Morning all. Got a few things for you on this warm, June Friday in Washington, DC…..
First up, sending along a conversation I had yesterday with April Ryan of the Contrarian (above). While we cover a lot of ground in our lively talk up top I do a comprehensive overview of the current electoral landscape and why 2026 has become a year of opportunity for Democrats. It’s hearty fare for anyone looking for a midterm deep dive this weekend.
Yesterday Trump withdrawn Bill Pulte’s nomination for Director of National Intelligence and nominated a close friend, Jay Clayton, instead. It’s a meaningful win folks - thanks to all who made noise about this in recent days. While Pulte may have fallen events of recent weeks have made it clear that a desperate and wildly unpopular Trump has decided to do whatever it takes to maintain power illicitly next January - and we must get ready. More on that here:
The Talarico campaign has launched a new Spanish-language ad campaign tied to the World Cup. Here’s the ad, perhaps the first in a series as the World Cup will be with us for a month:
This is a very smart strategy, one Democrats across the country should consider emulating (there is time). This campaign has echos of a campaign my old organization, NDN, ran during the 2006 World Cup. While I’ve not been able to find video of the ads themselves here is an AP write up of our launch:
Some Democrats Use World Cup to Win Over Hispanic Voters
World Cup soccer is “mas que un partido” — more than a game — to a group of Democrats. It’s a chance to win over Hispanic voters.
The New Democrat Network is starting a $2 million Spanish-language campaign of radio and television ads urging Hispanics to get involved in the political process. The five-month effort begins with ads during the World Cup soccer games that begin this weekend in Germany.
Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, said the group wants to use a “major sport like soccer to brand Democrats for a wider audience.”
The TV ad shows an empty soccer field as an announcer says: “For years now, we’ve been awaiting this moment. Our country is again ready to return to being the great nation that all of us always dreamed of. Get involved. It’s up to you.”
The ads will run on Univision, Telefutura, Fox Sports en Espanol and Futbol de Primera, the radio soccer network of well-known broadcaster Andres Cantor. Cantor — know for his trademark exclamation “GOOOOALLLLL!” — will be featured on an early radio ad.
The radio ad will air in 70 markets nationally and the television ad will focus on six states and nine major markets — Albuquerque, N.M.; Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.; El Paso, Texas; Las Vegas; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States. Rosenberg has focused much of his efforts on trying to build support for Democrats among a group that makes up about 14 percent of the U.S. population. The total of Hispanic registered voters is about half the percentage of Hispanics overall.
Strategists from the Democratic group suggested that the current immigration debate has motivated many eligible Hispanics to register to vote, making this year a critical time to connect with potential voters.
Democrats need an aggressive approach to keep their historic advantage among Hispanics, especially since President Bush got an estimated 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004, Rosenberg said.
In our campaign we produced thousands and thousands of soccer balls branded with the más que un partido slogan and distributed them to Democratic groups where the ads were running to give out at soccer matches and events. In Spanish más que un partido means both “more than a political party” and “more than a soccer match.” Yes, the team who produced these ads, led by Sergio Bendixen (who is no longer with us) and Jimmy Learned did a remarkable job in this pathbreaking campaign.
Here is a photo of one these soccer balls I keep in the my Hopium room. Note that we called the organization behind the campaign “democratas unidos” - united Democrats - not NDN, for no one would have known who we were:
We launched this campaign and other efforts that followed during the general election of 2006 because in 2004 Bush’s successful campaign to court Hispanic voters was central to his re-election victory and the best showing of a Republican Presidential candidate in any national election from 1988 to present day. We launched our campaigns in 2004 and 2006 to counter what Bush was doing for if Republicans won over Hispanics it was going to very, very hard for us to win national elections again. The good news is that we recovered our standing with Hispanics in 2006, and used our strong support to create the best run of Presidential performance for the Democratic Party from 2008 to 2020 since FDR (we averaged 51% in those 4 Presidential elections).
Current polling finds that those gains Trump made in 2024 with Hispanic voters have unraveled - for good reason ffs - and campaigns like Talarico’s will give us a shot of re-establishing our traditional margins and scoring critical wins in heavily Hispanic parts of the country. More on that in future posts…….
A New Politics Of Virtue - Spending time with Talarico world this morning, and reflecting on my inspiring discussion yesterday with Josh Turek (do watch, he’s a great candidate!), has lead me to write this morning on something I’ve noticed in the many candidate interviews we’ve done - Democrats across the country are running as men and women of virtue. That in the many ways that we can differentiate ourselves from Trump, and build a new winning politics in 2026 and beyond, I think virtue has emerged as an attribute candidates are embracing across the country. It is a natural counter to the GOP’s corruption and lawlessness, of their assault on democracy, and of their embrace of oligarchy and abandonment of working people. It is something I’ve heard and felt from our candidates in these interviews again and again. It feels like something new, a new form of “strength” for our candidates in a time of extraordinary betrayal by the rich and powerful.
This is perhaps why I’ve hesitated to immediately embrace Graham Platner this week. For in my bones his candidacy, while powerful and galvanizing for so many, hasn’t felt like what I’ve been hearing and feeling from the many other candidates we’ve heard from who are running competitively in places Trump won by large margins. Remember candidates like Talarico, Peltola, Sherrod Brown, and Josh Turek are trying to win in places we haven’t been winning in regularly for decades, and are places Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024. Harris won Maine by 7 points in 2024, and what is required and necessary to win there just may be different than what we need in red places and red states. As we often say here there is no one path for success in a big tent like party like ours, and none of us should be so arrogant to believe we know what works in an election that hasn’t happened yet and where we need to be experimenting and testing new arguments and approaches that speak to this new, unique moment.
Through this process of meditating on virtue I’ve come to realize that I must be open to the idea that Graham Platner’s virtue is of a different sort. One of military service, of patriotism, of redemption, and of unyielding desire to take on the powerful to help those who’ve been left behind. That, yes, virtue can come in many forms.
So in that vein, and responding to the intense support that Graham Platner clearly has here in the Hopium community (thanks for weighing in all, the passion for Platner here has pulsated through the comments in recent days), I am adding him to our recommended candidate list today. For I don’t know what the best course is for us, and want to remain open minded about new arguments, approaches, and candidates so we can build a new and better Democratic Party. We will be reaching out to the Platner campaign today to set up one of our candidate conversations, and hope to also bring on the Democratic nominees for Maine governor and ME-02 after the ranked choice voting tally ends on June 19th too. Maine was always going to be one of our most important states this cycle, which is why we’ve been one of the largest investors in the Maine Democratic Party over the past year. The voters of Maine have spoken and it is time now to get on with Winning Maine as we are going to win so many other states across the country this year.
Here is that victory speech Graham Platner gave the other night that so many of you keep talking about. I encourage everyone here to watch:
Now, my friends, we’ve got a few other things to do today…..
Issues to call your Senators and House Reps about:
Finish the job on the Ukraine Support Act, get it passed through the Senate to the President’s desk
Finish the job on the Iran war powers resolutions that have passed both the Senate and House in recent weeks, and get them to the President’s desk
No to the ballroom, the Arch, the gilded statues, the slush fund, the corruption, self-enrichment……
hell no to Todd Blanche becoming Attorney General
Hell hell no to the new OMB regs that will destroy government-funded science in America. Joins the new Stand Up For Science campaign to Stop Vought. Save Science today.
A big thank you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber in recent days. We’ve signed up 89 new people, well on our way to our goal of 500 by July 4th. Take 10% off a paid annual Hopium subscription today and help make our Independence Day membership sale and drive a success!
Now, Let’s Go Out And Win Some Elections People!!!!
Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map
Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign - $770,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new ambitious, audacious even, q2 goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.
Friends if these twelve win, the House will flip, no matter redistricting madness the Rs execute in the coming days. So eyes on the prize here everyone!
Hopium’s Winning The House - Second Wave - $76,100 raised, $250,000 goal - We’ve launched a second House fund, one targeting candidates who’ve recently emerged from primaries or have to run in new districts. Our initial crew is Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Denise Powell (NE-02), and Bobby Pulido (TX-15). A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these six, and more as other worthy candidates emerge for their primaries. We are off to a great start here people!
Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $103,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Mary Peltola as she fights to turn Alaska blue
Graham Platner For Maine Senate - $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more and volunteer
Josh Turek For Iowa Senate - $14,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more and volunteer | Watch my wonderful new interview with Josh Turek
James Talarico For Texas - $85,200 raised, $250,000 - Donate | Learn more from my inspiring interview with Rep. Talarico as he fights to turn Texas blue
Winning Ohio - $158,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party | Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue
Winning Iowa - $6,200 raised, $100,000 goal - We’ve also set up a new Winning Iowa campaign that splits a contribution three ways - to Turek, to Gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and to the Iowa Democratic Party and its great chair, Rita Hart | Watch my new interview with State Auditor Rob Sand
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $590,700 raised, $1,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up! and use the link to make contributions to any of the state parties directly | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five critical battlegrounds
Roy Cooper for NC Senate - $121,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my new discussion with Gov. Cooper
Jon Ossoff GA Senate - $185,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn more through my uplifting conversation with Senator Ossoff
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Keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections all across this great country to win, together! - Simon
