Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles posted this last week on Substack.  Click here to read the entire article.

It’s Time To Move On From The “Democrats Suck” Narrative – It’s Wrong, And We Have An Election To Win – by Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles

My talk this week generated a spirited discussion in our chat yesterday about what I will call for today the “Democrats suck” narrative that ripples through/poisons our discourse every day. Fighting what I have believed to be false and overly negative narratives about the Democratic Party – and America more broadly – was a central reason I started Hopium back in 2023. Here is what I wrote in that very first Hopium post:

I am calling it Hopium Chronicles because I want this to be a journey guided by hope and optimism, of belief in ourselves, of love of country and a clear understanding of the nature of the conflict we are in. I have become convinced that part of Greater MAGA’s strategy is to intentionally poison our discourse with negative sentiment every day. They want us to feel bad about America, our democracy, our leaders, our institutions, our success, each other, ourselves. We cannot let them do that any more. While they talk American down every day, we need to talk it up. While they spread lies, we respond with truth and data. Hopium is a rejection of the darkness they are trying to spread. It is a way of standing up for our great country and its remarkable people. It is the key to how we win.

Throughout the 2024 election cycle each month I showed a presentation called With Democrats, Things Get Better (link) that shows, conclusively, how much better things get for the American people when Democrats are in charge. That the two parties are not the same. That when we are in power things get better for the America people, something that cannot be said when Republicans have been in the White House. The most recognizable bit of data from that presentation was cited by Bill Clinton at the Democratic Convention in 2024:

In With Dems I go through lots of data including that under Biden we had the lowest uninsured rate in American history, the lowest poverty rate in American history, the lowest unemployment rate in a peacetime American economy since WWII, and the most robust growth of new businesses ever recorded. The contrast to all that progress we made under Biden and Obama and Clinton and what is now happening under Trump could not be more stark.

I want to be clear that the goal of this kind of work is not to be pollyannish, but to forcefully challenge the facile, overly negative narratives about this great country and the Democratic Party itself. To create a more rounded, and more accurate in my mind, picture. So, let’s bring this sensibility to present day and this election.

Right now Democrats have one of our strongest Party ID advantage of the post-Cold War era, and our largest lead since 2008. This directly challenges the “we are only doing well because Trump is unpopular and Democrats suck” narrative that flows through our discourse right now.

Another direct challenge to that narrative is what’s happening in the Senate battlegrounds. Look at how many of our candidates have hit 50+% in recent polls – that is an affirmative vote for them. 6 of our candidates are running more than 10 points ahead of Harris in 2024 – extraordinary performances by our candidates right now. This is not data consistent with a “weak party.”

Additionally, the anger and disappointment among Democrats towards the Party and its leaders is overstated. Look at this June YouGov data, favorable/unfavorable, among registered Democrats:

• 84%-13% – Democrats in Congress
• 86%-14% – The Democratic Party

Here’s their most recent data on Leaders Schumer and Jeffries among Democrats (adults), favorable/unfavorable:

• 45%-36% – Leader Schumer
• 56%-23% – Leader Jeffries

What this data tells us is that among Democrats right now the number of people with expressly negative or unfavorable views of the Party, Congressional Democrats, or our Congressional Leaders is a small minority. Small, but yes very vocal and very organized. And of course Trump aligned powers, foreign and domestic, are going to do everything they can to amplify these voices to make this sentiment appear far more pervasive than it really is, and weaken us as we head into the general election. I have already seen a significant uptick of this kind of inauthentic amplification on my YouTube channel.

And let’s be very clear about one thing – if you think the Democratic Party sucks, and you say so, you are giving people permission to not vote for us this November. For why should anyone vote for a party that sucks? Which is why this ongoing sustained attack on “Establishment Democrats” in this moment of opportunity for us is so reckless, and also I believe a misread of the broader trends in our politics right now.

“Establishment Democrats” have been winning elections and overperforming in hundreds of critical election since early 2025. Establishment Democrats had one of the strongest off year performances in 2025 of any party in recent memory. Establishment Democrats have one of the largest Party ID leads in the last 50 years of American politics; our Senate candidates are putting in some of the most remarkable battleground performances in recent memory; and are viewed favorably by 86% of Democratic voters. Establishment Democrats have nurtured a politics where an overwhelming majority of our campaign monies comes from every day people not wealthy people or corporations. Establishment Democrats won the 2018 mid-terms by 8.6 pts and flipped the House. Establishment Democrats took the Presidency away from Trump in 2020 and flipped the Senate; we had the best mid-term performance by a party in power in 2022 in almost 100 years; and in 2024 our Senate candidates outperformed Harris throughout the battleground and won, and we gained a seat in the House. Let us be very clear – absent a rancid North Carolina redistricting in 2023 Hakeem Jeffries would be Speaker right now. The SCOTUS/GOP alliance that has rigged the system is why we do not control the House, not our electoral performance in a tough year in 2024.

I am not saying we should be content with where we are. I understand the disappointment, the frustration, the legitimate fear we all have about what Trump is doing to the country and our future. Everyday here at Hopium I am calling for us to be stronger, to fight harder, to make No Kings the very heart of our offering to voters and not just kitchen table issues. For there is one bit of data from the 2024 Exit Polls that should be informing everything we do as a Party:

Voters must believe that we are strong enough to “bring needed change.” It simply isn’t enough for our hearts to be in the right place, or have a good agenda. We must be seen as being strong enough to deliver for the American people when in power; to overcome the oligarchs, the inertia, the corruption, doomerism, to truly deliver for them. And the only way that happens is by taking on tough battles, fighting, and winning again and again and again, starting with winning this election this November. We must not only be right we must also be strong and willing to fight.

And the fight that matters most right now is for us to beat Republicans in the battlegrounds and take back control of Congress.

All the focus now has to be on beating Republicans, not beating up on and defeating other Democrats. The general election is here. Ads are flying. Early voting begins in eleven weeks. We are going to be outspent. Trump is going to do whatever it takes to keep Republicans in power. This is not going to be easy, and we need to get on with it now…..

Click here to read the entire article.

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Simon’s latest interview with Sarah Trone Garriott for congress in IA-03.