Introduction The inevitable has finally come to pass: Graham Platner, the controversial Democratic nominee for Maine’s U.S. Senate race, has
Very good breakdown of why Platner fell apart. It does a really good job of highlighting how the constant scandals forced Platner to play defense rather than attack Collins' ties to Trump who has a 37% approval rating in the state.
Now that Platner has been shown to be even more of an SOB, he will almost certainly drop out of the race, which lead to Shah or Jackson to be the nominee, two canidates that don't have baggage that Collins can attack. Her whole gameplan hinged on Platner's scandals, without that she faces an uphill battle as Jackson and Shah will be able to tie her to Trump.
Just a reminder that this was obvious from the first scandal. The fact that he had a Nazi tattoo should have been disqualifying in itself, but even if for some reason you didn't have a moral objection to that, you should have had a pragmatic one. Pitting a candidate with such an obvious attack surface - one that drags down all Democrats and any attempt they might make to tie Republicans to rising fascism - against a Republican candidate with as many advantages as Collins has was an act of absolute foolishness. Every revelation that came afterwards just made him a more vulnerable candidate. The fact that his supporters kept insisting that he was the great savior of the left was not just immoral; it was stupid.
I agree. A huge issue is that up until he launched his campaign, there was no credible Democrat running since Mills wouldn't make up her mind. All the state legislators and executive officials didn't throw their hat into the ring for that reason. Once Platner entered the race, he had a ton of momentum and raised loads of money off of grassroots donations and had real enthusiasm. So at that point no one could blunt his momentum.
As the article states, the Democratic leadership in DC fucked up by telling everyone who was interested in running for the Senate "no", and they all ran for the governorship instead.
I don't see why any of this matters since the Nazi tattoo revelation came nearly a year before the primary, and was followed by many other revelations. There were months in which support could have transferred to Mills or some other candidate, but Maine voters remained loyal to the Nazi tattoo guy. That's on them, not the Democratic establishment.
Because he tapped into something real, namely frustration among Democratic voters in Maine. His "I'm working class" shtick (that is an outright lie) also played well with voters since it made him look like he's one of them (he ain't). People were willing to look passed his scandals (up until this one) because of his every man image, that he made mistakes like everyone else. What they were blind to was that he is also a
As for Mills, she ran a horrible campaign and her heart clearly wasn't in it. Not to mention she unpopular and 78 years old. And outside of her, there really wasn't any other candidate.
If the Democrats in DC hadn't cleared the field, there's a good chance Bellows, Shah, or Jackson throw their hat in, all pretty progressive and popular and in the case of Bellows and Jackson, they are electoral over performers. If Mills announced early in 2025 that she wasn't going to run, one or two of those aforementioned potential candidates would probably throw their hat in the ring rather than join a crowded Democratic primary.
"Tapped into something real". Look, man, if you're willing to overlook a Nazi tattoo for "something real", I'm going to judge you, not the politicians who supposedly didn't give you a better option.
I never said that I overlooked his tattoo (I literally called him an SOB), I was talking about Maine Democratic voters, so I don't know where you are getting this idea that I'm overlooking his tattoo or serial lying. Maine voters were willing to believe that he had changed, but I knew he was lying the moment his statement came out, and if I was in Maine I wouldn't vote for him (I'd have written in Jackson or Shah).
And there was real frustration among Democratic voters in Maine over the Party and that there was no viable candidate to take on a super beatable Collins. So in comes this guy that speaks to their frustration with no legit opposition, and that's why people gravitated towards him.
But now he's done (CNN reported he plans to drop out today) and the party will hold a statewide caucus to choose a qualified nominee that Maine voters will rally around.
Forgive me if I do not trust the wisdom of the same Maine voters who were fine with the Nazi tattoo guy through multiple revelations of racism, inappropriate behavior, and sexual violence, until they finally found a red line with rape. You can keep telling me that they had no choice, but they did, and they made one that was both stupid and immoral. I won't forget that.
