55 in WI, Not Obeying in Advance, Another Good Jobs Report, With Dems Thur, On to Jax
The Monday Hopium Chronicles Newsletter/Welcome New Subscribers!
It’s Monday! Here are things we are working on, thinking about:
The Anti-MAGA Movement Is Gaining Steam/Get to 55 - From Tel Aviv to Nashville to Disney to Wisconsin, we are seeing something important happen - a growing willingness to say no to MAGA - “not obeying in advance” as I describe it in a new essay. I talked about this awakening on MSNBC with Joy Reid on Friday night, and in my paid subscribers briefing on Thursday.
This awareness that they have just gone too far, and it needs to stop, is part of what drove our remarkable victory in Wisconsin this past week. We got to 55% statewide, that magic number, something I think we need to shoot for nationally in 2024.
The premise of my “Get to 55” idea is that MAGA’s escalating extremism and awfulness is giving Democrats and pro-democracy forces an opportunity to go big, expand our coalition, grow demographically and geographically, and rout them next year - as we just did in WI, and as we did in many key battleground states in this past election. I discuss the “Get to 55” strategy a bit more in this video. Key to the “Get to 55” - a national youth voter registration drive this year.
Note a new poll from Israel has Bibi’s favorability crashing, and his party dropping into third place. The protests have taken a big toll. So encouraging.
We have a lot of work to do every one, but I do feel like we are entering a new phase in our fight against MAGA.
On to Jax - Our next opportunity to go on offense and grab more political real estate is by helping Democrat Donna Deegan become the next mayor of Jacksonville, Florida’s largest city. She is in a May 16th runoff against a DeSantis ally in a seat currently held by the GOP. I hope you will learn more about this race and join me in donating and volunteering. Let’s go do in Jax what we all just did in Wisconsin folks. Donna is a great candidate and we can win here. She will be joining us for a live discussion in the next few weeks.
This Thursday, 1pm EST - With Democrats Things Get Better - Each month I release a new and updated version of my big presentation, With Democrats Things Get Better. You can watch it live this Thursday, or catch a recording here when you have the time. Hope everyone will watch it this month at some point. The arguments and insights in With Dems are foundational to everything we are trying to do here, together. Learn more, RSVP here.
Another Strong Jobs Report - We got another good jobs report on Friday, and in a new post I review Biden’s very strong economic record. Some highlights:
GDP growth over 3%, 3 times what it was under Trump
6 times as many Biden jobs as the last 3 GOP Presidents combined
best COVID recovery in G7
lowest unemployment rate in peacetime economy since WWII
lowest poverty/uninsured rates ever
very elevated wage gains/new business starts
2 job openings per unemployed person, a record
real earnings up in 2022
the deficit went up every year under Trump and has come down every year under Biden
domestic oil production on track to set records in 2023
historic investments in our future prosperity (infrastructure, CHIPs, climate, health care)
Elon Targets Substack - I’m going to have more to say about this in a few days but here’s a quote of mine from the NYTimes on Saturday:
Other writers said Mr. Musk’s latest move contradicted his statements about enabling free speech at Twitter.
“In cutting off access to Substack, Elon is banning access to free and highly informative content on the internet,” said Simon Rosenberg, who writes a newsletter on politics. “It is censorship of the very worst kind.”
It is a foundational understanding of this Hopium project that we have to innovate past the current social media age into something better. It’s a primary reason I joined Substack, here, with all of you. To build something better. To get louder.
See this great statement from Substack’s founders on this whole Elon fiasco and why they decided to build Substack.
Workshopping A New Agenda for Women and Families - Two weeks ago I asked our community to join me in workshopping what I’m calling (for now) “A New Agenda for Women and Families.” We’ve gotten a lot of great comments - thanks, everyone! Check out the original concept memo and weigh in if you haven’t yet. There is something here and I want to keep exploring it. This is an area where we need to go on offense now, not let the right continue to get there first and push us around. We can and must do better here.
Upcoming Events (follow this link for our full schedule of events)
Thur, April 13th, 1pm EST - With Democrats Things Get Better - Learn More/RSVP
Mon, April 17th, 1pm EST (New)- The Israeli Fight For Democracy: A View From Israel - More on this event soon
Thur, April 20th, 1pm EST - Simon’s Monthly Political Briefing - Learn More/RSVP
Fri, April 28th, 12 pm EST - Hopium Chronicles Paid Subscriber Political Briefing and Hang Out With Simon - Learn more, RSVP here.
TBD - Donna Deegan Meet and Greet
Upcoming Grassroots Events (learn how to book me for an event)
Sun, April 16th, 7 pm ET - Swing Left Peninsula “Our Dem Grassroots is Powerful — Now, Let’s Be Proud and Get Loud!” Community Event - Learn more, RSVP here.
Thurs, April 20th, 7 pm ET - Commit To Democracy Town Hall - Learn more, RSVP here.
Sun, April 23rd, 5 pm ET - Swing Blue Alliance “Frontline Updates: Dems Actually Rock: Simon Rosenberg’s Fresh Take on the Democratic Party” - Learn more, RSVP here.
Press Hits
Simon and Joy Reid Talk GOP Extremism - MSNBC’s The ReidOut
Twitter Takes Aim At Posts Which Link To Its Rival Substack - New York Times
Democrats Are Gaming Out How To Run Against An Indicted Trump - NBC News
Trump Indictment Marks New Volatile Chapter In American Politics - Time
Why Chicago’s Mayoral Runoff Has America’s Attention - NPR
Why President Biden Won’t Comment on Trump’s Indictment Anytime Soon - Scripps News
‘New Democrat’ Who Called 2022 Right Targets MAGA - Washington Examiner
Will Trump’s Indictment Help or Hurt His Campaign? - Vox
Trump Builds Early Lead Over DeSantis - The Guardian
Why Is Ron DeSantis Slipping In The Polls? - The Week
Ron DeSantis Says US Should Not Get ‘Further Entangled” In Ukraine War - The Guardian
Finally Democrats Appear Ready To Wage War on Fox News - The Washington Post
Why Hopium Chronicles? If you are new here be sure to read my welcome statement and Ron Brownstein’s interview with me in the Atlantic. Together they do a good job of explaining why I’m shuttering NDN and setting up shop here.
Note there’s s a lot of material on the H/C site itself as I have brought some of my work over the past two decades along with me. Do explore. There is a lot of good stuff here.
Happy Monday All! Keep working hard - Simon
As regards to the "Get to 55" movement. I ran across this from one of my very favorite authors this morning: "Leave room in your heart for the imaginable." Mary Oliver
Personally, I am sure we can get to the 55 we need and wipe out MAGA forces for good. My sincere thanks for Mr. Rosenberg for leading the way on this. I much prefer solutions to hand wringing.
Hi Simon. I learned about Postcards to Voters on the recent Zoom call you led. I signed up right after the call and now have already written and mailed 40 postcards to Democrats in Jacksonville Florida. I hope you continue to advocate for this wonderful volunteer program.