So impressed with the Maine Dems and Devon through all of this. Help there especially with Troy and Devon so Maine Dems can expand their majority in the state legislature chambers.
Simon, thanks for the info. I watched Troy Jackson's speech yesterday and thought it was a good one. I kicked in a little bit via your link. How 'bout those Nats?
Done Simon! Thanks for all that you do!!!!!!!!!!!! and for making it so simple to support the Maine Dems and now Troy. Let's get this done. I don't think I can despise Susan Collins and her votes any more than I do.
"In reliably red Iowa—where open governor & Senate races look surprisingly competitive—AFP Action door-knocking in suburban Des Moines found voters critical of the Iran war and high inflation. Some even say they’ll back Democrats this fall."
"Cygnal’s Mitchell Brown: Dems as fired up as 2018 (when they flipped House). GOP lagging hard. Young men under 40—key to Trump’s ‘24 wins—most at risk over economy/prices."
I’m shocked at how little coverage is being giving to the resumption of the war.
We are arguably in a more dire situation than before the MoU (because of depleted oil reserves, depleted missile stocks, more resistance on both sides to negotiation making a prolonged conflict more likely) but the media is treating it like old news.
Love the wins by Katie Phang and the Dem AGs. Also another win in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, refusing to rescind the injunction issued by the lower District Court blocking Trump's Executive Order that attempted to restrict mail-in ballots (among other pernicious things). Keep it going!
Kicked in for Hopium's Troy Jackson fund. Let's retire Susan Collins and her overworked clutched pearls!
Simon. I was very disappointed to hear from a friend of mine that you blocked her and refunded her because she had a different opinion than you. And you called her comments ridiculous. Healthy debate is good. We should be open to hearing each other’s opinions. My friend is very passionate about the political process and is working so hard out in the streets actually knocking on doors and talking to the people. We don’t need more of the same old established government. We need change. Please be open to hearing what people in the streets are saying.
Laura, we have community guidelines here. In the entire history of Hopium we've only removed about 10 people from the community. I am not sure who you are referring to here but no one is removed from having a different opinion from me. The discourse here is open and free flowing, and respectful.
People are removed for repeatedly attacking people here or others in our family, for repeatedly posting untrue or misleading material, or for acting like a combative, disruptive troll. In every case of removal I engage the person and explain the guidelines publicly so all can see, and often reach out privately too before removing them. I have an obligation to this community to not allow this kind of commentary for it discourages discourse. We are creating an alternative to social media here and work hard not to replicate the worst of what happens outside. I am sorry this happened to your friend but for the good of the community - the other 150,000 people here - it's just clear sometimes this isn't the right fit for people. So i refund their subscription and we all move on to stay focused on the task at hand.
I also want to say that there has been uptick of disruptive, aggressive commentary here of late that may be because of the tough primary season, or that we are getting closer to the election. But as I try to respond to people when engage me - far more than on most sites - I feel like that generosity has started getting exploited by bad faith actors here. Hopefully it is just a blip and not the sign of a broader trend for the discourse here for the last few years has been remarkably respectful and free of rancor and attacks. But with AI maintaining the integrity of discourse here and everywhere is going to get harder.
this site is pretty civil compared to others; i am dismayed but not shocked to see the right wing supporting Hong; the forces of the right wing win when the left is divided.
Simon, I was surprised and sorry, for many reasons, to see the NYT article this morning about Ken Martin and the DNC. I am interested to know your thoughts about it if you are willing to share them.
Obviously I’m not Simon, but I don’t think we have polling to confirm movement yet out there… So I think we would have to fairly consider it still a tossup. My gut tells me that considering that Whitmer probably has presidential aspirations, she had private polling confirming that her involving herself in the race at this stage could be a determinative factor, so I won’t be surprised if this has what I call the “Clyburn effect”… but I don’t think we’ll know until election day.
Threw $100 bucks in the Jackson bucket. What a great speech! His authenticity really fits the slate of what the Democratic Party is offering in 2026. So glad he’s focused on defeating Collins and not bashing Dems.
Troy Jackson even looks like a logger (what does a logger look like?). So happy for the Maine party. They have kicked ass and done such good job. I just sent a monthly contribution to the campaign.
Once again, thanks for keeping us focused.
BTW. I watched a Stuart Stevens video last night on the White House Correspondents dinner. It's just great. Not so much focused on the election, but he is always so terrific to listen to and it's a big bright warning to our legacy media outlets to get some cajones.
Thank you Simon for keeping us focused on what’s important. Things are happening so quickly & can be quite confusing to those of us who are not tuned in to everything that’s going on! Happy to contribute my little bit to Troy Jackson & other Hopium candidates!
One thing I’m certain will be felt during this campaign in Maine, is that the new nominee is most certainly “homegrown“. That guy is dripping with authenticity. If we pull this one off it’ll be the most satisfying victory of the entire election cycle after everything that’s happened. What a great team effort this has all been. 🔵🇺🇸
On top of my small gift to Maine Dems yesterday, I have dropped another small gift to Jackson this morning.
I just did, too, BeeBee. I want in on that 50K in one week win!!!
So impressed with the Maine Dems and Devon through all of this. Help there especially with Troy and Devon so Maine Dems can expand their majority in the state legislature chambers.
#BLUEMAP2026
Simon, thanks for the info. I watched Troy Jackson's speech yesterday and thought it was a good one. I kicked in a little bit via your link. How 'bout those Nats?
I'm working on postcards to Ohio voters today.
I kicked in a bit. Thanks for making it so simple. Let's go!
I will happily donate to Troy Jackson, the Senator to finally say, "Goodbye Susan Collins." And I will also donate to the Second Fund as well.
And Katie Phang is a Wonder! She has helped Us in so many ways.
Enjoy your Sunday Simon!
Done Simon! Thanks for all that you do!!!!!!!!!!!! and for making it so simple to support the Maine Dems and now Troy. Let's get this done. I don't think I can despise Susan Collins and her votes any more than I do.
I also gave a bit to both the party and Jackson. I lived in Maine for 30 years, Troy is the salt of the earth!
Incredible new reporting from WaPo on Republican concerns about lack of base enthusiasm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/26/republican-enthusiasm-problem-hits-even-core-voters/
"In reliably red Iowa—where open governor & Senate races look surprisingly competitive—AFP Action door-knocking in suburban Des Moines found voters critical of the Iran war and high inflation. Some even say they’ll back Democrats this fall."
"Cygnal’s Mitchell Brown: Dems as fired up as 2018 (when they flipped House). GOP lagging hard. Young men under 40—key to Trump’s ‘24 wins—most at risk over economy/prices."
So encouraging for us. Let's keep it up!
Not sure how I left that out today. Was in the cue. Thanks for sharing.
I’m shocked at how little coverage is being giving to the resumption of the war.
We are arguably in a more dire situation than before the MoU (because of depleted oil reserves, depleted missile stocks, more resistance on both sides to negotiation making a prolonged conflict more likely) but the media is treating it like old news.
Love the wins by Katie Phang and the Dem AGs. Also another win in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, refusing to rescind the injunction issued by the lower District Court blocking Trump's Executive Order that attempted to restrict mail-in ballots (among other pernicious things). Keep it going!
Kicked in for Hopium's Troy Jackson fund. Let's retire Susan Collins and her overworked clutched pearls!
Good news on 1st Court of Appeals refusing to rescind the injunction against DJT's Executive order restricting mail-in ballots!!!!
Simon. I was very disappointed to hear from a friend of mine that you blocked her and refunded her because she had a different opinion than you. And you called her comments ridiculous. Healthy debate is good. We should be open to hearing each other’s opinions. My friend is very passionate about the political process and is working so hard out in the streets actually knocking on doors and talking to the people. We don’t need more of the same old established government. We need change. Please be open to hearing what people in the streets are saying.
Did she talk about how she is knocking doors to elect Democrats? Or did she just complain about them?
Laura, we have community guidelines here. In the entire history of Hopium we've only removed about 10 people from the community. I am not sure who you are referring to here but no one is removed from having a different opinion from me. The discourse here is open and free flowing, and respectful.
People are removed for repeatedly attacking people here or others in our family, for repeatedly posting untrue or misleading material, or for acting like a combative, disruptive troll. In every case of removal I engage the person and explain the guidelines publicly so all can see, and often reach out privately too before removing them. I have an obligation to this community to not allow this kind of commentary for it discourages discourse. We are creating an alternative to social media here and work hard not to replicate the worst of what happens outside. I am sorry this happened to your friend but for the good of the community - the other 150,000 people here - it's just clear sometimes this isn't the right fit for people. So i refund their subscription and we all move on to stay focused on the task at hand.
I also want to say that there has been uptick of disruptive, aggressive commentary here of late that may be because of the tough primary season, or that we are getting closer to the election. But as I try to respond to people when engage me - far more than on most sites - I feel like that generosity has started getting exploited by bad faith actors here. Hopefully it is just a blip and not the sign of a broader trend for the discourse here for the last few years has been remarkably respectful and free of rancor and attacks. But with AI maintaining the integrity of discourse here and everywhere is going to get harder.
Onward - Simon
this site is pretty civil compared to others; i am dismayed but not shocked to see the right wing supporting Hong; the forces of the right wing win when the left is divided.
Simon, I was surprised and sorry, for many reasons, to see the NYT article this morning about Ken Martin and the DNC. I am interested to know your thoughts about it if you are willing to share them.
Simon, do you think Governor Whitmer’s endorsement of Stevens will help carry her to the nomination? Or do we think this is still a toss up primary?
Obviously I’m not Simon, but I don’t think we have polling to confirm movement yet out there… So I think we would have to fairly consider it still a tossup. My gut tells me that considering that Whitmer probably has presidential aspirations, she had private polling confirming that her involving herself in the race at this stage could be a determinative factor, so I won’t be surprised if this has what I call the “Clyburn effect”… but I don’t think we’ll know until election day.
Threw $100 bucks in the Jackson bucket. What a great speech! His authenticity really fits the slate of what the Democratic Party is offering in 2026. So glad he’s focused on defeating Collins and not bashing Dems.
Troy Jackson even looks like a logger (what does a logger look like?). So happy for the Maine party. They have kicked ass and done such good job. I just sent a monthly contribution to the campaign.
Once again, thanks for keeping us focused.
BTW. I watched a Stuart Stevens video last night on the White House Correspondents dinner. It's just great. Not so much focused on the election, but he is always so terrific to listen to and it's a big bright warning to our legacy media outlets to get some cajones.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stuart+stevens+correspondents+dinner
And I finally paid for access to his substack. EEEK. But so worth it!
Thank you for the link. I love hearing what Stuart Stevens has to say. I copied the link and will listen later.
I can't be a paid subscriber to everyone so I totally understand the EEEK. Glad you are able to read Stuart's Substack. So many good ones out there.
Thank you Simon for keeping us focused on what’s important. Things are happening so quickly & can be quite confusing to those of us who are not tuned in to everything that’s going on! Happy to contribute my little bit to Troy Jackson & other Hopium candidates!
Surprise, NYT wielding hatchets for anti-DNC forces. What do you think, Simon? You know the situation better than us.
Yes, that was quite an article. Also wondering your take on it Simon.
One thing I’m certain will be felt during this campaign in Maine, is that the new nominee is most certainly “homegrown“. That guy is dripping with authenticity. If we pull this one off it’ll be the most satisfying victory of the entire election cycle after everything that’s happened. What a great team effort this has all been. 🔵🇺🇸