Happy Monday all. Got a few things for you today:
Tough New Biden Ad - The Biden-Harris campaign has launched a powerful new ad in the battlegrounds, “Character Matters.” Please watch, and share aggressively through your networks:
From the campaign’s press release this morning:
Today, Team Biden-Harris is announcing a historic $50 million paid media campaign targeting voters in battleground states for the month of June alone, as part of its aggressive and comprehensive efforts to engage and activate the voters who will decide this election. The campaign includes historic, seven-figure investments into reaching Black, Latino, and AANHPI voters – the largest investments to date.
Just over a week before the first presidential debate, the campaign is releasing a new ad that lays out the choice Americans will see on the debate stage on June 27 between President Biden, who is fighting for the American people every day, and convicted felon Donald Trump who is fighting for himself.
“Character Matters,” reminds voters who Donald Trump is: a criminal convicted on 34 felony counts and found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud. The ad makes clear that Trump’s status as a convicted felon isn’t just a label – it’s a reflection of a spiraling and unhinged man who will do anything for power, revenge, and retribution. “Character Matters” draws a sharp and startling contrast to President Biden who is focused on improving the lives of hardworking Americans, lowering costs, and taking on corporate greed, forcing big corporations to pay their fair share.
As a part of the June $50 million paid media campaign, “Character Matters” will run on general market television and Connected TV in all battleground states and on national cable.
“Trump approaches the first debate as a convicted felon who continues to prove that he will do anything and harm anyone if it means more power and vengeance for Donald Trump,” said Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler. “That’s why he was convicted, that’s why he encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol on January 6, and it's why his entire campaign is an exercise in revenge and retribution; because that man is blind to the people a president should be serving and will do absolutely anything for his own personal gain and for his own power.
“Character matters, and the President of the United States should be someone who understands that the highest office in the land is about you and your family – not a vehicle to enrich yourself. That is the ethos Joe Biden puts into the job every day: to fight for safer communities, for the middle class, and to ensure that corporations are paying their fair share. It’s a stark contrast, and it’s one that matters deeply to the American people. And it’s why we will make sure that every single day we are reminding voters about how Joe Biden is fighting for them, while Donald Trump runs a campaign focused on one man and one man only: himself.”
It’s great to see the campaign leaning into “The Choice” we’ve been discussing here, and fighting to make this critical month of June, when so many people are beginning to tune into the election, count. To recap, we had a good week last week. As I wrote Thursday there is evidence now the election may be turning bluer - 5 credible national polls in the past week showed movement of 2-4 points for Biden. We also had another strong Dem overperformance in a House special election, and thankfully the European right dramatically underperformed public polls last week, as our right has been doing for several years now. The jobs report a week ago blew past expectations, and last week we learned that inflation was zero in May and prices of many items are falling. Joe Biden is a good President, the country is clearly better off today.
Finally, the impulsive Idiot in Chief acted all crazy and blew his meeting with CEOs, and trashed the city in the battleground state where Republicans are having their convention in a few weeks. Great work Donald!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a good week last week. Let’s make this one even better.
Surgeon General Calls for Warning Labels on Social Media - In a NYT Op-ed today, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on social media. As someone who has written frequently about our “degraded information environment” I enthusiastically endorse this proposal and will be encouraging Congress to act upon on it in the coming days.
One of the most important lessons I learned in medical school was that in an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information. You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act quickly.
The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.
It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe. Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior. When asked if a warning from the surgeon general would prompt them to limit or monitor their children’s social media use, 76 percent of people in one recent survey of Latino parents said yes.
To be clear, a warning label would not, on its own, make social media safe for young people. The advisory I issued a year ago about social media and young people’s mental health included specific recommendations for policymakers, platforms and the public to make social media safer for kids. Such measures, which already have strong bipartisan support, remain the priority.
Legislation from Congress should shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content that too often appears in algorithm-driven feeds. The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.
For more on my thoughts about the “degraded information environment” and the need to have a clear national strategy to restore greater information integrity to our discourse, listen to this really compelling new Deep State Radio podcast with me, Tara McGowan and David Rothkopf.
Making June Count - My Interview With Anderson Clayton, The Dynamic, Inspiring Chair of the NC Democratic Party - Today I am re-releasing the interview I did with the great Anderson Clayton a few months ago. It is above. I had never entered it into the new Substack video system, something I needed to do to make it easier for you to watch and share. So if you haven’t watched, please do. Anderson is a very important new leader for Democrats, and I am really happy with the early and aggressive support we’ve provided her and the NC Dems this year. As part of that support I’ll be heading to Raleigh on July 20th for the big NC Dem Unity Dinner. More details on that soon.
As of this morning, we’ve now raised over $500,000 for our Hopium-backed candidates and states in just the past 4 weeks. It’s amazing, impressive, huge! Thank you all. Together, we are making a real difference in this election, and for our country.
Watch our new interviews with Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb, Janelle Bynum (OR-5) and George Whitesides (CA-27). Learn more about the “Check and Checkmate” strategy driving these recommendations. We are making serious progress towards our June 30th make June count fundraising goals. Note that in just a few weeks we’ve already blown past our original Winning The House goal and are now shooting for a new $400,000 stretch goal:
Biden-Harris - $372,000 today, $400,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More
Watch the New Biden-Harris Ad “Flag”
Winning The House - $308,000 today, $400,000 goal - yes!!!!! - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More. We’ve blown past our $300,000 goal and are now shooting for $400,000 - great work everyone!
Arizona/Ruben Gallego - $198,000 today, $300,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More - Watch my interview with Ruben Gallego
North Carolina - $245,000 today, $300,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer | Learn More - Watch my interview with NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton
Nebraska/Blue Dot -$54,000 today, $100,000 goal- Donate | Volunteer | Learn More - Watch my interview with NE Dem Chair Jane Kleeb
Thank you all! Our community of proud patriots and information warriors just keeps bringing it day after day after day. So inspired by your passion, grit, determination and willingness to leave it all out there on the playing field for this great country.
10% Off Annual Hopium Membership in June - As a token of my gratitude for all that you are doing, I’m now offering a 10% discount on annual paid subscriptions for new subscribers through the end of the month. Click on this link to subscribe today. On that link you can also purchase gift or group subscriptions for others you’d like bring into the Hopium community. If you signed up as a paid subscriber in the first half of last year and want to make sure your paid subscription is current and up to date check be sure to visit here.
My stretch goal is to get to 10,000 paid subscribers by June 30th - we are over 9,350 today - which will put Hopium in a financial place to close this election strong. Thanks to all of you who have stepped up and become a paid subscriber in recent days - you are making June count!
June Events, Hopium Hits The Road - I’ve added some new events to the schedule - check ‘em out! Note there is an “Upcoming Events” tab on the Hopium website’s navigation bar where you can always find our latest schedule.
Wed, June 19th, 1pm ET - With Democrats, Things Get Better - Register here. Hopium’s signature presentation, a 25 minuet deep dive on American politics since the Cold War ended and a new age of globalization began. It tells a simple but powerful story - when Democrats are in the White House, things get better in America. When Republicans are we get recessions, higher deficits and American decline.
Thur, June 20, 5pm CT - I’ll be in Madison, Wisconsin for an in-person at a Wisconsin Democratic Party Fundraising event with the great WI Dem Chair Ben Wikler. Please register and donate here. Excited to be heading back into the 2024 battlegrounds, and looking forward to seeing members of the Hopium community too!
Tues, June 25, 730pm ET - The monthly Zoom gathering of the entire Hopium Chronicles community - Register here.
Thur, June 27 - 1st Presidential Debate on CNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sat, June 29 - I’ll be speaking in person at Network NOVA’s 8th Annual Women’s Summit in Tyson’s Corner, VA - More info, register. One of my favorite events of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon
Tough New Biden Ad, My Interview With Anderson Clayton, Check and Checkmate