Afternoon all. Every month or so I am lucky enough to hang out with Stuart Stevens of Lincoln Square for an hour or so to talk politics. Today we were looking forward to talking about our big wins in the elections last week. Instead, we spent most of the time talking about where the Dems go now after 8 Senate Dems broke from the caucus last night and voted to re-open the government.
I didn’t really know what to expect from our discussion today but it turned out to be a measured and thoughtful - and remarkably optimistic - look ahead in our ongoing battle against Trump and MAGA. We talked about how our rising generation of leaders is far more compelling than theirs; that the cycle is far more likely to be a continuation of last week’s blue wave than a close, competitive election next year; that it is going to be hard, very hard for the Republicans to defend Trump, his failed government and his incredibly unpopular agenda in the months ahead; the need now, finally, for Democrats to better understand strong and weak, and how voters just rewarded a party as seen as fighting for them; and that Trump himself is not just unpopular but in profound physical and cognitive decline, a weakened figure in every way we understand weakness.
Perhaps my favorite part of the discussion is Stuart’s effective and powerful mocking of JD Vance for his recent spirited defense of young Nazis. It alone is worth the price of admission……
I know many are down today, and for good reason. But our discussion ends up being a reminder that structurally, as Stuart says, our hand is much stronger than theirs, and we cannot lose heart. As I wrote in this morning’s post we just had important wins, really important wins, and at some point we all have to dust ourselves and get back in the business of doing what we do here at Hopium - mitigate the damage Trump is doing, advance our agenda, and win back as much power as we can through elections.
Enjoy this attempt to make sense of a complicated day from two guys who’ve seen a lot, and keep working hard all - Simon
