Happy Monday all. Got a few things for you today:
The Promise of America - Governor Walz released this short video reflecting back on his exciting first week as our Vice Presidential candidate:
Harris leads this morning by 2.4 pts in the 538 national poll tracker. Trump led by 3.2 pts just a few weeks ago. New NYT polling has her up 50%-46% in the three Blue Wall states, MI, PA, WI. New polls late last week had her leading in AZ and NV, and tied in GA. On Sunday the advocacy group Carolina Forward released a new poll showing the Vice President tied with felon Trump in North Carolina 46%-46%, and Josh Stein leading Mark Robinson 46%-36% (+10). This data is very similar to another poll I saw over the weekend that is not yet public. My friends it’s clear now the Tar Heel State is in play, and if we do the work we can win it this November.
We have the momentum right now, a powerful ticket, more money, far superior organization and our candidates are actually campaigning, visiting the battlegrounds, not hiding and madtruthing all day long. In every imaginable 38 days before early voting begins I would much rather be us than them.
CBS News has released a new interview with President Biden. Check out inspiring bit:
A new Axios report documents how much violent crime and murder rates have plummeted across the US this year:
New preliminary data from major U.S. cities shows a sharp drop in violent crime in the first half of the year — more than 25% in some communities — as the COVID-era crime wave recedes.
Why it matters: The drop in violent crime puts a serious dent in one of the most frequently used lines of attack by former President Trump and his allies, who have sought to tie Democrats to the issue since 2020.
It also gives Vice President Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor in San Francisco and California attorney general, a potent defense against attacks from the right on crime.
By the numbers: An Axios analysis of data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association found an overall 6% decline in violent crime among 69 cities during the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
54 of the 69 major cities in the report saw drops in violent crime — defined as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — in the first half of 2024, according to the Axios review.
Columbus, Ohio, experienced the largest percentage decline in violent crime in the nation, with a massive 41% drop so far in 2024. Omaha, Nebraska, was second with a 30% decrease.
Miami and Washington, D.C., so far, have seen 29% declines in violent crime.
Austin, Texas, saw a 28% drop, followed by New Orleans with a 26% decrease. Both cities have been under fire for rising crime rates in recent years.
The intrigue: The Axios review also found that the number of homicides in the 69 reported cities fell by more than 17% during the first half of 2024 compared to the last period last year.
All of this is a reminder of how remarkable and successful the Biden-Harris Administration has been:
In the last few weeks we’ve gotten repeated confirmation of the success of the Biden Presidency - inflation was *fell* last month, was zero the month before and has been at the Fed’s target rate of 2% over the past six months; crime and murder rates are way down; gas prices are down; the flow to the border is down and it is now below there it was at the end of Trump’s Administration. We’ve had the strongest economic recovery of any advanced economy in the world, the best job market since the 1960s, the lowest uninsured rate in American history, the deficit is trillions less, the Dow has broken 40,000 and all three indices continue hover in record territory. Domestic oil, gas and renewable production continue to be at all time highs leaving America more energy independent than it has been in decades. The Wall Street Journal called the American economy the “envy of the world,” and the Economist just wrote about the unprecedented start up boom America is experiencing right now. Biden’s big three investment bills have dramatically accelerated the energy transition necessary to combat climate change and will be creating opportunities and jobs for our workers for decades to come.
Joe Biden promised to make things better for all of us, to get us successfully to the other side of COVID. And he has, and he will be known in history as one of our best Presidents, a true patriot, an American Cincinnatus.
For more on our new, bluer election watch my new video presentation on the 2024 election, check out this new Deep State Radio podcast with me, David Rothkopf and Tara McGowan, catch the Vice President’s new ads running in the battlegrounds, read my recent post which talks about how historically strong the Democratic Party is right now, and review Saturday’s post which dives into the new NYT polling that found Vice President Harris with 4 point leads in MI, PA, WI.
Be sure you are doing everything you can for the Harris-Walz campaign now. Donate here, volunteer or buy some of their fun new merch. You also catch the magical Harris-Walz rallies live or watch recordings on the campaign’s YouTube channel. Have friends over to watch these extraordinary rallies, build your weeks around them. Far better than most of the other stuff on TV these days!
My New Winning The House Interview With Tony Vargas (NE-02), Working From Joy, Supporting Our Hopium-backed Candidates and State Parties - I am excited to release a new interview with Tony Vargas (above), our great, Hopium-backed candidate running in NE-2, the blue dot. Watch our interview, and please consider donating to our 11 candidates working to flip the House, donate to Tony directly or you can sign up to volunteer for him from anywhere in the country.
On Saturday I offered an in-depth post on the strategy behind our candidate and state party endorsements. 38 days to go before early voting starts and we just need to leave it all out there on the playing field everyone!
Harris-Walz!!!!!! - $847,000 raised, $1m goal - Donate | Volunteer | Merch | The Harris-Walz YouTube Channel - Let’s keep working it people!
Winning The House - $808,000 raised, $1m goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More. Watch our discussion with Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Come to our next Hopium Winning The House Thursday for Will Rollins (CA-41) - register here. Watch our interviews of Janelle Bynum (OR-5), George Whitesides (CA-27), Kirsten Engel (AZ-06) Will Rollins (CA-41), Laura Gillen (NY-04), Rudy Salas (CA-22) and Josh Riley (NY-19) - great candidates all!
North Carolina - $370,000 raised, $500,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton
Arizona/Ruben Gallego - $319,000 raised, $400,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with Ruben Gallego
Nebraska/Blue Dot - $137,000 raised, $150,000 goal- Donate | Volunteer | Learn More | Be sure to watch my interview with NE Dem Chair Jane Kleeb
Commit to Vote on Day 1 and get everyone you know to join you. Early voting begins in three states on September 20th - just 38 days away!
Help grow our community. Use this link to encourage others sign others up to be a Hopium subscriber. 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!
Watch my With Dems presentation on the greatness and goodness of the Democratic Party, this six minute video on the incredible stakes in this election.
We have three events this week:
Wednesday, 7pm ET - Our Monthly Hopium-wide Get Together - I’ll be kicking it off at 7pm with a 20 minute overview of our new, bluer election and then open it up for Q & A. Register here. Lots of exciting news to discuss! This event will be recorded and shared here for those who cannot make it live.
Thursday, 730pm ET - Hopium Winning The House Thursday For Will Rollins (CA-41) - Excited for this one! Our third postcarding and phonebanking event for one of our 11 Hopium endorsed candidates. You can register here for our event this week, and note when doing so you can now select which breakout room you want to join. We have trainings for both activities live each evening, and for those who are more experienced you can a select a breakout room without training and just get to work. Visit here to learn more about ordering postcards for these events. Each week we will be reaching our to core Democratic voters and encouraging them to Vote on Day 1 and letting them know when early in person and mail/drop box voting begins in their states. We are now 39 days away from the first day of early voting in the Presidential election! It’s game time, everyone.
Friday, 1pm ET - With Democrats, Things Get Better - On Friday I’ll be doing a live showing of my signature presentation, With Democrats, Things Get Better. With Dems is a 30 meditation on the greatness and goodness of the Democratic Party, and will be a great way to prep for our Convention next week. Register here and encourage others to join you - the more the merrier.
With Dems will be recorded and shared for those who can’t make it live, and it is new and updated each time so even if you saw it a few months ago there will be new data and insights. This will be the first With Dems since the Vice President became our candidate so it will have to be new and fresh!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, the other guy, a rapist, fraudster, traitor and felon, is profoundly unfit and deeply unwell:
Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon
The Promise Of America, Joe Biden Is A Great President, We Can Win North Carolina, My Interview w/Tony Vargas (NE-2)