Friends, a few things today:
So we wake up on this Wednesday without a Speaker of the House. It’s time that we all acknowledge that the Republican Party is now a failed major American institution, and that it’s failure has become an enormous problem for America and the world. As I said on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show last night the loud, clear message Republicans have sent us over the past few weeks is that they cannot be trusted with power this year, next year or in 2025, and that the only way to move American forward and ensure freedom and democracy prevails is to elect Democrats. Period.
I’ll have much more to say about this in the coming days, but want to note that no one understood what was coming better than Senator Lindsey Graham who posted this more than 7 years ago:
Winning Virginia - One of the elections where we need to win is in Virginia this November, where early vote has already started. We had a great discussion last night about winning Virginia with Delegate Dan Helmer, who is in charge of flipping the Virginia state house this fall. A recording of our discussion is above. Things feel good there - early vote is good, polls are good, money is good, but there are lots of undecideds, and we struggled in 2021. Cannot take a single vote for granted. We just need to put our heads down, blow out the early vote and bring this critical election home in the coming days. We can and should win here but we just have to do what we’ve been doing across the US since Dobbs - make our calls and texts, canvass, write our postcards, donate and if you live in Virginia vote now - don’t wait. Voting early increases overall Democratic turnout so vote as soon as you can.
My co-host last night, Katherine White of Network NOVA, reviewed ways you can volunteer and donate in the home stretch. Her presentation was a remarkable window into the many grassroots organization that are working now in Virginia. So appreciate all of you, and to those who’ve already been working in Virginia - a huge Hopium filled thank you!
Here are some ways you can help drive the early vote and win in Virginia:
Donate to the Majority Project - all funds go directly to the targeted Virginia House and Senate campaigns that will determine control of the legislature
Majority Project Phonebank - call into these targeted races
Connecting with grassroots groups working in Virginia
Katherine’s grassroots directory, built with input from the Hopium community. Lots of different projects to choose from.
Sister District and allies national phonebank which makes GOTV calls daily
Let’s do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
New Biden Ad Talks Lowering Costs - The Biden-Harris campaign launched a new economic ad this week on lowering costs, something we’ve been discussing here in our paid subscriber chat the last few weeks. It’s another very good ad from the campaign:
Here’s a bit more on the ad, and the strategy behind it, from the campaign:
“Never Left'' will run on national cable channels and on TV in battleground states. The buy is targeting high-reach, general election audience programming including Dancing With the Stars and Bachelor in Paradise, top-ranking NFL programming, and high-rated local and network news adjacencies. This ad is part of Team Biden-Harris’ 16-week, $25 million advertising campaign that is reaching key voters in battleground states and includes the largest and earliest investment in Hispanic and African American media for a reelection campaign in history.
“While MAGA Republicans pretend they’re fighting for America’s middle class, President Biden and Vice President Harris are actually delivering ,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager. “Whether it’s taking on Big Pharma to cut prescription drug costs, lowering health care premiums for millions of Americans, or reducing energy bills for American families, fighting for the middle class isn’t an empty campaign promise for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – it’s their political DNA. This ad serves as an early reminder of the choice Americans will face next year: between MAGA Republicans whose agenda would give tax handouts to the ultra-rich at the expense of working people, or Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ agenda for the middle class.”
In other news:
Keep working hard all - Simon
Our "Winning Virginia" Discussion w/Delegate Dan Helmer, The Republican Party Has Failed, New Biden Ad "Never Left"