Suozzi Leads In New Poll, 4 Things Biden Should Do Now, Hopium on CNN, Stat Of The Day

Paid Subscribers Gather Tonight at 7pm EST, Entire Hopium Community 2/15

Happy Thursday all. A few things today:

Suozzi Leads By 4 In New Poll - A new Newsday/Siena poll has Tom Suozzi leading by 4 points, 48-44. This data is consistent with an earlier poll, and what we are seeing in the early and mail vote. It’s good news.

The bottom line - we have a very modest lead now, and if we do the work - but only if we do the work in these last 5 days - we can win here in this tough district we lost by 7.5 points in 2022. Let’s close strong for Tom - please donate or volunteer today. This is a big one, and we need to put our heads down and win this thing, together!

Donate - Learn More - Canvass - Make Calls - Watch My Interview w/Tom

Thanks to everyone here who has taken an action for Tom. Our community has now raised over $80,000 for Tom - amazing - thank you! Here’s a great report from Hopium community member Alyssa after phone banking last night:

Just got off a phone bank for Tom. There were 92 people on it!! That's the most I've seen on a phone bank (haven't been doing this for that long, but have done a fair number). I spoke to a young woman who wasn't planning to vote and managed to convince her to vote for Tom and was able to give her voting info. Another volunteer shared she's been phone banking for many years and this was the most positive response she's ever gotten. Fingers crossed!

We can do this people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom’s closing ad is grounded in hope and optimism, an approach I think essential to defeating MAGA this year. Watch:

I also send along the very powerful second Biden campaign video, which also does a great job tapping into hope, optimism, love of country, patriotism - political kryptonite to MAGA’s relentless pessimism and betrayal. This is where must go, together. As the ad says: “courage, opportunity, democracy, freedom” -

Stat Of The Day - From Economist/YouGov this week - Democrats approve of Biden’s handling of the economy 78-17.

More on why “Americans are down on the economy” is just wrong in this recent Hopium post, and in this new, remarkable Paul Krugman analysis.

“4 Things Biden Should Do Now” - My New Essay In The New Republic - I was asked to write a short essay for a cover package of stories in the New Republic this month on what Biden should do now. My piece offers 4 things for the President do now:

• Reimagine and Reinvent The War Room

• Build The Largest Youth Engagement Program In History

• Anchor The Second Term Around Countering Climate Change and The Fight For Democracy

• Offer A Big Reform/Clean Up Washington and A Strategy To Raise Life Expentency

Here’s the opening:

I start off 2024 very optimistic about Joe Biden’s reelection and excited for what a second Biden term may bring. My working take on 2024 is that Joe Biden is a very good president, the country is better off today than when he came to office, and he will have a persuasive case for reelection. The Democratic Party has been winning elections all across the country, particularly since the Dobbs Supreme Court decision in 2022. The Republicans, on the other hand, are making a huge mistake in renominating Donald Trump, who is far more degraded, extreme, and dangerous than he was in 2016 or 2020. Current commentary is wildly discounting his negatives, but it will be hard for him to overcome them once the Biden campaign reminds voters of what Trump has done and plans to do. For all these reasons, it is far more likely that Joe Biden wins than loses this year.

But the aspiration of Democrats and our pro-democracy allies must be not just to win the election, but to win big, making 2024 a clear and unequivocal rejection of MAGA. For only once Republicans view MAGA as a political loser will they begin to walk away from their recent reckless embrace of extremism.

So, in that spirit of going big, here are four things Biden world should consider (and in some cases may already be working on). The first two are campaign-related. The second two for when the president begins to roll out his agenda for a second term:

Reimagine and Reinvent the War Room

When we think of the campaign war room, we think of 20 sweaty kids drinking Red Bulls and cranking out TikTok videos. But this year, I hope the Biden campaign can reimagine the war room as two, three, four million patriots networked together, amplifying the good works and the second-term agenda of the president through their networks. Republicans have what I call a “loudness advantage” over Democrats, and for Democrats to have the election they want this year, they need to be creative in finding ways to close that gap. The Biden team should ask supporters not just to help on campaigns in all the traditional ways, but also to become “information warriors” this year and help their side get very, very loud. We left the broadcast era of politics long ago, and it is time to start building campaigns not around top-down advertising but around bottom-up and shareable organic content appropriate for the networked information age we are now in.

You can read the whole essay here, and the broader package has some terrific essays I think you will find useful. Enjoy.

Upcoming Events

• Tonight, February 8, 7pm EST - The monthly gathering of Hopium Paid Subscribers. Register here, and subscribe today if you want to become part of this wonderful community. A video recording of this event will be available to Hopium paid subscribers who cannot make it live.

• Thursday, February 15, 7pm EST - The Monthly Gathering of the entire Hopium community, now 37,000 strong! I will kick it off with 20 minutes of opening remarks about our current political moment and then take your questions. Register here. Hopefully we will be celebrating a big Suozzi win, together! A video recording of this event will be available to all members of the Hopium community who cannot make it live.

The 2024 Elections - Posts, Presentations, Interviews and Pods

• Hopium Posts - Another Huge Jobs Report, Notes on Recent Polling, The Democratic Party Is Strong, The Republican Party Is Broken, Building The Most Powerful Democratic Machine We’ve Ever Had, Not Clear Israel-Hamas War Is Hurting Biden

• Video Interviews - MSNBC’s Last Word, CNN’s Amanpour, MeidasTouch, David Pakman

• Podcasts (Audio) - The Ezra Klein Show, Deep State Radio w/David Rothkopf and Tara McGowan, Rick Wilson’s Enemies List

So I did a 15 minute sit down Tuesday on why I am optimistic about Biden’s chances with Christiane Amanpour for her daily CNN international broadcast. As it was for an international audience, she came at US politics at a slightly different angle than usual, making it a really interesing discussion. I share the interview with you, in two parts:

Let’s Do More, Worry Less - In our 2024 spirit of growth and expansion, I’m encouraging members of the Hopium community to get involved and take an action in four campaigns and projects, below. A hearty thank you to the thousands here who’ve already donated, volunteered and spread some Hopium:

• Flip NY-3 - Tom Suozzi leads in the early polls and will win if we give Tom the resources and volunteers he needs. The election is Feb. 13th and early in person voting has begun so please take an action to help Tom today! If you want to learn more watch my recent interview with Tom, and take an action here:

  Donate - Learn More - Canvass - Make Calls - Watch My Interview w/Tom

• Elect Joe And Kamala, Beat Trump - Please donate to Biden-Harris today, join the campaign and start planning for what you will do to help them spread their message through your networks and win the core 7 battlegrounds AZ, GA, MI, NC, NV, PA, WI. Beating Trump is Job 1 this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Get Early Resources to North Carolina, Our Most Important 2024 Expansion State - Our number one Presidential battleground expansion opportunity this year is North Carolina, and I am encouraging the Hopium community to support the Democratic Party of North Carolina and its dynamic new chair, Anderson Clayton. Watch my recent interview with Anderson and learn how to donate and volunteer here. Help us turn Carolina blue!

• Spread Hopium - Help me bring Hopium to more people this year. Our goal is to get to 50,000 total subscribers by March 31st (we are at 37,000 today). Please encourage others in your network to sign up and become part of this wonderful community of proud patriots and info warriors today!

Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon