The Democratic Party Is Strong, So Strong, Right Now. We Are Ready To Win, And Ready To Lead

What An Incredible First Night Of the Democratic Convention/30 Days To Go Until Early, In Person Voting Begins!

What a night folks. This is my ninth Democratic Convention. And what was remarkable to me about last night was how regardless of who spoke - and there was so many incredible speeches last night - the language, the rhetoric, the words were fresh, alive, powerful. While there many familiar voices last night it felt like everyone was diving into this moment - a moment overflowing with joy, hope possibility and also danger - with everything they got and together began writing a new and powerful chapter in the proud history of the Democratic Party.

We know that America’s greatness is not in her past, but it’s in her future

Our Party is once again being called by history to rise up and defend freedom and democracy. What we saw last night, and what we see in all the work millions of you do everyday, was a Party enthusiastically answering that call.

For what I think has become the ideology of our Party, our creed, nine years into Trump’s assault on America is love of country. We are now a party of proud American patriots bound together in this fight to ensure that freedom prevails over dominion, that our way of life, this great nation and its remarkably good people - a nation of football coaches and a daughter of immigrants, of preachers and union electricians, of homecoming queens and scrappy kids from Scranton - prevails against the extraordinary threat Trump, MAGA and his foreign allies represent. What we are tapping into right now and drawing from is the greatness and inspiration of the American story itself.

You could feel our speakers last night digging deep and reaching for the heights. They understood the gravity and possibility of the moment, and were trying to do their utmost to meet it. There was so much passion last night, so much emotion. It was electric, intense, compelling. Our Party is so strong right now, oh so strong. How proud were you last night watching this parade of articulate, inspiring leaders just bringing it again and again? It was an incredible. I am so proud of my Party, our leaders, each other this morning.

I am also really grateful for the leaders and staff of the Biden-Harris-Walz campaign who, despite the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges of the last few months, just keep performing at an unbelievable level every day. They too have let go and are diving into this moment, and letting a new campaign, with new language, new leaders, new purpose, new visuals, new social, emerge each day. There is a powerful sense of invention running through the Democratic Party right now, as if we are all inventing this new thing, together. And that is part of what makes this moment so compelling - we are watching a new, powerful and joyful Democratic Party emerge in front of our eyes, every day.

Our paid subscribers had a very spirited live chat last night. Here’s what one of our community members, Mark, said about last night:

Kamala Harris’ appearance on stage was a complete surprise and electrified the hall. Everything that was presented seemed very effective. The two things that made me weep were the personal stories about abortion, and when Joe Biden walked out on stage. President Biden’s speech, with the lead-in from Jill and daughter Ashley, was deeply emotional for the crowd, who were all elected as delegates for Joe Biden. It was a strong effective speech. We were all prepared for Kamala and Doug’s appearance on stage once they left their box. Nonetheless, the obvious affection, and somehow the young grandchild and the rest of the family, made it deeply moving. Hillary Clinton’s speech was amazing, and unexpectedly so. I was screaming my head off as much as anyone, but it just didn’t occur to me how relevant and wise she would be. A big, big moment. When Raphael Warnock (who gave an incredible speech) followed Andy Beshear, the thought occurred to me how diverse and strong the Democratic Party is right now. And, finally, this was only Day 1.

There were hundreds and hundreds of comments in this vein last night in the chat. Was so great to see so many of you so excited, thrilled, ready to rumble!

So let’s talk about Day 2 now. For those of you in Chicago I will be speaking later this morning about the Hispanic vote at a great event hosted by USC’s Annenberg School. It starts at 10am CT and will be at the Hilton Chicago, Astoria Room, 3rd Floor. You can RSVP here.

For Hopium paid subscribers we will have another live chat tonight. For Hopium paid subscribers in Chicago this week (even if you are not attending the Convention) I’m hosting a reception for Hopium paid subscribers and friends of the Hopium family tomorrow, Wednesday at 2pm CT. I’ll be sending out the details of this event in a separate email but note that it will be the very first Hopium event I’ve hosted since we began this thing 17 months ago. If you want to join the fun paid subscribers are having here at Hopium you can subscribe here, today. Our 10% sale on an annual Hopium subscription runs through Thursday night. Looking forward to seeing folks tomorrow!

In the spirit of not letting up and rising to the moment, I share a few more things. First, my two most presentations on the 2024 election and the greatness and goodness of the Democratic Party I released a few days ago, still timely and relevant:

• Harris Takes The Lead - My latest deep dive on the 2024 election and why I would much rather be us than them

• With Democrats, Things Get Better - my data-filled reflection on the greatness and goodness of the Democratic Party

Next, a pitch for the candidates and state parties we’ve been working for this year. Our next Winning The House Thursday phonebanking and postcarding Thursday will be for Josh Riley on Thursday, August 29th. We had a great turnout for Will Rollins last Thursday. I hope you will plan spending your Thursday nights with us in the home stretch!

On Saturday I offered an in-depth post on the strategy behind our candidate and state party endorsements, including our Presidential battleground “check” and “checkmate” strategy. 30 days to go before early in voting begins and we just need to leave it all out there on the playing field, together:

• Harris-Walz!!!!!! - $861,000 raised, $1m goal - Donate | Volunteer | Merch | The Harris-Walz YouTube Channel - Let’s keep working it people!

• Winning The House - $862,000 raised, $1m goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More. Watch our recent discussion with Leader Hakeem Jeffries. To go deeper catch one of our interviews with our great candidates - Janelle Bynum (OR-5), George Whitesides (CA-27), Kirsten Engel (AZ-06) Will Rollins (CA-41), Laura Gillen (NY-04), Rudy Salas (CA-22), Josh Riley (NY-19), Tony Vargas (NE-02) and Adam Gray (CA-13).

• North Carolina - $395,000 raised, $500,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton

• Arizona/Ruben Gallego - $329,000 raised, $400,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with Ruben Gallego

• Nebraska/Blue Dot - $147,000 raised, $150,000 goal- Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with NE Dem Chair Jane Kleeb

Here are ways you can do even more:

• Commit to Vote on Day 1 and get everyone you know to join you. Early voting begins in three states on September 20th - just 30 days away!

• Help grow the Hopium community. Use this link to encourage others sign others up to be a Hopium subscriber during our Democratic Convention subscriptions sale (10% off through August 22nd!). You can gift a subscription to a friend or student here and get group rates too. If you have changed credit cards or moved you can you update your payment information or check your renewal status follow these instructions from Substack. Let’s keep our community growing the Hopium flowing!

Keep working hard all. Proud of my party this morning, and proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon