Greetings everyone. Happy Friday! I’ll be joining our good friends at Network Nova at 12:25pm ET to do an election update for their wonderful Friday Power Lunch. Register here. Join us! These are always fun and uplifting events with great grassroots leaders…..
Lots of news over the last few days. Much of it is bad for Republicans…..
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has a powerful editorial that breaks down the new proof that US Senator Ashley Moody and other leaders of the DeSantis Administration stole money from sick children to fund their political projects. Big new development in Florida politics…..
More……
** After promising a short war, Trump finds his second term damaged by Iran **(WaPo)
** Judge blocks Trump’s mail-in voting plan, again **(Politico)
** Senator calls for criminal investigation of RFK Jr after Guardian report (**The Guardian
** Wall Street Loved Scott Bessent and Kevin Warsh. Not Anymore** (NYT)
** US Housing Starts Plummet 12.4% in July** (NAHB)
** Trump’s Cabinet is fanning out to help juice the base. It’s not going as planned** (Politico)
** Judge rules Trump administration’s Anthropic blacklisting is illegal (**Politico
** Fed’s preferred inflation gauge shows core prices rose 3.3% annually in July **(CNBC). An excerpt:
The personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Fed uses as its preferred forecasting tool, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.7%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Both were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.But stripping out volatile food and energy costs, core PCE posted respective gains of 0.2% and 3.3%, in line with forecasts. While the Fed considers both measures, policymakers generally see core inflation as the better measure of longer-term trends.
Trump has not just lost the Iranian War. He and Putin are losing the war in Ukraine too - ** C.I.A. Chief Delivered Bleak Assessment of Russia’s War in Secretive Moscow Visit (**NYT
John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, made a secretive visit to Moscow this week to privately share his bleak assessment of the state of the Russian war against Ukraine, and to urge the Russians to cut a deal before their military and economic situation gets worse, current and former officials said.
Mr. Ratcliffe delivered the message to Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s F.S.B. intelligence service, and made no threats about potential consequences for the Russian side should President Vladimir V. Putin ignore the C.I.A. director’s assessment and choose to continue fighting.
C.I.A. analysts have long questioned whether Mr. Putin’s advisers have given him honest assessments of the war’s trajectory and toll.
…..Some officials said they hoped that Mr. Putin, a former intelligence officer himself, would see a message from the C.I.A. director as more urgent and credible than communications through normal diplomatic channels.
For much of last year, Mr. Trump and some of his top advisers appeared to hold the belief that a Russian battlefield victory over Ukraine was inevitable because of Russia’s larger population and its nuclear arsenal.But the Russians have suffered massive losses, and their battlefield gains have stalled.
Big blubbery babyman keeps embarrassing himself to the world….
I do a big overview of the current election environment in my new talk, With Ten Weeks To Go Dems Are Closing Strong And Trump Keeps F*cking Up.
In our talk earlier this week economist Rob Shapiro did a terrific job explaining why Trump’s economic strategy has failed, how the economy is likely to get worse and not better, and offered some early ideas about what a comprehensive Democratic economic plan could look like next year.
Our good friend Tom Bonier dropped by this week for a deep dive into how illicit actors manipulate and fake polls to influence our understanding of elections. This one is a bit of a must watch, and will help you prepare for the GOP fuckery to come this fall.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker came by to offer an upbeat assessment of our ability to get to a trifecta in this critical battleground state this November, and reminded us about what strong state parties can do.
Let’s now look at some new ads from around the country…..
From Amy Acton in Ohio:
From Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia:
From Troy Jackson in Maine:
Let’s now close as we do with Hopium’s daily mantra:
There is nothing Trump and MAGA wants more than for us to be fighting with each other and not with him. We have one job now - elect as many of these wonderful candidates running for the House and Senate as we can. It’s where our focus must be. It’s a year of opportunity for us across the country. We must seize it, together.
And, yes, fellow patriots, it’s that time again……
**Our Winning The House Campaign **- Donate | $1,133,100 raised, $1,250,000 goal (new stretch goal) | Donate to all twelve of our initial wave of House challengers with a single contribution split twelve ways | Get to know Jamie Ager (NC-11), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03) by watching our recently recorded Hopium interviews.
Friends, if these twelve courageous candidates win, the House will flip, even with Callais and their rancid mid-decade redistricting. So eyes on the prize here everyone!
**Winning The House - The Second Wave Fund **- Donate | $327,100 raised, $500,000 goal - We’ve launched a second House fund, one supporting candidates who’ve emerged from late, primaries and need a bit more help.
Our newly expanded list now features Rebecca Bennett (NJ-07), Bob Brooks (PA-07), Cait Conley (NY-17), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Dr. Richard Pan (CA-06), Denise Powell (NE-02), Bobby Pulido (TX-15), Manny Rutinel (CO-8), Dr. Amish Shah (AZ-01), Randy Villegas (CA-22), and Marni von Wilpert (CA-48).
A donation to the Second Wave Fund is split evenly among these twelve, and more as other worthy candidates emerge from their primaries. Our total above includes money we’ve raised for directly for each candidate. You can watch interviews with these great candidates here.
Winning The House - The Third Wave Fund - Donate | $23,400 raised, $500,000 goal | We’ve launched this new fund for candidates who have emerged even later from primaries and need a bit more help as we work to expand our map and go deeper into tough terrain. Our initial list - and it may grow - is Christina Hines (MI-10), Lindsay James (IA-02), Jake Johnson (MN-01), Jessica Killin (CO-5), Nancy Lacore (SC-01), and Brian Poindexter (OH-7).
Winning The Senate - $765,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal - Donate | This new fund splits a single donation to our six candidates must likely to flip a Senate seat this November - Sherrod Brown (OH), Roy Cooper (NC), Troy Jackson (ME), Mary Peltola (AK), James Talarico (TX), and Josh Turek (IA).
Our working total includes what we’ve raised for these six so far through direct donations to their campaigns. You can watch our interviews with each of these exciting candidates and/or contribute directly to any of them directly here.
The “Winning” link in each state brings you to a page that includes interviews and more information about the opportunities we have in each state.
**Winning Georgia ***- *Donate | $34,100 raised, $250,000 goal | Our Winning Georgia campaign splits a contribution three ways among Senator Jon Ossoff, gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, and the Georgia Democratic Party and it’s great Chair, Charlie Bailey.
Winning Iowa - Donate | $35,100 raised, $250,000 goal | Our Winning Iowa campaign splits a contribution three ways among Josh Turek for Senate, our gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, and to the Iowa Democratic Party and it’s great Chair, Rita Hart
**Winning Maine **- Donate | $83,400 raised, $250,000 goal | Our Winning Maine campaign splits a contribution evenly among Troy Jackson for Senate, Hannah Pingree for Governor, and the Maine Democratic Party and its Chair Charlie Dingman
Winning Ohio - Donate | $192,100 raised, $250,000 goal | Our Winning Ohio campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton-Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party and its terrific Chair, Kathleen Clyde
Winning Wisconsin - Donate | $4,900 raised, $250,000 goal - Our Winning Wisconsin campaign splits contributions evenly among David Crowley for Governor and the Wisconsin Democratic Party and it’s legislative victory fund. Our community has invested heavily in getting helping Wisconsin Democrats flip both state legislative chambers and finally get a trifecta. Now we must finish the job!
Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - Donate | $658,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal | Join our campaign that has helped expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, all now central battlegrounds in the 2026 election | Contribute to all five state parties with one contribution split evenly among these five critical battlegrounds | Catch interviews with the five intrepid state chairs leading their troops into battle this year - will get you fired up!
You can find interviews with all our candidates state party chairs under the Podcast tab on the main Hopium site, and on our YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify channels, too.
Let’s work to make sure everyone you know is Voting Early** **this year. Learn more about how our political battlefield is changing and how we can best protect our elections this November and ensure a peaceful transfer of power in January. Bring our Resolutions Project to your community. Fight for Hopium’s Agenda and let’s also embrace Leader Jeffries’ new agenda, “Fighting For An Affordable America.” Be grateful that we have so many candidates of strong character running this cycle. Become a paid subscriber to Hopium to help us grow this community of proud, plucky patriots.
In the spirit if informing and not inflaming I’ve set up a new page to help us learn more about the Democratic Socialists Of America (DSA). Additionally, my friend Halie Soifer, the very capable CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, has written a very thoughtful piece with recommendations for how Abdul El-Sayed can address the very real concerns about his candidacy in the Jewish community.
Keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections to win all across the country, together! - Simon
