This week, we bring you another episode of our Road to November 2024 election series, as co-hosts Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty sit down with Simon Rosenberg, a political commentator and strategist, who famously, and correctly, rejected the prediction of a red wave in 2022. He has now founded the widely read and highly informative Hopium Chronicles newsletter, where he advises readers to worry less and do more. He, Debbie, and Ryan discuss last week’s State of the Union Address, what’s at stake in the November elections, and why, as a Democrat, he would “rather be us than them.” They talk about ways to find common ground and bridge divides with voters through effective and factual messaging and discuss the disconnect between what the Biden-Harris administration has actually accomplished and what the public is aware of. Simon also tells us why Democrats should remain optimistic in the face of daunting polls and why political debates are representative of a healthy Democracy. Tune in to hear Simon’s six reasons why Americans should not vote for Trump this November.

 

• [01:04] This episode’s content and guest, Simon Rosenberg.

• [02:17] Simon unpacks his statement, ‘The president is clearly fighting for us; now we need to fight for him.’

• [04:02] His strategy of finding common ground in a swing state and what it might look like to build an expansive coalition.

• [09:25] The shift in positioning that has occurred where the Democratic Party has come to represent continuity.

• [13:56] Six truths about Trump that have the power to destabilize his position.

• [16:39] What we can learn from recent Republican polling and what it means for the upcoming election.

• [20:54] An appropriate response to information asymmetry.

• [25:10] Why debates are a sign of a healthy party.

• [32:08] Simon’s substack community, Hopium, and how to get involved.

• [35:00] A solution to the loudness problem faced by Democrats today.

• [38:55] The four freedoms that underpin Simon’s philosophy.