Kamala Surges, Democrats Rejoice, Mexico's Most Important Drug Kingpin In US Custody, The VP Meets With Bibi (Corrected)
Donate, Volunteer For Vice President Harris Today and Let's Go Win This Thing, Together!
Happy Friday all, and a happy Friday it is! Got a few things for you today, and please disregard the first version of this post. It went out before the final edit!
Kamala Surges, Democrats Rejoice. Let’s Go Win This Thing Together - What an extraordinary week. As I said the other day on a scale of 1 to 10 its been like 100. Enormous sums of money are being raised. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up to volunteer. The Democratic grassroots is exploding. Social media is getting flooded with pro-Harris and anti-Trump/Vance memes. And the polls are moving nationally and in the states. Whatever modest lead Trump had is gone. It’s a new, bluer election and we still haven’t had he full effect of the rallying behind Kamala, our VP pick, our convention. We are on the front foot now, we are on offense, and Trump and his campaign have disappeared. The rapist, fraudster, traitor, felon is also a coward, a babyman, anything but a strongman.
I talked about all this in an very extended segment with Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC last night. I talk about what a remarkable and joyful week it has been, why today I would much rather be us than them, and why the pick of Commander Vance, a leader of the Handmaid’s Tale wing of the Republican Party, has been catastrophic for Trump. Enjoy.
Barack and Michelle Obama have officially endorsed the Vice President. It’s a wonderful moment.
I will be writing more about the polls in the coming days as more data comes in. But what we’ve gotten this week, already, has been very encouraging. Whatever modest lead Trump had nationally and in the states appears to have evaporated. I talked to a top Dem campaign official yesterday who said all seven battlegrounds - AZ, GA, MI, NC, NV, PA, WI - are clearly competitive now and in play. New battleground state polls this week also showed Harris gaining and in a competitive position in all seven states. Polls of Maine and New Hampshire found Harris at Biden 2020 numbers, an election we won by 4.5 pts. To be honest the movement we are seeing towards Harris this week has been a bit surprising to me. It usually takes a while for big events to work their way through the electorate. So that we are seeing meaningful movement this early is a good sign. Here’s a sample of the most recent national polls from 538:
Friends, this is a close election, and we have a lot of work to do, but today, looking at all this and recognizing that we have a better candidate, better arguments, a far stronger party and all sorts of momentum I am excited to say, that when it comes to November I would much rather be us than them.
Donate and volunteer for our next President, Kamala Harris, today. We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mexico’s Biggest Drug Kingpin Now in American Custody - More on this soon but this is a very big deal, and a huge win for the Biden-Harris Administration.
The Vice President Meets With Netanyahu - Here is how our friend David Rothkopf wrote about this important meeting yesterday:
On Thursday, following her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Kamala Harris sent a message not only to Netanyahu but to the world.
The meeting with Netanyahu presented many challenges for the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency. First, there was the complex reality of the Biden Administration’s strained relationship with Netanyahu. Next, there was Netanyahu’s history of trying to upstage his American hosts and of meddling in U.S. domestic politics. In addition, Harris faced the difficult task of both communicating that she was her own woman with her own views on the Israel-Gaza situation while at the same time respecting that until January U.S. foreign policy will continue to be set by President Joe Biden.
Harris managed to do all those things. Indeed, her statement following the Netanyahu meeting was pitch perfect illustrating strong support for the state and the people of Israel while communicating concerns with the policies and actions of the current Israeli government, showing compassion for and a commitment to the humanitarian needs of the residents of Gaza.
It was a bit of a high wire act and yet she also had to come across as resolute. After all, Netanyahu was the man whose arrogance about his role and that of Israel relative to the United States once led President Bill Clinton to explode, “Who the fuck does he think he is? Who’s the fucking superpower around here?”
Following Harris’ performance, her first high-profile international assignment since assuming the role of Democratic Party standard-bearer, there was no mistaking she was in charge or her deftness at managing a difficult situation.
In her statement following the meeting, Harris said, "Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters."
"The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time — we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent."
"So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you. Let's get the deal done so we can get a cease fire to end the war. Let's bring the hostages home, and let's provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people, and ultimately, I remain committed to a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution."
With these words she crisply and adroitly checked every box that needed to be checked. It reflected the Biden’s Administration’s position and was consistent with the statements of President Biden but it also reflected differences of emphasis and tone that were intended to be noted by Netanyahu and by the people of Israel and Palestine. Commentators almost immediately zeroed in on her balanced emphasis on the welfare of the hostages and of the Palestinian people, views that dovetailed very closely with those of a significant portion of the Israeli population even if they may have been hard for Netanyahu to swallow.
Vice President Harris is having a very, very strong first week. She is come out of the box confident, clearly in command of this moment, with a very compelling early message. I am today, on this Friday, proud of my President, proud of my Vice President, proud of my party and proud to be in this fight with all of you.
Fired Up, Ready To Go - Let’s keep working for the Hopium-endorsed candidates and state parties:
Harris For President - $741,000 raised today, $1m goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More. The $730,000 raised is both Biden-Harris and the $130,000 we’ve already raised for Harris for President. Note the new campaign released its first Harris for President merch this week. Stuff looks good!
Winning The House - $595,000 raised today, $600,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More. We’ve also raised more then $50,000 into the individual House campaigns (you can either give to all 12 or each one individually)
North Carolina - $335,000 raised today, $400,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Watch my interview with NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton
Arizona/Ruben Gallego - $301,000 raised today, $350,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Watch my interview with Ruben Gallego
Nebraska/Blue Dot - $125,000 raised today, $150,000 goal- Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Watch my interview with NE Dem Chair Jane Kleeb
Here’s how you can do even more:
Volunteer for the Harris campaign - never been more important to volunteer!
Watch our Winning The House interviews with Janelle Bynum (OR-5), George Whitesides (CA-27), Kirsten Engel (AZ-06) Andrei Cherny (AZ-01) and Will Rollins (CA-41). Great candidates all!
Commit to Vote on Day 1 and get everyone you know to join you. Early voting begins in a few states on September 20th, less than 2 months away!
Watch my With Dems presentation on the greatness and goodness of the Democratic Party, this six minute video on the incredible stakes in this election and my new video on why I am optimistic Vice President Harris can win.
Read a new interview with me in the NYTimes about our new election, and catch a new Deep State Radio podcast with me, David Rothkopf and Tara McGowan talking about the promise of this remarkable and hopeful moment.
Finally help me spread Hopium and grow this plucky community. Sign others up to be a Hopium subscriber at this link. Note that options for group and gift subscriptions are available to those who want to bring friends and colleagues into the Hopium community. Click on the group and gift tabs here to learn more. To update your payment information or check your renewal status follow these instructions from Substack. We are now almost 96,000 strong - let’s keep the community growing and the Hopium flowing!
Keep working hard all. It’s how we win - Simon
I agree with Simon and Matthew Dowd (watch the clip from last night) that the polling right now has not caught up with events on the ground. Polling that would be released today, for example, has surveys from Wednesday. So much is changing by the day that it just can't keep up. We have to keep doing the work! Make your calls, send your postcards, talk to your neighbors. My next batch of postcards is being delivered next week and I will be ordering more! I have written 200 already and my goal is to get to 1000 by the end of September. If I can do it, we all can do it!
Morning everyone, quick announcement that “Postcards to Swing States” has resumed signups. They have raised their target from 29 million to 31.7 due to increased numbers of volunteers. Let’s go!!!!!