Good afternoon all. Got a few things for you today:
Jane Kleeb On Winning The Blue Dot And The Importance Of Investing In Democratic Party, Partisan Infrastructure - Excited to bring you the latest in our What Happened, What Comes Next discussion series, this one with my old friend, Jane Kleeb, Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and a leading candidate for Chair of the Association of Democratic State Committees and Vice Chair of the DNC. The video is above.
In my in-depth talk with Jane we touch on:
The Hopium community’s huge investment in the Nebraska Democratic Party and NE-02 House candidate Tony Vargas, and the role it played in helping us win Nebraska’s Electoral College vote, often referred to as “the blue dot.”
Jane’s campaign to become the next leader of the Association of State Democratic Committees and DNC Vice Chair. Jane goes into depth about the ASDC does and how it helps state parties across the US reach their potential. She also explains how the process for selecting the next DNC Chair and Vice Chairs works, and who makes up the 448 members of the DNC.
The need to create greater urgency around investing in partisan, Democratic Party infrastructure, including in partisan voter registration. This is an important part of the conversation and is well worth your time.
For a comprehensive view of 2024 and what comes next from leading state party chairs be sure to also check out these other recent post-election interviews and related links (each video interview comes with a transcript for those who would like to read rather than watch or listen):
On The Future Of The DNC and The Democratic Party - With Ken Martin, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair and A Leading Candidate For DNC Chair
On Winning In Wisconsin and the Future of the DNC and Democratic Party - With Ben Wikler, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair and A Leading Candidate for DNC Chair
On North Carolina’s Impressive Downballot Wins - With Anderson Clayton, Chair Of The North Carolina Democratic Party
Other recent videos in our What Happened, What Comes Next series for your Holiday viewing and listening pleasure:
On Winning Arizona And Getting Latinos Back - With Senator-Elect Ruben Gallego
On Winning Virginia In 2025 - With Rep. Abigail Spanberger, The Democratic Nominee for Virginia Governor | Learn more about Abigail | Volunteer | Donate To Her Campaign
On Trump’s Big Gains With Young People, Particularly Young Men - With John Della Volpe Of Harvard’s Institute For Politics
On The Power of Networks - With Joe Trippi, Legendary Democratic Strategist and Campaign Manager, Founder Sez Us and Resolute Square
On Reinventing Government and The Perils of DOGE - With Dr. Elaine Kamarck Of Harvard and The Brookings Institution
You may also find these two segments from our fall Closing Strong collaboration with COURIER Newsroom and Tara McGowan helpful:
On The Need For Pro-Democracy Media - With COURIER’s Tara McGowan and Crooked Media’s Dan Pfeiffer
Beyond MAGA Creators - Russia’s influence on the Republican Party runs deep with Stewart Stevens and Jiore Craig
And here are my most important recent post-election analyses, both in words and video, if you haven’t gotten to them yet:
More Notes On Trump’s Unprecedented Ugliness And Becoming The Fercious Opposition - includes early thinking about how the Hopium community evolves next year
For Dems It’s A Time For Re-imagination, Re-invention and Innovation (video too)
A Deep Dive on What Dems Do Now with Anthony Davis of MeidasTouch (please watch this!)
More Notes On What Happened And What Comes Next (video too)
Give The Gift of Hopium This Holiday Season - I’ve set up a thread for paid subscribers to offer their thoughts on what this wonderful and plucky community should do next. I’m grateful for the many comments we’ve received so far. Weigh in if you can in the coming days, and note that an annual Hopium paid subscription is now 10% off through the end of the year for those who may want to sign up or give a bit of Hopium as a holiday gift!
Simon on Bluesky - For those on Bluesky you can find me here, @simonwdc.bsky.social. So grateful to be spending far less time on Twitter.
Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon
P.S. Sorry things were a little late today!
Share this post