My Mother-in-law, Sandy, passed away this past week. My husband and I were by her side as she left this world.
She was born in Berlin in the mid 1930s and just barely escaped the Nazis in 1939.
She loved antiques and collectables, her family, and dogs. She loved all dogs but only a subset of humans. She had no patience for fools and she despised Trump with the fire of a billion stars.
In her memory, we set up a fund to help Biden defeat Trump. It is the cause she cared most about in the world.
If you have been thinking of contributing a little more to the Biden campaign, we’d be honored if you did it her name. Here is the link:
Beat Trump in Sandy's Memory
I learned a lot this week. Here is some of it:
1. People really want to help you and be kind to you when someone dies. So many wonderful friends have reached out and seem to be aching to be helpful. It is really touching. I am sure this happened when my dad died, but its been so long, I don’t really remember.
2. The people at Hospice are amazing. I spent many, many hours in her room in the 9 days she was there and they were always offering ME things like water and a listening ear, even though I was not the patient.
3. Hospice is a great place to die. The care was amazing.
4. When times are tough, your world shrinks and that's ok.
5. It is ok to do less when you need to.
6. Being present for someone’s death is an honor. I’ve been there twice and it is hard but also feels like a really holy thing.
7. Emotional work is physically exhausting.
8. Kindness is everywhere when you become attuned to it.
I felt so guilty for so many things I dropped the ball on (including not spending even a few minutes in the comments of my Boosting Biden series every morning). But people showed me nothing but grace each time I dropped the ball. I am so grateful.
Now onto some good news!
Great Election News
Democrats Reclaim George Santos’ Seat in Special Election
Just over a year after George Santos was sworn into office, the Democrat who first opened the alleged fraudster’s path to Congress has successfully won back his old district on Long Island.
The victory couldn’t come at a better time for House Democrats—or at a worse time for House Republicans, who were already failing to function under razor-thin margins that Suozzi just made even thinner.
The Suozzi victory gives Democrats demonstrable momentum as the 2024 campaign cycle kicks into full swing. Though President Joe Biden carried the 3rd District by 8 percentage points in 2020, Santos flipped it red amid a slew of Republican victories on Long Island during the 2022 midterms.
Voters' decision to deliver Santos’ old seat back to Suozzi gives Democrats a glimmer of hope that they are on the right track to reclaim the House come November.
In particular, Democrats might breathe easier now when it comes to one of their key political vulnerabilities: immigration, which dominated both Suozzi and Pilip’s campaign messaging.
and that wasn’t the only good election news we had
in a Pennsylvania blowout, Democrat Jim Prokopiak won battleground state House District-140 in Bucks County, a critical suburban swing district, by a whopping 35 points, 68% - 32%.
Are the Polls Way Off ... Again? (They are.)
In New Hampshire, Biden was polling at 56, but actually got 64 as a write in candidate. In South Carolina, the one poll had him at 69, with a 64 point lead — but he actually got 96! In Nevada, again, only 1 poll, with him at 78, with a 76 point lead, but he actually got 90 (though to Williamson’s credit, she too smashed her 2% polling by getting 3%).
In other words, it’s not just Dems generically, but Uncle Joe specifically who seems to be performing better — much better — than he’s polling.
And on the Trump side, it’s the inverse. Leaving aside Nevada (which given the caucus/primary mess is basically impossible to disentangle), we’ve got:
Iowa, in which the polling had Trump at 53, and a combined Haley and DeSantis at 34. On caucus night, it was Trump 51, H+D=40. Not a huge underperformance, but an underperformance nevertheless. (And mind you, this was during a huge snowstorm, and a caucus, in which Trump’s zealots were expected to come out in relatively greater force).
New Hampshire, in which the polling had Trump at 54, Haley at 36, an 18 point margin. But while Trump got actually did get 54, his margin over Haley was only 9.
Look, I don’t know what November will bring, but I think it’s foolish to think that today’s result in New York is just a blip. We’ve been seeing months and months of Dems (and more specifically Biden) significantly overperforming polls, and Republicans (and more specifically Trump) underperforming theirs.
Since Dobbs, Democrats Keep Overperforming, Winning and Republicans Keep Struggling
2022 had been a very good election for us. In the aftermath of Dobbs we overpeformed our 2020 results in 5 House special elections by an average of 7 points. We blew it out in Kansas. Our candidates dramatically outraised theirs.. Voter registration across the US turned more Democratic. In almost every state the early vote was better for us than 2018 and 2020, a remarkable thing given how much better we did in those elections. Then the election came, and despite high inflation, low Biden approval and a media spitting red wave every day we outperformed 2020 in AZ, CO, GA, MI, MN, NH, PA. We got to 59% in CO, 57% in PA, 55% in MI, 54% in NH. We picked up a Senate seat, state legislative chambers, governorships. Yes, we lost the House but we kept it close enough to deny Republicans ideological control and make it far more likely we win it back this year. Parties in power almost always lose mid-terms, off-year elections. Not this time - we gained ground all across the country, and MAGA had its third disappointing election in a row. We overperformed and won. They struggled.
I started Hopium last March because I thought that we could do something historic in this cycle and get to 55 together. And look at what we’ve done since last March. We took away a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat with 56% of the vote, ending right-wing ideological control of the court in one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. We took away Colorado Springs and Jacksonville, two of the largest Republican held cities in the country. We took away the six week abortion ban in Ohio, getting 57% of the vote there in two elections. We took away the Virginia House, and ended the fantasy that the 15 week abortion could somehow give them an escape hatch from ending Roe. Governor Beshear grew his margin in Kentucky, we gained seats in the New Jersey legislature, and won cities, city council races and school board races all across the US. In 2023, like 2022, we overperformed and won. And they struggled.
And now this same basic dynamic - overperforming and struggling - is showing up in 2024 now too. We took away a critical state House seat in Florida last month, HD-35, Tom Keen. We took away NY-3 last night, turning an 8 point loss in 2022 to a 8 point win, and outperformed public polls, as we’ve been doing repeatedly since Dobbs. Joe Biden had a higher margin of victory in NH than Trump as a write-in candidate, and got more votes than Trump in Nevada. Our party committees and candidates are outraising Republicans across the US, as we did in 2022. And look at them. Turnout in their Iowa Caucus was anemic despite $100m spent and lots of candidate time. Trump only received 56,000 votes of the 750,000 registered Republicans there - big yikes stuff. The heir apparent, DeSantis, flamed out, spectacularly. Trump underperformed public polls in NH by 10-15 points. Polling in these early states showed a very large number of Republicans very worried about Trump and willing to vote for Biden. The RNC is broke, and broken. State Republican Parties in the battlegrounds have atrophied under MAGA extremist leadership. Dozens of prominent Republican Party leaders in the states have been indicted for trying to overturn the 2020 election, many more are under investigation. GOP Party Chairs in Arizona and Florida just resigned due to epic scandals. Ugly MAGA candidates are winning primaries again. They tossed their Speaker. The new one is a coward and a traitorous fool. Trump’s putting his family in charge of the RNC. We keep overperforming and winning. They keep struggling.
MAGA is a failed politics. It lost in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023, and is losing 2024.
Democrats Doing Great Things
Biden Begins Fourth Investing in America Tour, Touts Impact
To date, over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects have now been announced thanks to Bidenomics and President Biden's Investing in America agenda
The Administration has now launched over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects and mobilized over $640 billion in private sector clean energy and manufacturing investments.
Biden delivers tough love, takes historic step: Conditioning aid to Israel
President Biden, perhaps the most emotionally pro-Zionist president in history, last week used his immense reserve of goodwill and credibility on Israel to do something no other president had: He laid down strong conditions on use of military aid. However, he deftly did not single out Israel for special treatment.
“U.S. President Joe Biden issued a memorandum on Thursday requiring allies who receive military aid from the U.S. to provide ‘credible and reliable written assurances’ of their adherence to international law including international human rights law,” the Times of Israel reported. Israel will need to supply written assurances within 45 days or risk loss of aid. The report added, “The memo did not mention specific countries who would be held up to the new standard, but came amid increasing calls in the U.S. to condition aid to Israel due to concerns over its military operations in Gaza which were triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks, in which Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253.”
No one should underestimate the impact of the decision. The Associated Press explained, “Democratic senators on Friday called Biden’s directive — meant to bring breadth, oversight, deadlines and teeth to efforts to ensure foreign governments don’t use U.S. military aid against civilians — historic.”
How Dems Are Already Quashing a Nightmare RFK Jr. Scenario
On the surface, it might look like President Joe Biden and the national Democratic Party are entirely focused on attacking Donald Trump as the 2024 election ramps up.
But increasingly, Democratic organizations and operatives are sharpening their knives for a rival they've long ignored—at least publicly—who could pose a serious threat to Biden’s re-election.
While Kennedy could easily siphon many votes from Trump, thanks to his anti-vaccine advocacy and appeal to the conspiratorial right wing, the man with the most famous name in Democratic politics could potentially win over plenty of left-leaning independents who have soured on Biden.
With key battleground states set to be decided by harrowingly thin margins again in 2024, top Democrats are preparing as if Kennedy will be a serious spoiler threat to the president.
Bad News for Bad Guys
Trump Ordered to Pay $355 Million and Barred From New York Business
The ruling in Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud case could cost him all his available cash. The judge said that the former president’s “complete lack of contrition” bordered on pathological.
The judge delivered a sweeping array of punishments that threatens the former president’s business empire as he simultaneously contends with four criminal prosecutions and seeks to regain the White House.
Not only did Justice Engoron bar Mr. Trump for three years from serving in top roles at any New York company, including his own, but the judge also applied that punishment to the former president’s adult sons for two years and ordered that they pay more than $4 million each. One of the sons, Eric Trump, is the Trump Organization’s de facto chief executive, and the ruling throws into doubt whether any member of the family can run the business in the near term.
In his unconventional style, Justice Engoron criticized Mr. Trump and the other defendants for refusing to admit errors for years. “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,” he said.
The Truth About Trump’s RNC Shakeup—and Why the GOP Will Suffer
A shakeup at the RNC may mean less money for anyone not named Donald Trump. And that’s terrible news for state parties desperate for cash.
Donald Trump doesn’t want his snowballing legal troubles to just be his problem—he’s trying to make it an issue for the entire Republican Party.
During a monumental election year for the GOP, Trump has effectively taken over the Republican National Committee, a bid to ensure that the national fundraising juggernaut will chiefly serve him, and not other Republican efforts.
His personal pick to co-chair the RNC—daughter-in-law Lara Trump—teased the new vision on Tuesday during an interview on Newsmax.
“Every single penny will go to the No. 1 and the only job of the RNC—that is electing Donald J. Trump as President of the United States,” she said.
The Trump gravy train is about to run over the RNC. Good.
The Trump gravy train is about to run over the Republican National Committee.
Trump’s desperate need for attention put the spotlight back on him—and not in a good way.
Last week, Special Counsel Robert Hur dropped a bombshell report about Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, in which he described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” \
And in response, Donald Trump effectively said, “Hold my beer!”
During a South Carolina rally on Saturday, Trump said to Nikki Haley (whose husband is deployed overseas, serving our country): “Where’s your husband? Oh, he’s away. He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone! He knew. He knew.”
That same day, Trump also warned that he would not defend NATO allies who don’t meet their defense expenditure guidelines. “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want… You got to pay your bills.”
Then, on Super Bowl Sunday, Trump wrote, “I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists. Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will. There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden… and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money…”
And just like that, Trump threw a drowning Biden a lifeline. Prior to Trump’s intervention, a media feeding frenzy had ensued. Even mainstream media outlets and liberal pundits “put a spotlight” on the issue of Biden’s mental acuity,” as Fox News noted.
Rather than allowing Biden to wallow in weeks of bad press, Trump preferred that we instead talk about his favorite subject: Trump. And, in typical fashion, we obliged. Trump is catnip for the media, and his comments (whether he’s talking about Haley, NATO, or Swift) are legitimately newsworthy.
And his comments are also telling in regards to how Trump might behave if given a second term. Each of these examples reinforces a narrative about Trump’s character and worldview.
Ruling that the case against Donald J. Trump can proceed, Justice Juan M. Merchan said he planned to begin the trial on March 25.
Justice Juan M. Merchan determined in a hearing Thursday that Donald J. Trump must go on trial in a Manhattan courtroom next month to face charges that he covered up a potential sex scandal to aid his 2020 presidential campaign. The case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will yield the first trial of a former American president.
The judge had no patience for Trump’s attempts at a delay.
The case moving forward to trial is a victory for Mr. Bragg, who said after the hearing that he was “pleased” with the judge’s decision and was looking forward to the trial.
Ex-F.B.I. Informant Is Charged With Lying Over Bidens’ Role in Ukraine Business
The special counsel investigating Hunter Biden has charged a former F.B.I. informant with fabricating claims that President Biden and his son each sought $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian company — a stinging setback for Republicans who cited the allegations in their push to impeach the president.
The longtime informant, Alexander Smirnov, 43, is accused of falsely telling the F.B.I. that Hunter Biden, then a paid board member of the energy giant Burisma, demanded the money to protect the company from an investigation by the country’s prosecutor general at the time.
The explosive story, which seemed to back up unsubstantiated Republican claims of a “Biden crime family,” turned out to be a brazen lie, according to a 37-page indictment unsealed late Thursday in a California federal court, brought by the special counsel, David C. Weiss.
On the Lighter Side
What can you do to save democracy
Take action. Nothing makes you feel better than action.
Your donation will come bundled with others from our Good News community and will show the Biden team that there are many of us who support him and combine hard work with optimism in our battles for a better America!
You can also Educate other people about what Biden has done and we can win!
To help, I’ve been writing a Boosting Biden post every weekday of this year and plan to continue to the election. You can share these every day (or some days) with Facebook groups or other groups via email with friends on other social media… anywhere!
You can use these to educate other people about what Biden has done and we can win!
Here are the posts so far. Not too late to read and SHARE:
Dark Brandon Saved us From a Recession: Boosting Biden Day 1
Dark Brandon Destroyed Crime: Boosting Biden Day 2
Dark Brandon Reduced Inflation: Boosting Biden Day 3
Dark Brandon Put the First Black Woman on the Supreme Court: Boosting Biden Day 4
Dark Brandon Cleaned up the Great Lakes: Boosting Biden Day 5
Dark Brandon's Stimulus Saved the Economy: Boosting Biden Day 6
Dark Brandon Created Workforce Hubs to Retrain Workers for Modern Jobs: Boosting Biden Day 7
Dark Brandon Expanded ACA so 10 States have (almost) universal health care! Boosting Biden Day 8
Dark Brandon went after cheating 1%ers AND WON: Boosting Biden Day 9
Dark Brandon Protected People with Disabilities: Boosting Biden Day 10
Dark Brandon Pardoned Thousands Convicted of Marijuana Use: Boosting Biden Day 11
Dark Brandon Created Jobs: Boosting Biden Day 12
Dark Brandon protected our soldiers from sexual harassment and assault: Boosting Biden Day 13
Dark Brandon Cancelled Billions in Student Loans: Boosting Biden Day 14
Dark Brandon OWNED the republicans at the State of the Union: Boosting Biden Day 15
Dark Brandon Caused a Black Small Business Boom! Boosting Biden Day 16
Dark Brandon Protected Veterans Health Care with over nine different Bills: Boosting Biden Day 17
Dark Brandon Saved The State of Virginia! Boosting Biden Day 18
Dark Brandon is Destroying Methane Emissions: Boosting Biden Day 19
Dark Brandon protects victims of sexual harassment and assault: Boosting Biden Day 20
The Dark Brandon Economy Is Remarkably Strong. Stop the Malarky!!! Boosting Biden Day 21
Dark Brandon Is a Snarky MFer: Boosting Biden Day 22
Dark Brandon Is Old. Get Over It. Boosting Biden Day 23
Dark Brandon is halting the biggest fossil fuel expansion on earth: Boosting Biden Day 24
Dark Brandon has done more for unions than any president ever: Boosting Biden Day 25
Dark Brandon made heat pumps and solar panels a national security issue: Boosting Biden Day 26
Dark Brandon Stopped 500 Illegal Gun Purchases: Boosting Biden Day 27
Dark Brandon Saved the State of Pennsylvania! Boosting Biden Day 28
Dark Brandon Made Lynching a Federal Crime: Boosting Biden Day 29
Dark Brandon Caused a BOOM in Small Businesses! Boosting Biden Day 30
Dark Brandon is saving the planet by plugging old oil and gas wells: Boosting Biden Day 31
Dark Brandon Feeds Hungry Kids! Boosting Biden Day 32
Dark Brandon is going to make your kids smarter! Boosting Biden Day 33
Dark Brandon Can Create Chains With His Bare Hands!!! Boosting Biden Day 34
Dark Brandon Is Fostering More Resilient Foods Systems Across the World: Boosting Biden Day 35
Looking for something else? GREAT! Here are some other ideas:
I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you 💓💚💛🧡✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿✊❤️🧡💛💚