Because the whole point of Hopium is to do the necessary work to save democracy in November, last night I hosted my first monthly "Work > Worry Wednesday" party here in Culver City, CA. 18 of my friends and neighbors attended, and together we wrote up 265 postcards to Nevada voters for Jacky Rosen, and 150 Vote Forward letters to low-propensity voters in Michigan, Arizona and Georgia. The postcards go in the mail today, the letters will be stockpiled until the Big Send in October. And we're just getting started! Many more "Work > Worry Wednesdays" to come! We can do this, folks!
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute that came out on Tuesday found that since 1949, the economy has done better under Democrats AND income inequality is better when Dems are in charge. Which we knew, but we need a lot more media stories about this.
I appreciate your analyses, but I think it's a mistake to ignore the WSJ poll because (at least in part) it's owned by Murdoch. The news staff is separate from the opinion pages, and by all the evidence remains free of Murdochian meddling.
Love, Love, Love the piece in the Times. Simon was very much on point. If Joe Biden can be elected President again, he will have defeated the Nazis twice. Joe Biden will be the greatest American President ever.
Regarding Florida: in our house have been feverishly writing many hundreds of postcards to Dem voters in Florida, through postcardstovoters dot org I am interested in whether Florida is the BEST state to write postcards in order to make a difference. I will study Simon's information on his blog HC here (I just joined today after reading the NYT article). So my question for Simon Rosenberg is: should we stick with FL postcards? or is another state better? (ADDED: We started this effort before the abortion and cannabis effort got on the ballot.)
I saw that voters in St.Louis rejected all 13 right-wing candidates for school board on Tuesday! And in Enid, Oklahoma voters recalled a city council member who participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Simon - I've been an evangelist for your Hopium Chronicles ever since I was turned on to you. I'm a front lines grassroots activist and your data driven positivity often keeps me afloat. Especially given that so much of the media is driven by ugly, fear inducing headlines. That said, I'd be interested to get your take on the Gaza/Israel war and its impact on Biden's re-election. I know you've indicated in the recent past that you didn't think it was going to be a major issue but I'm not so sure about that.....I know it's a complicated geopolitical war that's being waged but the daily news on the toll of this war is devastating and Netanyahu's government is barreling ahead with seemingly little care for world opinion. Or the opinion of his own citizens who are coming out in the tens of thousands to protest. People of all ages (and many young people) here the US are furious that Biden keeps sending weapons to Israel as they wage this war and I'm deeply concerned that this could be a big problem in November. I'm curious how the Biden administration is thinking about this - any visibility or thoughts you have to share would be appreciated. Thank you for everything you are doing to help save our democracy!
Simon, overall you did a great job dealing with the NYT. In addition, you asked for feedback, so two items for your consideration:
1. Reporter: "A Wall Street Journal poll released this week found Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump in six of seven swing states. That seems like rocket fuel for the worrying class."
Reply: Let's talk about polls and how the media -- and esp. the NYT -- deploys them. This early in the game, polls are solely to influence voters rather than share actual information. The mechanics of polls are crucial to their value. The WSJ poll referenced has major bias problems, esp. their key pollster just signed onto the Trump campaign. Partisanship is easy to infuse into polling results, as you know.
2. Biden Campaign timing. You have consistently said the Biden-Harris campaign is behind in its messaging calendar. I respectfully disagree*. Their timing, instead, is ramping up just when voters are tuning in. By holding their spears ("Braveheart"-style) until the enemy is close upon them, the Democrats' messaging is timely and fresh. Hopefully, the campaign will continue to pivot in ads to expose ongoing R atrocities. So, the Dem. bandwagon is rolling hot, and we all need to jump onboard.
*My 40-year career was in journalism/communications/marketing/strategic planning. Timing tied to influential content is EVERYTHING. I have been impressed with the Democratic Party's surgical precision and patience. As volunteers, we need to truly amp up our efforts starting in August-September. That's when voters will be able to do something with the information we share.
Thank you for asking. I hope my input helps. Sheila S., Michigan
Just finished another batch of NC vote forward letters and will soon be getting Environmental Voter Project postcards to fill out for NV. So happy to see everyone doing so much work in April!
This Man Thinks Biden Will Be Re-elected, Here's Why That's Bad News for Joe Biden
https://danielsolomon.substack.com/p/florida-in-play?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=742145&post_id=143261593&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=zc69i&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Because the whole point of Hopium is to do the necessary work to save democracy in November, last night I hosted my first monthly "Work > Worry Wednesday" party here in Culver City, CA. 18 of my friends and neighbors attended, and together we wrote up 265 postcards to Nevada voters for Jacky Rosen, and 150 Vote Forward letters to low-propensity voters in Michigan, Arizona and Georgia. The postcards go in the mail today, the letters will be stockpiled until the Big Send in October. And we're just getting started! Many more "Work > Worry Wednesdays" to come! We can do this, folks!
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute that came out on Tuesday found that since 1949, the economy has done better under Democrats AND income inequality is better when Dems are in charge. Which we knew, but we need a lot more media stories about this.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-economy-better-democrats?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Wonderful. Yes
I appreciate your analyses, but I think it's a mistake to ignore the WSJ poll because (at least in part) it's owned by Murdoch. The news staff is separate from the opinion pages, and by all the evidence remains free of Murdochian meddling.
Excellent NYT interview. Thank you for sharing your positive thoughts.
Love, Love, Love the piece in the Times. Simon was very much on point. If Joe Biden can be elected President again, he will have defeated the Nazis twice. Joe Biden will be the greatest American President ever.
Regarding Florida: in our house have been feverishly writing many hundreds of postcards to Dem voters in Florida, through postcardstovoters dot org I am interested in whether Florida is the BEST state to write postcards in order to make a difference. I will study Simon's information on his blog HC here (I just joined today after reading the NYT article). So my question for Simon Rosenberg is: should we stick with FL postcards? or is another state better? (ADDED: We started this effort before the abortion and cannabis effort got on the ballot.)
More good news!
I saw that voters in St.Louis rejected all 13 right-wing candidates for school board on Tuesday! And in Enid, Oklahoma voters recalled a city council member who participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
💪💙
Thank you for the NYT interview. { I stopped subscribing 2 years ago, given that it does not appear to report news only opinion. ]
Simon - I've been an evangelist for your Hopium Chronicles ever since I was turned on to you. I'm a front lines grassroots activist and your data driven positivity often keeps me afloat. Especially given that so much of the media is driven by ugly, fear inducing headlines. That said, I'd be interested to get your take on the Gaza/Israel war and its impact on Biden's re-election. I know you've indicated in the recent past that you didn't think it was going to be a major issue but I'm not so sure about that.....I know it's a complicated geopolitical war that's being waged but the daily news on the toll of this war is devastating and Netanyahu's government is barreling ahead with seemingly little care for world opinion. Or the opinion of his own citizens who are coming out in the tens of thousands to protest. People of all ages (and many young people) here the US are furious that Biden keeps sending weapons to Israel as they wage this war and I'm deeply concerned that this could be a big problem in November. I'm curious how the Biden administration is thinking about this - any visibility or thoughts you have to share would be appreciated. Thank you for everything you are doing to help save our democracy!
Simon, overall you did a great job dealing with the NYT. In addition, you asked for feedback, so two items for your consideration:
1. Reporter: "A Wall Street Journal poll released this week found Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump in six of seven swing states. That seems like rocket fuel for the worrying class."
Reply: Let's talk about polls and how the media -- and esp. the NYT -- deploys them. This early in the game, polls are solely to influence voters rather than share actual information. The mechanics of polls are crucial to their value. The WSJ poll referenced has major bias problems, esp. their key pollster just signed onto the Trump campaign. Partisanship is easy to infuse into polling results, as you know.
2. Biden Campaign timing. You have consistently said the Biden-Harris campaign is behind in its messaging calendar. I respectfully disagree*. Their timing, instead, is ramping up just when voters are tuning in. By holding their spears ("Braveheart"-style) until the enemy is close upon them, the Democrats' messaging is timely and fresh. Hopefully, the campaign will continue to pivot in ads to expose ongoing R atrocities. So, the Dem. bandwagon is rolling hot, and we all need to jump onboard.
*My 40-year career was in journalism/communications/marketing/strategic planning. Timing tied to influential content is EVERYTHING. I have been impressed with the Democratic Party's surgical precision and patience. As volunteers, we need to truly amp up our efforts starting in August-September. That's when voters will be able to do something with the information we share.
Thank you for asking. I hope my input helps. Sheila S., Michigan
Just finished another batch of NC vote forward letters and will soon be getting Environmental Voter Project postcards to fill out for NV. So happy to see everyone doing so much work in April!
Yay! Simon!
Fantastic new! "No Labels ditches plans for 2024 third-party ticket"
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/04/no-labels-2024-presidential-campaign-cancelled