Greetings all. Stuart Stevens comes by today at noon ET for our monthly deep dive on the 2026 election and our battle against MAGA. Head to the Hopium site at noon to catch us live. Our weekly Hopium paid subscriber call is tonight at 730pm ET, and the new State Party/DNC Democracy Protector training series kicks off tonight at 8pm ET. If you can’t make the training tonight when you head to the mobilize link you can see the full schedule of future trainings. Here is how the state and national party describes this new program, one that ASDC President Jane Kleeb and I announced in Austin, TX a few weeks ago:
Attempts to interfere with our elections are not new. What is unprecedented is the scale and severity with which the federal government is now working to undermine the integrity of our elections. The federal administration has tried to suppress turnout by demanding and challenging state voter rolls, impeding absentee and mail-in voting, requiring proof of citizenship, and moving to gut the Voting Rights Act — all while spreading disinformation about voter security and threatening a federal presence at the polls.
These efforts are designed to do one thing: make voters afraid to show up. They target naturalized citizens, immigrant communities, and Black and brown voters to intimidate them out of exercising their most basic right. That fear is the strategy — and the answer to it is to show up prepared.
That is what Democracy Protectors is. It is our election protection program to document and respond to interference with free and fair elections — lawfully, and in a way that holds up in court. At the center of the program is the trained election observer, who observes, documents, and reports interference while staying fully within the law. Every incident gets captured in one unified record, so our legal, communications, and voter protection teams can respond and hold bad actors accountable.
With the increased investment in state parties from the DNC (and Hopium too) the state parties have far more capacity now, and can do more than they could in the past. This new program is their contribution to protecting our elections in November and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power in January. For us to be successful this November and again in January everyone must step up and do their part, and this “New Battlefield” Project is what the state parties are committing to do over the next months - it is them doing their part. Let’s help them make it successful, together.
Let’s now watch two videos. The first is one of 𝕏my favorite ads of the cycle so far. It’s from Brian Poindexter running in OH-7. It leans hard into “character” and service to community, something that in this age of betrayal and corruption has become a significant electoral advantage for us as Americans desperately seek admirable people to lead them again:
The next one is from James Talarico who does a great explaining why we must oppose the explosion of Flock cameras in our communities across the country:
Trump’s Clown Show Has Become A Raging, Dangerous Dumpster Fire - I’m going to do my best to capture what is in my head this morning but here’s the bottom line - I think the damage Trump has done to America and the world is far greater than is understood right now, and things are getting worse. MAGA has failed utterly, catastrophically, perhaps more profoundly than any ideological approach in American history. The Trumpian dumpster fire is burning with far greater intensity now, and becoming more dangerous for the American people and the people of the world.
When back in power next year Democrats will be inheriting a series of incredibly challenging crises Trump and his allies have foolishly and recklessly created - fiscal, economic, farm economy, health care, Middle East, Ukraine-Russia-NATO, rule of law and democracy here in the US, our cratered standing in the world and the end of Pax Americana……..
Let’s survey the damage that is becoming harder and harder to ignore……
Here’s the home page of the NYT right now…
Here’s today’s Wall Street Journal:
As we’ve been discussing here for months the true reckoning for Trump’s barbaric attacks on our health care system would start to be felt this fall, right before the election, and it has:
From The NYT article:
Large and small employers are bracing for what looks to be the sharpest increase in health care costs in more than two decades. The cost per worker is projected to go up an average of 11 percent next year, or somewhat lower if workers’ insurance benefits are reduced, according to a U.S.
[survey]released Wednesday.
But as bad as these wrecking ball cuts have been to our health care system, the Trump regime is now attempting to take many hundreds of billions of dollars more from our battered health care system without Congressional approval. From Politico:
Hospitals thought losing hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding through GOP-led cuts last year was bad. But coming regulations from the Trump administration could slash their funding even deeper than Congress did.
Two recently proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars more, hospital executives told POLITICO. The rules, which target taxes states use to get more federal Medicaid dollars — and which yield higher payments to hospitals — have prompted hospitals to launch another major lobbying blitz after record spending last year.
“Our core message to CMS is to stick to the statute. Congress cut enough,” said Robert Nelb, director of policy at America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents hospitals serving large Medicaid populations.
“There’s no need to cut any more out of the Medicaid system at a time when the safety net is really struggling,” Nelb added.
If the rules are finalized and they lose hundreds of billions on top of Congress’ funding cuts, hospitals say they’ll be forced to reduce services, lay off workers, consolidate operations or shutter entirely. Some systems are already doing so, telling POLITICO they’ve cut staff, ended contracts and slashed hospital beds in response to predicted losses.
In our discussion with Josh Turek yesterday he told us that Trump’s reckless policies have created a “Farmageddon,” a second farm crisis that is seeing an explosion of farm foreclosures and suicides across the country.
Fighting has resumed in the Middle East this week. Oil and gas prices are rising here and around the world. USA Today is reporting that a new high capacity Iranian missile has done far more damage to US bases in the region than our government has acknowledged:
Defense experts told USA TODAY that Iranian missiles have significantly damaged U.S. bases and the infrastructure for U.S. allies in the region like Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Trump has not just failed to achieve his objective in the Middle East, leaving America a far weaker global power, but the war in Ukraine has started going through a dramatic and dangerous escalation. Russian hybrid war attacks against European targets are increasing. Here’s the Wall Street Journal today:
Germany said Tuesday that Russia was responsible for a drone attack at Leipzig airport last month, and the Kremlin role is no great surprise. The news is that the Germans are finally calling out Vladimir Putin’s reckless escalations against the NATO alliance.
“We do not consider ourselves at war but we are the daily target of hybrid warfare,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. The explosive drone turned up at an airport known as a supply route for Ukraine. The International Institute for Strategic Studies this summer tallied 144 drone incidents across 13 countries in less than two years, with Russia as the main culprit.
The Russian dictator is struggling in Ukraine, but he hasn’t given up on exposing the Western alliance as unwilling to defend itself. Mr. Putin’s “hybrid” strategy—from cyber attacks to dragging anchors over undersea cables—is a veil to deny Russia’s responsibility. He wants to shunt the burden of escalating onto the West and split the alliance without having to fight.
Mr. Putin may not have the manpower to invade the Baltic countries today, but his Ukraine miscalculation started with similar tactics. The question is what the West will do beyond denunciation. Yes, Western militaries need better counter-drone defenses, but the alliance can’t protect every soft target in Europe and will have to rely on deterrence.
This makes it especially unfortunate for the Trump Administration to have invited Russia’s finance minister to the G-20 meeting in North Carolina this week. The German finance minister was justifiably angry to see Russia welcomed to such a forum for the first time since the Ukraine invasion in February 2022.Mr. Putin will pocket the international legitimacy from the visit and continue his terror bombing of civilians in Kyiv. The President’s time would be better spent trying to move the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Russian sanctions bill through the House, where its fate this week is uncertain.
Press reports say CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Russia on his recent Moscow visit to knock off the help for Iran. But that message appears to have been lost in translation, with Mr. Putin affirming his support this week for the Islamic regime that is trying to kill Americans—perhaps even Mr. Trump’s son, Barron.
Mr. Putin is behaving like he thinks he can get away with flagrant provocations. Europe for too long hasn’t wanted to risk speaking plainly about the threat, which makes Germany’s blunt comments this week all the more welcome.
President Zelenskky has responded to heightened Russia attacks on Ukrainian civilians by announcing the closing of Russia’s civilian air space:
Trump has pushed the global economy into a crisis. The war in Europe is escalating and spreading. Fighting has resumed in the Middle East, with no clear path for ending the conflict. He has pushed our health care system into crisis, the farm economy into crisis, created a human rights crisis through his mass deportation regime, and the American economy is slowing, prices keep rising, Bessent and Warsh have been outed as way-over-their-head hacks, our debt is exploding, and consumer confidence in America is at its lowest point in the past 65 years.
Trump and MAGA have failed, spectacularly. This election is about ushering in a new and better politics for America. As we often discuss here there is no easy path left for us now. We need to win this election, and take as much power away from MAGA as we can across the country; ensure there is a free and fair election and a peaceful transfer of power; and then we must govern, and find a new path forward amidst the carnage and damage done here and throughout the world. None of this is going to be easy, but it is the work that must get done for our kids and grandkids, and we need to get on with it………
Our 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.
Make your plans to vote early, and ensure everyone you know is voting early too! It’s one of the most important things you can do this election season. Early voting starts in Virginia in 16 days!
**Our Winning The House Campaign **- Donate | $1,161,100 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 Senate - $805,100 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.
**Winning The House - The Second Wave Fund **- Donate | $338,100 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 | $27,100 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).
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 | $36,600 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 Par…
