Morning all. Have a few things for you today……
We just got the September jobs report this morning, and it was a crappy one - only 29,000 jobs created, well below estimates, and downward revisions in July and August of 60,000 jobs. This means that net-net we lost jobs this month while average hourly earnings also only grew by 0.1 percent - also a disappointing number, particularly given that inflation is running at a 3.4% annual rate. What we learned this morning is that the economy is slowing and workers are falling further and further behind.
Here’s NBC’s coverage of the report:
And even Fox can’t BS its way through this crappy report:
A reminder that job growth has slowed under Trump:
Trump still has the worst jobs record of any President since Hoover:
The warnings from Wall Street about the mounting dangers of Trump’s escalating economic and geopolitical failures are getting far louder and more ambitious. Here is an editorial from Bloomberg that ran at 6am this morning:
So, in sum, yes Trump is a titanic f*ck up; he deserves to get his ass kicked in the election; and we have to be prepared to inherit extraordinary domestic and global challenges when take power next January.
We also have to recognize that this ongoing failure of Trump’s regime and his political project makes it more likely he is going to attempt to cheat to keep the Republicans in power. The illegal ads he is running now, paid for by all of us, is a sign that the election cheating has begun. Last night we saw something that Marc Elias has been warning about - Republican officials in the states colluding with the Trump regime to undermine trust and potentially disrupt the election:
Georgia’s Republican-controlled election board invited the Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday to declare the state’s voting system unlawful before the upcoming midterm elections.
In a letter Thursday, State Election Board (SEB) Executive Director James Mills (R) asked the DOJ to “prohibit” the state’s use of voting machines previously certified by the federal government.
Mills also asked the DOJ to “set a binding six-month deadline” to force the state to phase out machines that he asked it to deem illegal.
The request is an extraordinary assault on Georgia’s voting system by unelected officials appointed to make and enforce the state’s election rules. It was also sent despite several SEB members — including the chairman — denouncing federal involvement in state election procedures.
Yes, their illicit op to manipulate the polls also continues. 8 new polls this week:
Coupling these developments with the Supreme Court’s ridiculous decision last week to green light the DHS SAVE database we have to acknowledge now that we’ve now entered a new and more dangerous stage of whatever dark and desperate schemes Trump, Blanche, and Co have dreamed up to prevent us from taking power next January.
I don’t want to be alarmist here. But we cannot look away, either. As we’ve discussed the Democratic Party and its allies is more prepared for the fuckery to come than we’ve ever been. Our community has done its part and help stand up new capacities for the state parties across the country to counter whatever comes our way. The first step to effectively counter whatever they throw at us is to understand what they are doing, study it, bring it from the shadows to the light, and that is something we will be doing here, every day. Here’s what I wrote to you in August when I launched something here called the “Evolving Battlefield Project”
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.
We cannot be surprised, or scared. The battlefield evolves, and so do we.
For as I’ve said we must take all these illicit efforts and weaponize them against Trump and the Rs, creating a powerful contrast between one party that believes in the American creed, in freedom and democracy, and another that has betrayed it all and wants to tear it all down. We need to talk about what they are doing not to scare people but to further degrade Trump and his allies, while preparing the public for what is to come.
In related news here is what Zelenskyy is telling the world this world this morning - that their intelligence shows that Trump’s barbaric ally, Putin, has made the decision to crush and depopulate Ukraine this winter (genocide, war crimes). For just as Trump is abandoning rule of law here in the US to try maintain power Putin is abandoning the laws of war to try to prevail in a war he cannot win through conventional means:
This post this morning came out a bit darker than I actually feel right now, for two things can be true at the same time - he continues to do incredible harm to the country and the world, and his political project is crumbling here at home.
As I discussed in my weekly talk I am incredibly optimistic about where we are now and what we can accomplish in these elections. House Dems just announced record fundraising in the third quarter. The DCCC expanded their battlefield this morning, adding 8 more races to their watch list. There is no good news for the Rs. Things keep deteriorating for them across the country. Trump got his worst major poll of the cycle yesterday, clocking in at 31%-69% in a AP-NORC poll.
We are on the cusp of having the election we all want to have, and need to keep our heads down my friends and keep working as hard as we can. We also had a slew of great discussions with candidate and party leaders on the frontlines this week. You can find them all here.
And yes, my friends, it is that time. Time to…..
Three things you can do in addition to supporting our intrepid candidates and state parties:
Become an
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**Our Winning The House - Stake In The Ground Fund **- Donate | $1,545,100 raised, $2,000,000 goal (new stretch goal) | Watch interviews with all twelve candidates |This is our #1 fund, updated now with new intel to include the twelve most competitive races where money and volunteers are most needed (largely due to the expense of the district, and understanding now where Republicans have decided to stand and fight).
Our * Stake In The Ground Fund* now includes Jamie Ager (NC-11), Rebecca Bennett (NJ-7), Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Cait Conley (NY-17), Sarah Trone Garriott (IA-03), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), Christina Hines (MI-10), Brian Poindexter (OH-7), Bobby Pulido (TX-15), Manny Rutinel (CO-8), and Randy Villegas (CA-22).
If we win these twelve races the House flips - period. So let’s get on with the flippin’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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These are the majority makers in the Senate this cycle, and we need with everything we got to win all six.
**Our New Growing Our House Majority Fund **- Donate | $594,100 raised, $1,000,000 goal | Watch interviews with all eighteen candidates | We’ve combined our Second and Third Waves Funds and added some candidates from our OG Winning The House Fund in a new fund we are calling Growing The House Majority. The idea is simple. We win the House with the first fund. We grow our majority with this one.
This fund now splits a contribution evenly among 18 candidates - Bob Brooks (PA-07), Rebecca Cooke (WI-03), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Sean McCann (MI-04), Johnny Garcia (TX-35), Bob Harvie (PA-01), Lindsay James (IA-02), Jake Johnson (MN-01), Jessica Killin (CO-5), Nancy Lacore (SC-01), Chaz Molder (TN-05), Jonathan Nez (AZ-02), Dr. Richard Pan (CA-06), Denise Powell (NE-02), Dr. Amish Shah (AZ-01), Janelle Stelson (PA-10), Shannon Taylor (VA-01), and Marni von Wilpert (CA-48).
A reminder that the maximum that a donor can contribute to any Federal candidate for the general election is $3,500, however that money is donated.
Support The State Parties’ Election Protection Program - Donate | $89,300 raised, $100,000 new stretch goal | We’ve launched a new, targeted fundraising campaign to help get the new election protection program of the State Democratic Parties, one this community helped develop, off the ground.
Winning Alaska (New) - Donate | $9,500 raised, $150,000 goal | Our Winning Alaska campaign splits a contribution evenly among Mary Peltola for Senate, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for governor, and the Alaska Democratic Party and its great Chair, Eric Croft.
**Winning Georgia ***- *Donate | $45,100 raised, $150,000 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 | $59,100 raised, $150,000 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 | $93,100 raised, $150,000 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 battle-tested Chair, Charlie Dingman.
Winning North Carolina - Donate | $73,100 raised, $200,000 goal | Our Winning North Carolina campaign splits a contribution evenly among Roy Cooper for Senate, Anita Earls for the state Supreme Court, and the NC Democratic Party and it’s ass-kicking chair, Anderson Clayton.
Winning Ohio - Donate | $214,100 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 | $30,100 raised, $150,000 goal - Our Winning Wisconsin campaign splits contributions evenly among David Crowley for Governor and the Wisconsin Democratic Party (and its terrific Chair Devin Remiker) 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 | $685,100 raised, $750,000 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!
Friends, we’ve hit out $100,000 goal for home stretch funds for Hopium and our work. So grateful, so thankful to all of you who have contributed.!!! I am retiring the fund for now and will get back to working hard for our candidates and party committees!
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Keep working hard all. For we have a country to save, and elections to win all across the country, together! - Simon
