New Biden Ad, Newsom's Big Night, Winning North Carolina, Jan 6th Justice In The States

Hopium Monthly Gathering Dec 13th at 7pm EST/Welcome New Subscribers!

Happy Friday all. A busy newsletter today:

Deep State Radio Podcast Just Dropped - If you are looking for a political podcast for the weekend got a really good one for you. I sat down with David Rothkopf with Deep State Radio yesteday afternoon for a very expansive conversation on the current political moment - do listen, it was a great discussion, and promise that it will leave you with a bit more pep in your step this weekend!

Biden Leads in 4 New Polls - In yesterday’s Hopium I offered some thoughts on how to look at polling right now, and reviewed what has been a very good week of polling for the President:

• 44-42 Economist/You Gov - 3 pt gain since mid-Nov

• 43-42 Morning Consult - 4 pt gain since last week

• 39-37 YouGov

• 37-35 Leger/The Canadian Press

New Biden Ad - The Biden campaign dropped a new ad in the battlegrounds which directly speaks to Trump’s new comments that he would end the ACA and build something new (something he promised for all 4 years of his Presidency). We know from polling that health care, and health care costs, will be among the most important issues in the election next year.

Newsom’s Big Night - Governor Gavin Newsom is getting rave reviews for his performance last night in his prime time televised debate with Ron DeSantis on Fox News. What follows are my two favorite clips and a great tweet from the night. As folks here know Gavin is an old friend and a Hopium subscriber. He made us proud last night, and is a reminder of the strength and power of the Democratic Party that is coming in the years ahead. We are a very strong and powerful party right now, winning elections throughout the country, with very strong next generation leaders and an unprecedentedly effective and sophisticated grassroots army across the US.

The Democratic Party is very strong right now. Loud and proud people!

Winning North Carolina/My Interview With Anderson Clayton - Check out my new interview the dynamic chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and as you plan your work in 2024 make sure this critical state is part of it. On our new Winning North Carolina page you can watch our discussion, learn how to volunteer and donate to the North Carolina Dem Party. Thanks to everyone who has already chipped in, or taking action. We can do this everyone!

Wednesday, December 13th, 7pm EST - The Next Hopium Community Wide Get Together - Friends, our entire community will gather again on Wed the 13th to do one last check in on what was a very blue 2023, and to start talking in earnest about what we are going to do together in 2024. Register for the event here and if you can’t make it live a recording will be available immediately afterwards. Will be great to see everyone - we have a lot to celebrate, and a whole lot to do next year.

Substack Is For Video - Substack announced some significant upgrades in it’s video services this week. I’m still exploring what it means for us, and will report back in the coming days. If you get a moment watch the video they released as part of the new rollout - Hopium makes a brief appearance! Here’s an excerpt from the announcement, which helps explain why I choose to come be here with all of you:

In its early days, Substack was often described as a “newsletter tool.” But that’s a misconception. The core idea behind Substack is much bigger. Substack is about creating a media system that’s based on different rules from today’s dominant platforms. It is about starting a movement away from platforms owning people, and towards people owning platforms.

That movement began with writing, but it quickly evolved into much more than that. Over the years, writers and creators have kept pushing Substack to its limits, exploring what’s possible beyond its existing features. They asked for more visual tools and design options, as well as ways to publish audio, and we’ve evolved the platform to support those needs. They’ve responded by expanding the universe of Substack—making it a home for all kinds of creative works, from illustrations to photography, discussions to workshops, and narrations to music.

Jan 6th Investigations/Prosecutions Moving Ahead in AZ, GA, MI NM, NV - There were significant developments this week in the legal investigations into the GOP’s party-wide effort to overturn an election and end American democracy in 2020 and 2021. This Forbes story details progress being made in investigations in both Nevada and New Mexico, and two Republican election officials were indicted by a grand jury in Arizona this week. From the Forbes story:

Republican officials, including lawmakers, activists and GOP officials, met in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the aftermath of the election, which are all states that President Joe Biden won. During the December 2020 meetings, the Republicans passed “alternate” states of electors claiming that Trump won their state, and those certificates were then sent to Congress and the National Archives for when lawmakers certified the election results. The effort was overseen by the Trump campaign and its attorneys, including Giuliani and Chesebro, and was made public at the time. Though none of the slates were actually used in the final vote count—Congress instead certified the actual slates of electors stating Biden won—the effort has raised legal questions since the elector meetings took place, and false electors in Michigan and Georgia were ultimately indicted on charges related to conspiracy, forgery, impersonating public officers and making false statements and writings. The “fake electors” scheme was part of a broader effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the election results in battleground states, which also included efforts to pressure state officials and legislators, breach election equipment and bring dozens of lawsuits that ultimately failed in court.

What will be true forever now is that the party of Lincoln and Reagan will also be the party that tried to end American democracy. These investigations and prosecutions will be playing out in DC and in the battlegrounds throughout 2024, reminding voters again and again of what the GOP has become - it’s a big big problem for them, and its why we need to make this next election a loud and powerful rebuke of this rancid and unprecedented betrayal of America. It’s why we need to not just win next year, but get to 55.

Keep working hard all. We have a lot of work to do, but in every possible I would much rather be us than them as head into 2024 - Simon