Understanding And Winning In An Evolving Political Battlefield
A New Hopium Chronicles Project
8/17/26 - We’ve launched a new project at Hopium to study, discuss, and counter anything Trump might do to illicitly retain power in an election that is breaking hard against him and the Republicans Party. We are launching this project to demystify Trump’s tactics, make them less “scary,” and more widely understood; and by making them more widely understood we make it far less likely they will be successful.
This year we are running against a political party that no longer feels bound by law or democratic norms; has already openly conspired with a hostile foreign power to win an election, and launched an insurrection to try to overturn another one; and has a desperate, corrupt, failing leader who fears prison and ruin if we win. We were surprised and unprepared for Russia’s intervention in 2016, and Trump’s assault on our elections in 2020 and 2021. We cannot be surprised and unprepared this year. Or scared. It is just the work we must do, like making phone calls and writing postcards and giving money to campaigns. The battlefield evolves, and so do we. It is key to how we will win in 2026 and take back Congress in 2027. Together.
On August 12th I joined Jane Kleeb of the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) in announcing a new national project based on some of this work. It’s called the New Battlefield Project and is designed to help protect our elections this fall and ensure a peaceful transfer of power in January. You can learn more here. Here is a brief summary of what we announced:
Enhanced Election Protection - we will ensure that for the first time ever every state and territory has a full time, qualified Election Protection Director; we will also be launching a nationwide training program to help train volunteers to support their state parties in protecting the elections this fall.
A National Early Vote Campaign - Pushing our family to vote early makes it more likely we win and harder for them to cheat. This is something we’ve been promoting here for some time, and it is a vital, vital effort to help us win.
A War Room - we will ensuring that the states and territories are tied to one another and to all the national party committees in real time. So if something illicit happens anywhere it can be understood immediately everywhere. We will be also be bringing on national security professionals to help advise the states if things arise that require their expertise.
Here is a clip of me talking about the new project from Austin last week:
More on this exciting project soon!
So dive in. Read, watch, listen and let’s get to work everyone……
Readings
Timothy Snyder, Thinking About - “The Next Coup Attempt: And How To Stop It” (Link)
Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic - “The First Post-Reality Campaign: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is waging cognitive warfare on a new scale” (Link)
Cheeseman, Bianchi, & Cyr, Foreign Affairs - “The Illiberal International: Authoritarian Cooperation Is Reshaping the Global Order” (Link)
Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare - “The Enduring Truths Of The Mueller Report” (Link)
Lawrence Nordan and Kate Lurie, The Brennan Center - “Foreign Influence vs. Foreign Interference in Elections” (Link)
Carrie Kahn, NPR - Iran Propaganda Machine Trolls Trump (Link)
AP - Iran encourages Gaza war protests in US to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says - (Link)
On “Red Wave” Narrative Polling
Notes On Why The Polling Was So Off In Michigan (Link)
Bill Scher, Washington Monthly - The Platner Collapse Is a Cautionary Tale About Polling
NYT, The ‘Red Wave’ Washout: How Skewed Polls Fed A False Election Narrative
My review of the failed effort to flood the zone with juiced GOP polls to red wave the NJ Governor’s race in 2025
Some Of My Writing On These Topics
Winning In An Evolving Political Battlefield (Link)
On The Importance Of Voting Early (Link)
Trump’s Incredible Meltdown, Rigging Elections, And The “Majority Illusion (Link)
The Importance Of Character And Virtue In The 2026 Elections (Link)
Conversations
Conversations - 2025
