Great to see Anderson highlighted and the impact of the Hopium community.
But I do wonder if it has struck you at all strange that in every single county in North Carolina, Harris received fewer votes than Jeff Jackson, the Dem Attorney General candidate? While the opposite was true for Tr*mp (got more votes than the Repub Atty General candidate in every county).
Just one case in point for illustration: Durham County.
My understanding is that it's one of the most solidly Dem Counties in the country (80% Democratic). How is it that Harris got 3,000 votes fewer than Jeff?
BTW, this same pattern exists for several other states, including AZ, OH and WI.
I firmly believe the truism that when we vote, we win. But clearly, when one party has been actively working to suppress, disenfranchise and gerrymander into silence the voice of voters since 2000 (by all means available -- judicial, state legislative, and through Tr*mp's "big lie" of January 6), I think we would be remiss not to fight against this attack on our most fundamental democratic right.
Especially when as many as 19 million voters were purged from voter rolls between 2020 and 2022 alone!
I live in South Carolina, & came up to Charlotte a lot to campaign in the fall. It absolutely, positively did NOT make sense to me that all the major Dem candidates won except Kamala.
When I was canvassing last year, a lot of the R-leaning NPP voters referred to any non-presidential race (including Congress!) as “I don’t follow local races.” My guess is a lot of T**** voters didn’t bother with any other races.
Our Democratic club printed the voter slate upside-down, with school board at the top and president at the bottom, and really pushed the other races.
I believe there is also a Pox News factor here. Pox News demonizes Democrats, liberals, progressive organizations, etc., but mostly with a national lens. Unless they have a really national profile like Gavin Newsom, Stacey Abrams or Gretchen Witmer, state and local candidates don't get this constant drumbeat of brainwashing coverage on Pox.
Great Idea to focus on downballot races. Sister District did a study of down ballot roll-off and it is much more prevalent with Democrats than Republicans in general.
But I agree that Trump is an exception to that rule especially with the folks that never voted until Trump came along. Since IMO many of them have the same racist, misogynistic, xenophobic tendencies as he does, they were very susceptible to the GOP misinformation campaign against Kamala Harris.
I live in Durham and suspect that there were a number of very progressive voters who didn't vote for Harris because she didn't pass their purity test. There may have also been some never Trumpers who left the top of the ballot empty but voted for Jeff Jackson because he was the superior candidate.
***But I do wonder if it has struck you at all strange that in every single county in North Carolina, Harris received fewer votes than Jeff Jackson, the Dem Attorney General candidate? While the opposite was true for Tr*mp (got more votes than the Repub Atty General candidate in every county).***
As an NC voter, I'm not really surprised. Trump brought a lot of low-information voters out of the woodwork. It wouldn't surprise me if they voted for Trump and nobody else downballot. "Traditional" Republicans tend to have lower "voter roll-off" (i.e., voters skip voting in downballot races) than Democrats who want to be familiar with their candidates.
Jeff Jackson, on the other hand, had an incredible amount of name recognition for someone who was running for statewide office for the first time due to his 2.5M TikTok followers. As NC AG, he has added a Substack, "Quick Update". Here is link to a recent post about the fentanyl crisis:
In addition, Jackson's GOP opponent, Dan Bishop, had a lot of baggage. He was the author of the imfamous "bathroom bill" that had a huge negative economic impact on the state for a couple of years (before it was repealed) due to boycotts by sports franchises, big name artists cancelling concerts in NC, and corporations looking elsewhere to relocate their headquarters.
Bishop also had the bad judgement to run on being Mark Robinson's "wingman" before Robinson imploded his own campaign. Democrats were able to run successful negative campaigns against both Robinson and Bishop by effectively using their OWN words against them. No need to sensationalize anything - Robinson is bats**t crazy and it showed!
The NCDP put together this director's cut of the "Real Mark Robinson" and then used portions for their effective campaign ads:
Great interview. Please tell Anderson how touched I was to get a phone message from one of her volunteers personally thanking me for my contribution to North Carolina. The woman had gone the extra mile to learn about Oakland, CA where I live. A personal thank you can go a long way towards building bridges between us as we work so hard to reclaim our country from the clutches of MAGA and Project 2025. I also noted that the volunteer sounded a bit exhausted like the rest of us…
Amen! Come on people, if you are able open your check book and mail the check to: North Carolina Democratic Party,P.O. Box 1926, Raliegh, North Carolina 27602!
As an NC resident, I continued my monthly donation to the NCDP through ActBlue. I also continued my monthly donation to my county Democratic Party.
FYI, for anyone interested in helping defeat Tom Tillis next year, Field Team 6 has an ongoing postcard program to register new Democratic and progressive non-affiliated voters in NC. There are ~12K names and addresses remaining out for the initial 50K with which they started.
Also, here's a link to a video recording of the empty chair town hall that Indivisible Charlotte held last month during one of the Senate recess periods.
From Indiana I sent 2,400 postcards to NC using Field Team 6. I know the exact amount because I bought 800 postcards at a time from FT6. I was inspired by Anderson Clayton. I attend Zoom Meetings from All In For NC. This a an organization that supports Democrats in North Carolina from person who live outside of NC. They have monthly Zoom meetings and I am using the NC example to help turn around Indiana. Read Saving Democracy by David Pepper for great info on organizing at the local level.
I live in South Carolina, & came up here to Charlotte a lot to campaign in the fall. It absolutely, positively did NOT make sense to me that all the major Dem candidates won except Kamala.
Knowing Anderson Clayton is on the case and that David Jolly is likely (???) to enter the Florida Gov's race is pulling me out of emotional, psychic, spiritual, and mental quicksand today.
Thank you Simon! Anderson Clayton gives me hope! I've long believed rebuilding at local county and state levels, where face to face communication through trusted networks, focused on local realities, is essential to circumvent saturation of media with lies, propaganda and emotionally manipulative memes. And essential to resurgence of Democratic party. I hope more state Democratic parties follow Anderson Clayton's lead.
I spent a lot of time in western North Carolina last year, both before and after Hurricane Helene. I had six races that I really wanted to win. We won five of them, all except the presidential race.
Anderson Clayton mentioned it in the interview. She didn’t go into a lot of details, but it sounded like there were volunteers in NC right now knocking on doors to counter Republican lies, by telling voters the truth about who caused the problems people are facing.
If anyone knows more, I hope they will jump in. I live in Orange County, CA and so far we haven’t done that, though my Democratic club is canvassing to build community right now. Basically we’re letting Democrats know they aren’t alone and giving them a chance to talk about their concerns to a sympathetic listener.
Anderson is the best! And a big thank you, Simon. We here in NC are so lucky. Here in Durham we are also taking back June 14, Flag Day, not just July 4. Please come to the Bull at 12 noon for our version of the mass mobilization that day, “With Liberty and Justice for All.” Let’s have thousands show up to hear Justice Anita Earls (who is running for re-election on the NC Supreme Court) speak, followed by a short march to Durham Central Park for refreshments (cookies! lemonade!) and a gathering of community groups to guide, educate and inform you on actions YOU can take. Please join! Link to register is here: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/793310/ (and the link says no kings day…) For more info you can also follow Durham Dems Action on Substack https://durhamdemsaction.substack.com/
Simon thank you for broadcasting this interview and introducing Anderson Clayton…she inspired me like Barak Obama inspired me. I am sending her a donation to help turn North Carolina RED, WHITE AND BLUE….meaning work for Americans! I sent this interview to Zach Shrewsbury in West Virginia and hope he will reach out to Anderson. They are working on solving the same problems….people are “drowning” in the muck being created by Trump an his enablers.
Hey Simon, come back and see us at the North Carolina Democratic Party unity dinner in Raleigh on July 26. We had such a great time hanging out with you there last year! It may still be a secret who the featured speaker is, but I know and I am really excited to hear him!
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
Simon et al.:
As we acknowledge Memorial Day, it is important to understand its Civil War origins. Here is a quick article on the usually forgotten role of the recently freed African Americans of the time: https://time.com/5836444/black-memorial-day/ . Although the current regime feels otherwise, Black History is American History.
So, have a thoughtful Memorial Day weekend.
P.S.: Dolos or the nation, you can only have one! The other side must choose! The madness will only subside until the next urge for “narcissistic supply” arises. This is not 4-D chess. It is most likely a form of something else. The new media must promote mental health practitioners— like the MSM has lawyers and other professionals.
P.P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
P.P.P.S.: My thoughts are also with the young couple murdered in DC. Their deaths will not solve Gaza (or Israel/Palestine). Too many people have bought into seeing each other as inhuman. Ironically, this dehumanizing space is where Dolos and his followers live.
Thank you for the link. Sadly, I have skipped reading the HuffPost over the last few years - for no particular reason. You may wish to share their article more broadly with the Hopium community.
Dr. Sze is obviously a thoughtful practitioner. In full disclosure, one of my parents is a clinician as well. It is probably why I am so well-adjusted (smile).
In terms of Dolos, we need to reform the APA’s “Goldwater rule”. If someone is neurodivergent in a malignant manner, he or she need not be the “leader of the free world”. This should be the new rule.
Anderson Clayton is an inspiration. Would that we could clone her. Thank you for identifying her for us and encouraging us to support NC Dem Party - the for a most engaging and energizing interview. I followed it with a contribution thru the Hopium site. It feels like a good way to start a holiday weekend.
I'm a big Anderson Clayton fan! Thanks for sharing this with us. One big message is that we need to be campaigning 365 days a year.
Happy Memorial Day Simon!
Great to see Anderson highlighted and the impact of the Hopium community.
But I do wonder if it has struck you at all strange that in every single county in North Carolina, Harris received fewer votes than Jeff Jackson, the Dem Attorney General candidate? While the opposite was true for Tr*mp (got more votes than the Repub Atty General candidate in every county).
Source here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FrcOjzx5ulWll2Dk7VjymbA7h6fvMx8G/edit?gid=1221549207#gid=1221549207
Just one case in point for illustration: Durham County.
My understanding is that it's one of the most solidly Dem Counties in the country (80% Democratic). How is it that Harris got 3,000 votes fewer than Jeff?
BTW, this same pattern exists for several other states, including AZ, OH and WI.
I firmly believe the truism that when we vote, we win. But clearly, when one party has been actively working to suppress, disenfranchise and gerrymander into silence the voice of voters since 2000 (by all means available -- judicial, state legislative, and through Tr*mp's "big lie" of January 6), I think we would be remiss not to fight against this attack on our most fundamental democratic right.
Especially when as many as 19 million voters were purged from voter rolls between 2020 and 2022 alone!
https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote/vote-suppression/voter-purges
I live in South Carolina, & came up to Charlotte a lot to campaign in the fall. It absolutely, positively did NOT make sense to me that all the major Dem candidates won except Kamala.
When I was canvassing last year, a lot of the R-leaning NPP voters referred to any non-presidential race (including Congress!) as “I don’t follow local races.” My guess is a lot of T**** voters didn’t bother with any other races.
Our Democratic club printed the voter slate upside-down, with school board at the top and president at the bottom, and really pushed the other races.
I believe there is also a Pox News factor here. Pox News demonizes Democrats, liberals, progressive organizations, etc., but mostly with a national lens. Unless they have a really national profile like Gavin Newsom, Stacey Abrams or Gretchen Witmer, state and local candidates don't get this constant drumbeat of brainwashing coverage on Pox.
Great Idea to focus on downballot races. Sister District did a study of down ballot roll-off and it is much more prevalent with Democrats than Republicans in general.
https://sisterdistrict.com/b/research/downballot-roll-off/
But I agree that Trump is an exception to that rule especially with the folks that never voted until Trump came along. Since IMO many of them have the same racist, misogynistic, xenophobic tendencies as he does, they were very susceptible to the GOP misinformation campaign against Kamala Harris.
I'm not saying this is it, but the fact that Kamala is a black woman from California may have had something to do with it. It's entirely possible.
I live in Durham and suspect that there were a number of very progressive voters who didn't vote for Harris because she didn't pass their purity test. There may have also been some never Trumpers who left the top of the ballot empty but voted for Jeff Jackson because he was the superior candidate.
***But I do wonder if it has struck you at all strange that in every single county in North Carolina, Harris received fewer votes than Jeff Jackson, the Dem Attorney General candidate? While the opposite was true for Tr*mp (got more votes than the Repub Atty General candidate in every county).***
As an NC voter, I'm not really surprised. Trump brought a lot of low-information voters out of the woodwork. It wouldn't surprise me if they voted for Trump and nobody else downballot. "Traditional" Republicans tend to have lower "voter roll-off" (i.e., voters skip voting in downballot races) than Democrats who want to be familiar with their candidates.
Jeff Jackson, on the other hand, had an incredible amount of name recognition for someone who was running for statewide office for the first time due to his 2.5M TikTok followers. As NC AG, he has added a Substack, "Quick Update". Here is link to a recent post about the fentanyl crisis:
https://open.substack.com/pub/jeffjacksonnc/p/going-after-the-money?r=1aiy5t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
In addition, Jackson's GOP opponent, Dan Bishop, had a lot of baggage. He was the author of the imfamous "bathroom bill" that had a huge negative economic impact on the state for a couple of years (before it was repealed) due to boycotts by sports franchises, big name artists cancelling concerts in NC, and corporations looking elsewhere to relocate their headquarters.
Bishop also had the bad judgement to run on being Mark Robinson's "wingman" before Robinson imploded his own campaign. Democrats were able to run successful negative campaigns against both Robinson and Bishop by effectively using their OWN words against them. No need to sensationalize anything - Robinson is bats**t crazy and it showed!
The NCDP put together this director's cut of the "Real Mark Robinson" and then used portions for their effective campaign ads:
https://www.realmarkrobinson.com/
Great interview. Please tell Anderson how touched I was to get a phone message from one of her volunteers personally thanking me for my contribution to North Carolina. The woman had gone the extra mile to learn about Oakland, CA where I live. A personal thank you can go a long way towards building bridges between us as we work so hard to reclaim our country from the clutches of MAGA and Project 2025. I also noted that the volunteer sounded a bit exhausted like the rest of us…
Amen! Come on people, if you are able open your check book and mail the check to: North Carolina Democratic Party,P.O. Box 1926, Raliegh, North Carolina 27602!
As an NC resident, I continued my monthly donation to the NCDP through ActBlue. I also continued my monthly donation to my county Democratic Party.
FYI, for anyone interested in helping defeat Tom Tillis next year, Field Team 6 has an ongoing postcard program to register new Democratic and progressive non-affiliated voters in NC. There are ~12K names and addresses remaining out for the initial 50K with which they started.
https://fieldteam6.herokuapp.com/
Also, here's a link to a video recording of the empty chair town hall that Indivisible Charlotte held last month during one of the Senate recess periods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcIpI2h3K_4&t=2797s
From Indiana I sent 2,400 postcards to NC using Field Team 6. I know the exact amount because I bought 800 postcards at a time from FT6. I was inspired by Anderson Clayton. I attend Zoom Meetings from All In For NC. This a an organization that supports Democrats in North Carolina from person who live outside of NC. They have monthly Zoom meetings and I am using the NC example to help turn around Indiana. Read Saving Democracy by David Pepper for great info on organizing at the local level.
Thank you very much!!!! 💙💙💙
FYI, I attend the All in For NC zooms too.
I live in South Carolina, & came up here to Charlotte a lot to campaign in the fall. It absolutely, positively did NOT make sense to me that all the major Dem candidates won except Kamala.
I meant to make this a reply to Natalie below -- but everyone is welcome to read it!
Knowing Anderson Clayton is on the case and that David Jolly is likely (???) to enter the Florida Gov's race is pulling me out of emotional, psychic, spiritual, and mental quicksand today.
That part!
awesome, inspirational, thank you so much
Thank you Simon! Anderson Clayton gives me hope! I've long believed rebuilding at local county and state levels, where face to face communication through trusted networks, focused on local realities, is essential to circumvent saturation of media with lies, propaganda and emotionally manipulative memes. And essential to resurgence of Democratic party. I hope more state Democratic parties follow Anderson Clayton's lead.
I spent a lot of time in western North Carolina last year, both before and after Hurricane Helene. I had six races that I really wanted to win. We won five of them, all except the presidential race.
I love the idea of accountability canvassing. That’s brilliant.
I'd love to hear more about it. What exactly is involved?
Anderson Clayton mentioned it in the interview. She didn’t go into a lot of details, but it sounded like there were volunteers in NC right now knocking on doors to counter Republican lies, by telling voters the truth about who caused the problems people are facing.
If anyone knows more, I hope they will jump in. I live in Orange County, CA and so far we haven’t done that, though my Democratic club is canvassing to build community right now. Basically we’re letting Democrats know they aren’t alone and giving them a chance to talk about their concerns to a sympathetic listener.
check out this description:
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/793140/
Here's a link to the Mobilize registration for an upcoming one of them. The description gives you a good feel for what is involved.
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/793140/
Anderson is the best! And a big thank you, Simon. We here in NC are so lucky. Here in Durham we are also taking back June 14, Flag Day, not just July 4. Please come to the Bull at 12 noon for our version of the mass mobilization that day, “With Liberty and Justice for All.” Let’s have thousands show up to hear Justice Anita Earls (who is running for re-election on the NC Supreme Court) speak, followed by a short march to Durham Central Park for refreshments (cookies! lemonade!) and a gathering of community groups to guide, educate and inform you on actions YOU can take. Please join! Link to register is here: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/793310/ (and the link says no kings day…) For more info you can also follow Durham Dems Action on Substack https://durhamdemsaction.substack.com/
Simon thank you for broadcasting this interview and introducing Anderson Clayton…she inspired me like Barak Obama inspired me. I am sending her a donation to help turn North Carolina RED, WHITE AND BLUE….meaning work for Americans! I sent this interview to Zach Shrewsbury in West Virginia and hope he will reach out to Anderson. They are working on solving the same problems….people are “drowning” in the muck being created by Trump an his enablers.
Hey Simon, come back and see us at the North Carolina Democratic Party unity dinner in Raleigh on July 26. We had such a great time hanging out with you there last year! It may still be a secret who the featured speaker is, but I know and I am really excited to hear him!
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
Simon et al.:
As we acknowledge Memorial Day, it is important to understand its Civil War origins. Here is a quick article on the usually forgotten role of the recently freed African Americans of the time: https://time.com/5836444/black-memorial-day/ . Although the current regime feels otherwise, Black History is American History.
So, have a thoughtful Memorial Day weekend.
P.S.: Dolos or the nation, you can only have one! The other side must choose! The madness will only subside until the next urge for “narcissistic supply” arises. This is not 4-D chess. It is most likely a form of something else. The new media must promote mental health practitioners— like the MSM has lawyers and other professionals.
P.P.S.: Do the following now! FIRST, TEACH CIVICS. Second, register voters. THIRD, TEACH CIVICS. Rinse. Repeat.
P.P.P.S.: My thoughts are also with the young couple murdered in DC. Their deaths will not solve Gaza (or Israel/Palestine). Too many people have bought into seeing each other as inhuman. Ironically, this dehumanizing space is where Dolos and his followers live.
Did you see this article?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/psychologist-how-to-stop-trump-narcissist_n_682df1cae4b09b7e5013a586
Madame Johnson:
Thank you for the link. Sadly, I have skipped reading the HuffPost over the last few years - for no particular reason. You may wish to share their article more broadly with the Hopium community.
Dr. Sze is obviously a thoughtful practitioner. In full disclosure, one of my parents is a clinician as well. It is probably why I am so well-adjusted (smile).
In terms of Dolos, we need to reform the APA’s “Goldwater rule”. If someone is neurodivergent in a malignant manner, he or she need not be the “leader of the free world”. This should be the new rule.
Thanks again.
Way to go Anderson. What rock star. And what a great model for ALL the states.
Thanks Simon.
Inspiring!
Anderson Clayton is an inspiration. Would that we could clone her. Thank you for identifying her for us and encouraging us to support NC Dem Party - the for a most engaging and energizing interview. I followed it with a contribution thru the Hopium site. It feels like a good way to start a holiday weekend.