Hopium Chronicles Podcast

Simon Rosenberg
  • 5.0 (41)
  • GOVERNMENT

In-depth discussions with leaders working to preserve American democracy. Original recordings from the Hopium Chronicles Substack.

  1. 2D AGO

    How Georgia Dems Chair Charlie Bailey Is Building Something Republicans Should Fear

    Greetings everyone. Excited to introduce you today to one of the best state party chairs in the country, Charlie Bailey, of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Friends, this is a very uplifting report from one of our most important 2026 battlegrounds, one that reinforces both the opportunity we have this cycle and the incredible impact that revitalized state parties - force multipliers as Charlie describes them - are having all across the country. I encourage you all to listen to this episode as soon as you can. Keep working hard all - Simon

    32 min

  2. 3D AGO

    Democrats Are Expanding Our Maps And Competing In Hard To Win Places (New Analysis)

    Friends, last night I got together with the proud, plucky patriots of our community at Hopium Chronicles for our weekly talk and Q & A. In these strategy talks every week I try to take a step back from the day to day and assess where we are in our great battle for our freedom and democracy against MAGA. Keep working hard all - Simon

    24 min

  3. 4D AGO

    Dr. Phillips O'Brien Talks Ukraine, Iran, And "Taking The Initiative" In War

    Greetings all. This week I've written a lot about Ukraine and Iran, we heard from Stuart Stevens, and I'm excited to share an incredibly informative conversation I had this afternoon with our friend Phillips O’Brien, professor, historian, author and fellow Substacker. Keep working hard everyone. I am grateful every day to be in this fight with all of you - Simon

    39 min

  4. 5D AGO

    Eric Croft, Alaska Democratic Party Chair, On "Expanding The Map" And Winning This November

    Greetings all. Back with another episode featuring one of our “Audacious Expansion Fund” state party chairs, Eric Croft. Our Senate candidate in Alaska, Mary Peltola, is leading in polls, is raising lots of money, and is a terrific candidate, one of our very best this cycle. During our conversation Eric thanks the Hopium community for our $100,000+ investment in the Alaska Democratic Party and walks through what the money has allowed them to do. The investment, and the far more aggressive support from Ken Martin’s DNC they are receiving, is allowing them to be far more ambitious, and to “expand the map” inside Alaska. For just as targeting Alaska is expanding our national map to include a state we have struggled to compete in, Chair Croft and the Alaska Dems are expanding the map inside Alaska by supporting reach candidates and targeting voters outside their traditional, narrow targets. Keep working hard everyone. We have a country to save, and elections to win, together - Simon

    31 min

  5. 6D AGO

    Stuart Stevens On Ukraine, 61 Years Of The Southern Strategy, The Dems' Midterm Message And More

    Friends, every month I get to spend an hour or so talking with the great political strategist Stuart Stevens. As we always do we covered a lot of ground today - the struggle of Trump and Putin in their wars; Zelenskyy’s clear military and diplomatic momentum; Callais and the success of the right’s 61 year old Southern Strategy; Stuart’s advice for Dems on midterm messaging, and much more. Keep working hard all - Simon

    45 min

  6. APR 30

    Callais, The Senate, 2032 - Democrats Are Now Operating With A Different National Map (New Analysis)

    Greetings all. Last night paid subscribers at Hopium Chronicles got together for our weekly gathering. I made three main points: 1 - Trump’s failed war has pushed his already terrible poll numbers down further and it is now clear 2026 has become a year of significant opportunity for Democrats. We’ve seen polls in recent weeks with Democrats leading in the AK, GA, IA, ME, NC, OH, TX Senate races, outcomes that would give Democrats the majority. Our incredible overperformances and stretch wins in elections all across the country have continued; we’ve stayed very competitive or even bested Trump in the pre-Callais mid-decade redistricting wars; we have strong and grounded candidates running across the country who are raising lots of money; and now we have a big opportunity to take away two Supreme Court seats in Georgia on May 19th. 2 - Trump's regime is rotting, decaying, failing. Turnover and turmoil have increased. Inflation has soared, and the economy has slowed. Iran is besting him in the war. Congressional Republicans are struggling to get even simple things done and party infighting has intensified. An increasingly desperate Trump, enabled by a villainous Todd Blanche, has in recent days escalated his illiberal attacks on perceived “enemies” and opponents, growing more unhinged, paranoid and dangerous. Blanche is clearly willing to go much further in satisfying Trump’s dark impulses than was AG Bondi, and we will have to start organizing ourselves more effectively to counter their new authoritarian ambitions. 3 - Callais, and our new national map. It has been a core understanding here in our community that there was urgency to Democrats expanding our map, and learning how to win again in red states and red places in order to regain our majority and take power away from MAGA. This strategy was driven by three realities: 1) the tough 2026 Senate map (and to a lesser degree a tough House one too) 2) population shifts that will give Republican states more Congressional seats and Electoral College votes after the next census, and 3) the possibility of an aggressive Callais ruling. The remainder of my lengthy analysis this afternoon was shared on Substack and by email delivery. Keep working hard everyone - Simon

    29 min

  7. APR 29

    Katie Phang On Callais, Her New Lawsuit Against The DOJ, And Todd Blanche's Escalating Lawlessness

    Greetings all. Our good friend Katie Phang dropped by this afternoon to update us on her new path-breaking lawsuit against the Department of Justice over its refusal to follow the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Katie also gives her initial reactions to today's Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, and to what has been a series of deeply troubling actions taken in recent days by Trump’s interim Attorney General, Todd Blanche and others in the regime. Enjoy our discussion and keep working hard everyone - Simon

    39 min

  8. APR 28

    Janelle Stelson, Our Great Candidate Running In PA-10, Returns For An Update On Her Race

    Greetings all. This afternoon I was excited to welcome back a good friend, Janelle Stelson, who dropped by our community for an update on her fight to flip PA-10 blue this year. Janelle is one of the twelve candidates in our Winning The House campaign, a collection of candidates most likely to flip red seats and retake the House for Democrats next January. In 2024, Janelle came just 5,000 votes short of defeating the Republican incumbent Scott Perry, outperforming Vice President Harris by 4 points in a district the Cook Report still rates as +3 Republican. Given how much the national landscape has tilted towards the Dems since 2024, and with a very popular Governor Shapiro at the top of the ticket this time, PA-10 with Janelle Stelson as our candidate is one of our very best House pick-up opportunities this year. It’s why we are all in on this race. Listen to our conversation, get to know another one of our intrepid candidates leaving it all out there on the playing field, consider supporting Janelle Stelson today, and keep working hard all. We have a country to save, and elections to win, together - Simon

    16 min
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In-depth discussions with leaders working to preserve American democracy. Original recordings from the Hopium Chronicles Substack.

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