senate, Acton-Pepper for Governor and Lt. Gov, and the Democratic Party of Ohio. You can donate to our Winning Ohio campaign here, and be sure to watch our new interviews with Lt. Gov candidate David Pepper and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde to do even deeper dive on our opportunities in Ohio this year. We’ve raised $125,000 toward our June 30th fundraising goal of $250,000 - please consider chipping in today!

Enjoy this discussion with someone who knows how to win in red states and red places, the most successful Democratic politician in Ohio over the past several decades, a true giant of the Senate, the great Sherrod Brown!

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and an election to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Bio - Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio

Sherrod Brown has always been a relentless fighter for the people of Ohio.

Born and raised in Mansfield, Sherrod saw firsthand how corporations lobbied for tax breaks and bad trade agreements that shipped Ohio jobs overseas. That’s why he’s always opposed unfair trade deals that hurt Ohio workers.

A tireless advocate in standing up for the dignity of work, Sherrod has never stopped fighting for Ohio families and workers across the country–and time and again he’s delivered results. When Wall Street banks gambled away workers’ hard-earned pensions, Sherrod led the charge to make sure over 100,000 Ohioans got the retirement they were owed. When the drug companies jacked up prices, Brown successfully fought to cap the cost of insulin and reduce the price of other prescription drugs for Ohio seniors. When millions of veterans returning from war who were exposed to highly toxic burn pits were being turned away by the VA as they suffered from severe illnesses like cancer and lung disease, Sherrod worked with Republicans to get them the care they deserved.

And because of Sherrod Brown, over 2 million former teachers, bus drivers, police officers, firefighters, and other workers are now receiving their full Social Security payments that previously were withheld by the federal government.

Called “a champion for workers and the middle class” who “has advocated for Ohio and for ordinary people” Sherrod Brown “has fought for affordable health care, fair wages, worker pensions and consumer protections.”

Sherrod believes too many people think of politics as left or right, but to him it’s all about whose side you’re on, and who you are fighting for.

With all the craziness coming out of Washington, including giving massive tax breaks to corporations and billionaires at the expense of hardworking Ohioans, Sherrod knows he has the ability to do something about it, and that’s why he’s running for Senate.

Sherrod lives in Columbus with his wife Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author. Sherrod and Connie drive Jeeps made by union workers in Toledo, and are blessed with a growing family, including three daughters, a son, eight grandchildren, and their beloved rescue dogs, Franklin and Walter.

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

Gas prices in the US remain over $4 a gallon:

In my posts this week I’ve reviewed how Trump’s failed war has caused his already terrible poll numbers to drop into deeply dangerous territory and the GOP’s mid-term prospects to darken, considerably:

We got further confirmation of how much things have shifted towards the Democrats yesterday in a new Cook Report poll, and new polling in Alaska. Here are excerpts from the Cook poll summary (paywall, sorry):

For Republican candidates running in competitive House districts, The Cook Political Report’s Battleground District Project is a flashing red warning light for the fall.

In an exclusive poll of districts rated by The Cook Political Report as Toss Up, Lean Republican or Lean Democrat — districts which President Donald Trump won by an average of two points in 2024 — Democrats hold a six-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, 50% to 44%.

If that advantage were to hold come November, any district Trump carried by 10 points or less could be in significant danger of flipping into Democratic hands.

………

In the 36 districts surveyed, Trump’s approval rating is deeply underwater, with just 42% approving and 58% disapproving of his job performance. Driving those weak numbers are independent voters, who give the president a 70% disapproval rating.

In 2018, the last successful midterm election for Democrats, independent voters opted for a Democratic candidate by 12 points, according to exit polls. Today, Democrats are winning independent voters in the generic ballot by 25 points.

On issue after issue — with the exception of border security — independent voters trust Democrats more. On the economy, lowering gas and energy prices, and even protecting taxpayer funds from fraud and abuse, independents prefer Democrats by a double-digit margin.

……….

In special elections this cycle, Democrats have proven to be more motivated to show up and vote. That advantage is apparent in this survey as well, with Democrats holding a 14-point advantage over the GOP — 70% to 56% — among voters in battleground districts who say they are most interested in voting this fall.

………..

We conducted this survey in the 36 seats that are most likely to decide control of the House. Voters here are deeply frustrated with Trump and are willing to overlook their antipathy to Democrats in order to put a check on the president.

If these survey results were to be replicated this fall, Democrats would not only net the three seats they need to flip control of the House, but would also put seats that Trump carried by high single and low double-digits in play.

---

A new monthly tracking poll in Alaska has Mary Peltola with a meaningful 7 point lead over incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan (she hits 50% in the second round of their ranked-choice voting system):

This week we’ve seen Senate polls with strong Dem leads in Alaska, Georgia, and North Carolina, more modest leads in Iowa and Maine, and within margin of error in Ohio. If these results were to hold through Election Day the Senate would flip to the Democrats.

I cannot stress enough how remarkable it is that in the past month we’ve seen polls with Democrats ahead in Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas - all states Trump won in 2024. It’s a sign of how much the battlefield has shifted. Cook has that shift at 8 points in the House battleground districts in their poll. This Senate polling suggests it could be even more than that. For as the Cook poll summary concluded:

If these survey results were to be replicated this fall, Democrats would not only net the three seats they need to flip control of the House, but would also put seats that Trump carried by high single and low double-digits in play.

Here’s the current Cook Report House Race Ratings (from left to right - Toss Up, Lean R, Likely R, italicized is freshman)

This 8 point shift (or perhaps more) has put all these districts in the column on the right, “Likely Republican,” in play. This is how deep we are going into red districts right now. These aren’t purple districts - these are red districts, just as Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Texas have been red states.

But remember, to flip the House, we just need to win these toss-up races. Yes we want to win as many seats as possible but from a strategy stand point here at Hopium we will be sticking to our knitting and prioritizing winning those core races that are most likely to flip. So while the battlefield will be larger than that “Toss up” (or now truly Lean Dem) core our bias here will be to stay narrow, not fuck around, and make sure the House flips.

Exciting stuff all - a year of opportunity for us, indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subscribe now

With Orban Gone, Europe Rallies For Ukraine - From The NYT. Elections have consequences:

For weeks, Ukraine had been caught in a bind. A path to ending the war seemed increasingly illusory, as peace talks with Russia went from yielding no results to being put on hold. That meant Kyiv needed to prepare to fight indefinitely, even as vital financial support from the European Union remained frozen.

On Thursday, a breakthrough finally arrived.

After Hungary dropped its opposition to a $106 billion E.U. loan to Ukraine the day before, European leaders unblocked the funds. The money, which had been held up since December, will cover a large share of Ukraine’s financial needs over the next two years. Once those funds are exhausted, an additional $117 billion from the bloc’s long-term budget is expected to be allocated to Ukraine.

Taken together, the pledges appear to put Ukraine on firmer financial footing at least through 2029, said Hlib Vyshlinsky, head of the Kyiv-based Center for Economic Strategy. The pressure, he added, now shifts to Moscow, which is facing growing economic challenges in sustaining its own war effort.

In addition to the loan, the European Union adopted its 20th package of economic sanctions against Russia on Thursday.

“Deadlock over,” Kaja Kallas, the E.U. foreign policy chief, wrote on social media. “Russia’s war economy is under growing strain, while Ukraine is getting a major boost.”

The European Union’s extended commitment to Ukraine has largely filled a void left by the Trump administration. Last year, European countries provided nearly all of Kyiv’s military, financial and humanitarian support, while U.S. aid fell by 99 percent, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research center.

Unlike previous E.U. assistance packages, the latest one is heavily weighted toward defense spending. Some $70 billion of the loan will go to the military, giving Kyiv a substantial pool of money to buy costly air defense systems and expand production of drones, its most effective tools for blunting Russian ground assaults.

The loan will allow Ukraine to better plan its military operations over the long term. It has seldom been able to do that, as previous assistance often arrived in dribs and drabs, consisting largely of equipment donations rather than funding that could be directed toward buying or producing the weapons Ukraine needs most.

Now, my friends, it is time…..

To Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $603,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $61,400 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $85,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $125,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with Ohio Lt. Gov candiate David Pepper and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,00 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $529,400 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $106,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $169,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Remember you can find all of our interviews with our inspiring 2026 candidates under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site and on our channels on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Winning In An Evolving Battlefield

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; and learn how you can help us win in evolving political and electoral battlefield this year.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and rescinding the tariffs that are doing so much damage to our economy.

And please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon

Hopium Founding Members will gather tomorrow, April 24th at 1pm ET.

A reminder that these meetings operate under Chatham House rules and are not recorded and shared so as to facilitate an open discussion. If you are reading this and not yet a Founding Member you can sign up here or below. It’s a wonderful group - join us!

Read more

Three main messages this week:

The War Is Breaking Trump And The GOP - New polling this week shows Trump crashing into the mid to low 30s, intense opposition to the war, and Democrats with polling leads in Senate races in Alaska, Iowa Maine, North Carolina, Ohio - enough to flip the Senate.

The repudiation and rejection of Trump is comprehensive, across the board, and intense:

Republicans have responded to their deteriorating electoral chances by announcing enormous SuperPAC buys over the spring, summer, and fall. But I think they know, given our strong overperformances in elections of all kinds across the country, and our gutsy win in Virginia this week, that all these ads won’t be enough to save them. The path they are on is unsustainable. They were in bad shape before the war. The failure of the war, the soaring gas/fertilizer/diesel prices, have brought Trump’s failed Presidency deep into MAGA country. Their coalition is fraying, even prominent MAGA influencers and leaders have begun breaking with Trump. GOP hopes that the war would end quickly and the damage would be minimal was always wishful thinking. Trump has lost the war. There is no cessation without deep Trump humiliation. The weight of their deepening failure has thrust the Trump regime and Congress into utter chaos. Look at these headlines from their own media this morning, They can run but they cannot hide from the disaster they have wrought.

CNBC:

Fox News:

I think it is settling in throughout Republican circles that Trump is the crisis. Not Iran. Not Woke. Not Trans. And running with him at the top of the ticket without some kind of dramatic change is going to be very hard, perhaps impossible. For consider what Republicans are going to have to defend:

• Votes for the war, higher prices, higher fertilizer/gas/diesel prices, global humiliation for the US

• Votes for the tariffs, higher prices, slower economy, higher deficits, weaker small business and farmers

• Votes to wreck out health care system, drive up prices, make care less accessible

• Votes to make us more dependent on foreign oil and gas

• Votes to reward the ICE terror force with tens of billions of dollars with no reforms of any kind

• Votes to make the lives of regular people far harder while providing enormous tax breaks for oligarchs, billionaires and themselves

No political party in modern times has done so much to intentionally harm the American people and our national security, while simultaneously working to enrich themselves and their donors and weaken our fundamental rights and freedoms. We are in the strong electoral position we are in today without our campaigns having begun to use paid media to directly connect their opponents to this ruinous agenda which they have all voted for, repeatedly, and championed. So as bad as it is now for Republicans - and it is bad - it could get a lot worse for them in the months ahead. And they know this. And I am not sure they are going to let this all play out like this without forcing some kind of dramatic course correction on the sputtering, Epstein desperate, and wildly unpopular Trump regime.

Subscribe now

Democrats Have An Extraordinary Opportunity To Expand Our Map This Year. We Need To Seize It - We are now competing in states outside what has been the recent national battleground for Democrats, places where we have not consistently one or even been competitive in a very long time. If one of our collective goals this cycle was to take power away from MAGA by winning in red states and red places, we have an extraordinary opportunity to do that now, and our family needs to be making major investments now, right now, to help seize this opportunity. Imagine us having multiple statewide wins this November in these states. It will be historic, powerful and do so much to weaken MAGA:

As People Get To Know Our Battleground Candidates A New And Better Democratic Party Will Become Easier To Visualize And Connect To - I think as we get closer to the election, and people across the country start meeting and learning about our terrific candidates, their understanding of what the Democratic Party is will move from the residual disappointment of our chaotic and failed Presidential campaign to something that looks far more like this:

For the abstract “Democratic Party” or Joe Biden are not on the ballot in 2026. These people are. And as we’ve seen in our series of recent interviews we have an awful lot of strong, passionate, grounded, and impressive people running this year, people who look like the future and not the past.

In a new must-read analysis released this morning G. Elliott Morris reports on how the Democratic Party brand has largely recovered from where we were a year ago as we put more distance from the failure of 2024 and our party leadership shows they have what it takes to fight and beat Trump - as we’ve been doing again and again across the country. Here is Morris:

For the better part of two years, the story about the Democratic Party’s image has been simple and unflattering: voters don’t like it. The party’s favorability rating has been underwater in nearly every major poll since the middle of 2024, and the party took another hit during last fall’s shutdown fight. Our new April 2026 Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll confirms this broad pattern: Democrats are underwater at 45% favorable to 48% unfavorable, a net rating of -3.

But Republicans are doing much worse. Our survey finds the Republican Party at 39% favorable and 55% unfavorable — a net of -16, with 42% of Americans saying their view of the GOP is “very unfavorable.” That number is 12 points higher than the equivalent figure for Democrats (30%).

We originally designed this survey to unpack a puzzle of party popularity. Last summer, our analysis of favorability polling found many left-leaning Democrats were critical of their party, dragging down its overall favorability rating even though many of these critics were still planning on voting for the party. We wanted to know whether this was still the case. It is, and we asked some specific questions to voters about what the party would need to change for its rating to improve.

But our polling also shows that this puzzle — Democrats being more unpopular than Republicans because of intra-party disaffection — has now resolved itself. When we ask voters whether they think Democrats or Republicans possess certain character traits, Democrats win on nearly every one we tested. Independents dislike Republicans roughly three times as much as they dislike Democrats. Even voters who say they have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party often plan to vote for Democrats anyway. And when Democrats’ own voters complain about their party in their own words, the complaint is not that Democrats are too liberal or “weak and woke”, it’s that they’re not fighting hard enough, particularly against Donald Trump.

I will be returning to this new, powerful work from Morris in a separate post, for it deserves more attention than I can give it today. But this analysis is very consistent with our commentary about the need for Democrats to better understand the role of weak and strong - and not just traditional policy issues - in how voters perceive us. Part of my read of this new Morris analysis is that Democrats would benefit from two things: 1) fighting Trump on more fronts, and sending a very clear message - as we did in Virginia this week - that we are strong enough to fight, and win, and deliver for the American people 2) announcing a simple, clear agenda of what we will do and fight for when we get back into power.

Yes, all of this is very consistent with the counsel we’ve been offering here for some time, and should be familiar to regular Hopium readers.

That’s some of what we talked about last night. Watch the video. Hit like for hitting like brings the post to more people. Share it with others you think might be interested, and now, in the spirit of this proud, plucky, and patriotic community……

Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $602,900 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews. Interviews with Jonathan Nez and Elaine Luria coming soon!

If you are looking for inspiration watch a few of these interviews - I promise these great candidates will get you excited about our opportunities this November! For it is simple - if we win these twelve races the House flips. Period.

James Talarico For Texas - $60,300 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $85,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Enjoy my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue

Winning Ohio - $124,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue | Watch my new discussions with Ohio Lt. Gov candiate David Pepper and Ohio Dem Chair Kathleen Clyde

This total includes $21,00 sent by a Hopium community member directly to each of our three Buckeye State partners!

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $527,500 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five new battlegrounds

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $20,000 to each of our five state parties over the past two years.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $106,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my new discussion with Gov. Cooper as he fights to turn North Carolina blue

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $168,800 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda, and bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government.

Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:

• Work to end this new gulf war and Trump’s Imperial global ambitions

• Support Ukraine and Europe, not Russia

• Roll back the new, illegal tariffs

• Rescind the Trump tax cuts, claw back the extra ICE funding, fund the IRS so it can collect the taxes the rich are hiding from us

• Launch a major anti-corruption, renewing democracy campaign, one that ensures accountability for the crimes and treason committed, limits the political power of our emerging oligarchy, and strengthens democracy here and everywhere

• Make the US a clean energy superpower, fight for true energy independence, and lower utility and energy prices for the American people

• Rein in ICE, end Mass Deportation

• End Trump’s destructive war on science, research, our health scare system and our public Health

• Make clear to American farmers that we want to end the failed war, repeal the terrible tariffs, find legal pathways for farm workers, and make health care and energy more affordable

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, and rescinding the tariffs that are doing so much damage to our economy.

And please use the paid subscriber chat to self-report the good trouble you make each day.

Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment