The Spanberger and Padilla Addresses - A Better Day Is Coming

Kaite Phang is dropping by at 11am EST for a live discussion - join us!

Morning all. Let’s start today with our arguments, not his. For last night was grotesque. A rancid last hurrah of failed and malicious politics. A better day is coming, and we heard about that better day from Governor Spanberger and Senator Padilla.

Here is Governor Abigail Spanberger’s terrific address:

And here is the Spanish language address from Senator Alex Padilla:

Let’s watch and share these compelling addresses widely through out networks. And let’s not see them as responses. This is us, making our case to the American people, on offense (not defense) as we will be tirelessly over the next eight plus months.

Katie Phang is coming by at 11am EST to talk about the State of the Union and what comes next. You can join us by clicking here at 11am. Going to be a good one!

I’ll be getting together with paid subscribers at 7pm EST tonight for a SOTU recap. Register our gathering here, and I’ll be sharing our discussion in tomorrow morning’s Hopium post. Learn how to get notified when one of our live discussions begins here, and visit our Events page to see upcoming scheduled live events and releases of recording discussions. We have a lot of great discussions coming up in the next few weeks!

Here are three pieces I’ve written on the terrible state of our union:

• New Polls Show People Ain’t Buying What Trump Is Selling

• A Slower Economy, Higher Prices, Degraded Health Care, Pretti And Good, Epstein Coverup, Unprecedented Corruption, Unending Chaos - The State Of Our Union Is Troubled

• The State Of The Union Is That We’ve All Had Enough Of Trump’s Bullshit

To prep for the State of the Union we hosted a terrific set of experts this past week:

• Economist Rob Shapiro explained why the battle to counter Trump’s failed, ruinous, and self-enriching economic agenda is really only beginning

• Rep. Delia Ramirez talked about the fight to rein in ICE, and the need for us to stand up for our neighbors

• Historian Phillips O’Brien made it very clear that we should be doing much more to challenge Trump’s selling out of Ukraine and Europe to Russia

• Colette Delawalla and Dr. Jenna Norton spoke to us about the critical fight against Trump’s anti-science and MAGA mysticism

• Iowa Dem Chair Rita Hart talked about their special election success and why 2026 is looking like a year of opportunity in Iowa

I have a new thread up on Bluesky with the many charts and graphs I’ve been sharing here that make clear how much Trump has failed the American people this past year.

Let’s not respond today, or center our work around him. Let’s get up going on offense, making our case, and summon all the energy of the Fire Horse as we do our important work, together.

For last night was grotesque. A rancid last hurrah of failed and malicious politics. A better day is coming.

Now, Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $249,100 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here.

We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew!

This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing in late March.

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $381,400 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $39,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and learn more. Amazing start everyone!

Winning Ohio - $63,400 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! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who does a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $79,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $133,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Keep working hard everyone. The momentum is with us, and we need to keep fighting as hard as we can - Simon