Boost your spirits by watching this seven-minute video of weekly protests in rural NC. This is happening across the country and speaks to the momentum on the pro-democracy side.
Great video interviewing folks standing on street corners in rural NC, waving American flags, holding signs that say, "Defend Democracy." Some were from Indivisible, others from similarly aligned groups. Not candidate campaigns--just encouraging people to exercise their rights in order to protect them.
Every week people stand on the same street corners with signs. They are general protests against Trump and MAGA -- 38 different weekly protests across central NC, many in red towns!
Thanks. Enjoyed the video. I see a change in rural TN. At the parade last week, we had a float and it read "We The People". We were treated well and I did not see any middle finger salutes.
We do the same in Menlo Park every Sunday. There is a Saturday protest in San Mateo and a Friday night one in Redwood City. Uplifting for those of us participating and honking.
These may the be the people who find that courage to go one step further in their opposition (that Anne Applebaum wrote about in her article), and help others do the same.
Wow! Didn’t see this coming. The unexpected sudden death of Lindsay Graham, and McConnell’s obvious incapacity (whatever the details), must surely complicate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate voting arithmetic.
I would love to see both replaced by able Democrats of integrity, although I realize my wish is unlikely to be fulfilled.
Well, I made a donation to Dr. Annie Andrews' campaign last quarter. Lindsey did not exactly blow away competition in the Republican primary, so I hoped the door was ajar. South Carolina has also gone out of its way on gerrymanders, but the Senate is a state-wide seat.
It would be nice to see them divide themselves over Massie running for the KY seat. Beshear being popular there is important as well. I’m sure there will be plenty of right wing infighting over Graham’s seat. Like Simon always says, those little cracks have become big cracks, and the divide on the MAGA side over Epstein, Iran, and Trump’s failed economy among other promises are real. Massive opportunity to divide them further even if it doesn’t result in a Dem seat in either. Time to rub some salt in those wounds!
⬆️ "The unexpected sudden death of Lindsay Graham, and McConnell’s obvious incapacity (whatever the details), must surely complicate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate voting arithmetic."
Graham needs to be remembered as a facilitator of Trump. Yes, once he seemed to believe in democracy and a strong NATO, but he abandoned everything he once seemed to believe in when he started stroking his oar in support of Trump. Graham did absolutely nothing for Ukraine. Nothing. Giving a speech or supporting a bill that has zero chance of passing is not more than nothing. His once seeming friend John McCain had real principles and would be rolling over in his grave today. Miss Lindsey just flowed with the tide.
Running riskier candidates like Platner can also give us a positive - revealing issues people really think are important, that mainstream candidates may not be emphasizing.
Today, a number of those issues form the core of progressive or democratic socialist concerns. If the Maine Dems pay attention to what Platner's popularity was based on, in addition to 'charisma', they have an opportunity to choose appropriately.
Platner was never a strong general election candidate. Even at the height of his polling he was the worst performing battleground general election candidate relative to the partisan lean of his state in the last three election cycles. This idea that he was popular or successful is simply not true, and it was part of the noxious gaslighting of the Platner campaign itself.
As I point out here we have to differentiate between what works in Dem primaries in blue states and places and what works in the battleground.
I also want to say that it is important to realize that the whole Platner thing - fight oligarchy, working class guy, redemption story - felt too good to be true, felt so fresh and powerful because it actually was a fable, an untrue story, concocted by a bunch of out of state consultants that they are got Platner to buy into and spent a year selling. It was all a fraud. He was not redeemed - and they knew that. He grew up wealthy and privileged, and attended one of the most elite private high schools in the country. I could go on but the real lesson here from the whole Platner tragedy is my view is that people in this business must respect voters and not lie to them, tell them tall tales, create unicorns and rainbows rather than hard truths. People bought into Platner in part because it was a fiction and felt new and different - and that is in part because it was a fiction and not real. He and his team in essence committed fraud over a long period of time; many, many warned about it; and when we did we were attacked on social media and even here in Hopium world. A big part of how they pulled this off with through the use of "manufacturing consent" on social media, and that is another big lesson we must take away from this. They encouraged regular people to act like animals towards others who had concerns and doubt, and in that way this was very much like MAGA or the Bernie Bros in 2016; and in that way is how hostile foreign powers and significant manipulators of public opinion on social media execute their dark designs.
OK Simon. But let's separate the toxic messenger from the message he was campaigning on . You can't ignore the fact that Platner won more than 70% of Maine primary voters- which is more than any other Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine history.
My big fear is that Democratic Party leaders, throw the message out with Platner.
The electorate wants change- the Democratic Party better deliver change. Or you are going to see yet another swing to Republicans.
And the fear among the base is that deep pocket donors to the Democratic Party are going to have more sway than the rank and file. There's real concern that the gobsmacking awfulness of Republicans will lead to complacency withing the Democratic Party. That it will rely on simply running against Republican crimes without also offering real reforms and a governing agenda the will make our lives better:
-The Supreme Court Needs to be reformed- that is going to require expanding the number of justices on the court (if you don't expand the court, the Federalist Society 6 will simply rule reforms as unconstitutional)
-Social Security needs to be saved.
-The tax code needs to be simplified, made fair, with EVERYONE (corporations, the billionaires etc.) paying proportional shares.
-Workers need a pay raise.
-We need affordable housing (wage increases are part of that solution, but we also need more housing stock).
-We need real universal healthcare (the ACA was a big step forward, but with 16 years of living with the ACA we can see its flaws and the fact that too many Americans remain without healthcare)
-The childcare marketplace is broken. Americans need financial assistance to afford childcare.
-Education/skills training after K-12 is becoming unaffordable and hard to obtain. Families need assistance getting their kids through college or getting their kids into trade that will sustain them through life.
-Campaign contributions from corporations and the wealthy are corrupting our democracy. And they are preventing Congress from actually representing the will and the needs of the American people. We need campaign finance reform (that can't happen with this SCOTUS in place).
We want to see candidates fighting for these things. And we want to see Congress putting them into action. And there isn't much faith that Democratic Party leaders will do these things.
the dsa agenda, from what i can see, has designs beyond all these things that are not, frankly, conducive to the way our country actually runs, imho....i never really paid much attention to them but now that the truth is coming out in places like the atlantic and even markos on dkos has a piece on them today for which he is being savaged, i have a real issue with them trying to gain ground in our party. i do not see them as the same as progressives, not when half their members claim to be communists. communists are not socialists, and they are not progressives. if they want to be their own party fine, but i do not think they should be running under our banner. the new deal, progressive economy is a mixed one, not a socialist one, and surely not a communist one. now its possible i am misreading jonathan chait's analysis in the atlantic, or that i have misunderstood kos' analysis today, and if so then i stand corrected. but that is the impression i have gotten, that they are as much a problem for us as actual republicans, so extreme they have attacked and banished aoc, their most talented and successful example to date, because she supported biden and harris in 2024. and of course, simon has been writing things here about the dsa and protesters and so on who seem only to want to attack democrats. that's a problem. i believe it was ruth ben ghiat who said the fascists win when the left is divided. but it might have been ann applebaum....
Right well- if you don’t want DSA candidates getting traction, put up Democratic candidates that are running on the DSA issues that are mainstream and are immensely popular.
We don’t need candidates that are advocating for no private property, and other extremist positions.
At the same time not all DSA candidates are the same- nor is there (from what I can tell) even a consistent platform within the DSA. They seem to be all over the place depending upon which geography you are in.
Certainly Mamdani isn’t governing NYC as a radical- the man gave an extensive interview where he stated his favorite NYC mayor was Republican Fiorello La Guardia. Moreover, Mamdani is advancing his agenda by using existing laws on the books and ACTUALLY enforcing them.
If you don’t want DSA candidates taking over the Democratic Party, the best way to do it is steal the DSA’s thunder by actually making people’s lives better.
Democrats are already doing that - I would not have affordable health insurance right now if it wasn’t for the ACA. Yet there were far left people who told me it was terrible and totally okay if got overturned. They were on Medicare so I guess they didn’t care if other people couldn’t go to the doctor.
That’s a useful point. Local engagement which can build strength and unity around issues, and be the fertile ground for new leadership. I look at how the Republicans supported local judges and were able to put judges of their preference in from the local on up. That was good foresight that the Dems could emulate.
G, not sure how much of my commentary you follow so will recap a few points here from the last few weeks: 1) we cannot disaggregate the policy message from the rest of Platnerism for I believe it was all gaslighting - gaslighting about his background, gaslighting about the strength of his politics, gaslighting about the nature of the modern Democratic Party. It was all invention and confabulation. 2) you are creating a straw man here. Where are the Democrats that don't fight for working people? In the states, in Congress? Where are they? Biden? Obama? Name them. 3) We built and run our politics through low dollar donations. Why don't people understand that? Their politics is paid for by oligarchs. Ours is paid for through low dollar donations. This whole corporate controlled thing is just a wild distortion of how this all works - more gaslighting in my view. The reason the Supreme Court just changed the rules on party coordination was to undermine our grassroots fundraising advantage. 4) In this Congress Democrats have successfully gotten a GOP Congress to vote against Trump on his most important issues - tariffs, Ukraine, Iran, Epstein and we drew even on the redistricting until Callais. The single most important thing we can do for working people is roll back the tariffs and we got Congress to go there. Our candidates lead across the country even in red states. We've been winning elections all across the country throughout the cycle. Party ID is the best it's been for us in 18 years.
As I wrote here the other day the "Democratics suck" is false, gaslighting, a fake and inaccurate construct - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/its-time-to-move-on-from-the-democrats. You may disagree but in 34 years of doing this full time I don't think I can remember when there has been more bullshit in our family than what we are currently experiencing. It's understandable, given the circumstances. But there is one thing Trump, Russia, and their allies want more than anything else - is for us to fight with one another and not them. Don't do it. Keep your eyes on the prize. Defeating MAGA in these elections is all that matters. Everyone moment you spend doing something other than you are doing MAGA's work for them.
One- NOWHERE did I say Democrats suck. But I am advocating for progressive positions and advocating for Democratic candidates to advocate for them (recognizing that Red state candidates need to pick their spots). All the positions I laid out are popular. These are not radical things. Of the bulleted items I laid out in my initial post, which ones are the public policy issues the Democratic Party cannot support? Really- I'd like to know if any of those issues I laid out are non starters.
And if you want a specific example of Democrats going along with public policy that advances corporate interest at the expense of the voters- Let's talk about the H.R. 2853: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 (CORCA). This was bipartisan legislation voted by upwards of 80+ Democrats in the House and appears to have bipartisan support among Senate Democrats as well. Sara Elfreth, who I am extremely happy with as my Rep actually voted for it (to my disappointment). This Bill appears to be setup to enable Corporate surveillance that the US Government can then tap into. Think Chinese style surveillance capitalism. Why are so many Democrats supporting this legislation? Max Burns has written about this on his Substack Column and for MS NOW.
This is bad law, it enables corporate surveillance and enables corporations to turn that surveillance over to the US Government. All while the SCOTUS is advancing the Federalist Society "Unitary Executive Theory" setting the POTUS up as a dictator. This thing freaks me out- I don't understand why Democrats are supporting it.
Also, did you catch Paul Krugman's discussion yesterday with Dennis Kelleher, who is the head of Better Markets, an independent think tank devoted to trying to make financial markets work better for the rest of us?
If you haven't- you should. We are 2-years away from the 20th anniversary of the 2008 Financial Crisis. 90% of American households had still not recovered from the Financial Crisis by 2016.
Kelleher point out that the financial markets are not set up to benefit the American people. They are really set up to benefit the top 10%, but, really, the 1% or less. And US financial policy is set up to reinforce this.
The private lending firms are now larger and have a larger percentage of the overall financial marketplace than they did in 2008 when private lending caused the great financial crisis.
Democrats should be leading the charge on advancing regulatory reforms of the finance industry.
But as Kelleher points out, most of our representatives are advancing regulatory policy that the financial industry is asking for, to the detriment of the rest of us. Kelliher also points out that Senator Gillibrand's 22 year old son, fresh out of college, just founded a company that has garnered the backing of several billionaires. Maybe he's got a fantastic idea that is worth investing in. But I think most of us look at these things the same way we look at Eric Trump and Don Trump Jr's business dealings- it sure seems highly corrupt.
At any rate- you asked for specifics- and I just gave you TWO very specific examples of where I don't see the Democratic Party advocating for laws or regulations that help the American people.
But if you want a 3rd, it would be Crypto and the fact that the Crypto industry has bought off Democrats as well as Republicans. As Kelleher notes in this discussion with Krugman, the only utility for Cryptocurrency is for profiting off of speculative bubbles and doing crimes. And Kelleher notes that one of my Senators, Angela Also Brooks (who I made campaign contributions for and supported) has stated that “I’m spending virtually all my time on crypto.”.
Senator Alsobrooks has the WRONG position on Cryptocurrency- but she's in good company. Mind you- I very much like Alsobrooks, Van Hollen, and Elfreth.
Your point about 'very much like MAGA or the Bernie Bros in 2016' was what was raising red flags for me about Graham Platner. If a candidate has a reputation of mistreating and disrespecting women, that basically says to me that they are a bad person and not a good candidate to represent people, 50%ish of which are women.
And then watching that 'concession speech' - so whiny, and entitled, and self-pitying.
One thing I have struggled with in my own mind is the extent to which Platner's weakness as a general election candidate was based on his character flaws as opposed to his positions on the issues. Hannah Pingree is identified by the NYT as a progressive and the polls you've shared indicate she is a strong general election candidate. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/us/politics/maine-governor-pingree-charles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xFA.nTyK.FpSVe3Y2uBl_&smid=url-share). Can anything be learned by the convention candidates from Platner's early popularity, before his character flaws became clear, as they decide who to support in the upcoming convention?
Thanks for this clarity. You make this a useful lens, to distinguish character flaws vs issue positions, and I hope participants in the convention use it.
We have all heard the message, "Don't shoot the messenger, it's the message"
In this case it's the reverse, "shoot the messenger, keep the message" He had winning message. There was record turnout in the Maine primary and he won by a mile.
Hopefully the 601 delegates will be fairly chosen and broadly representative, and so they will have the collective wisdom to recognize the failed messenger had a winning message including going after Collin's record, which to me seems like low hanging fruit.
I would assume that a "progressive leaning" candidate would be more appropriate to reduce the fracture of Platners exit and reflective of the primary voters message, but I don't know the players, or the voters as well as the delgates. They have the advantage of all that vetting that Simon was writing about today. Process is so important here, not only for the seat, but to show that the party is listening to the voters desires.
Michael, as i've written here repeatedly over the last week your argument here is simply not true. Platner was the weakest general election candidate relative to the partisan lean of his state of any Senate candidate in the last three cycles. What you are writing here is a continuation of Platner's gaslighting of us. And to be clear, as I've written other places, there needs to be publicly available, independent research of whether being close to Platner helps our candidate or hurts them. My guess from years of experience that going with someone close to Platner is far riskier than a clean break. But I will listen to the data and the research. The goal here is get the strongest candidate - period. That's our responsibility.
it’s so depressing that the progressives don’t care about electability at all in this race and are entirely focused on a candidate with similar policy views to Platner.
No one in the establishment thought Mamdani would win, but when Mamdani pivoted and spoke up for issues people care about, he trounced Cuomo. Cuomo was tainted in so many areas, and exhibited an arrogant persona, never speaking to issues about affordability, etc. A candidate with similar views to Platner but without the character history could very well appeal to Maine voters. We'll see.
Then why did he get 75% of the vote? Why was he so far ahead of the governor that she dropped out before the vote? People liked him enough to look past his scandals until the last one. His message, his policies were resonating. I don't see any other wsy to account for the "success" of the flawed candidate.
Wow, I wonder what the loss of Graham and McConnell will do to the confirmation of Blanche? Especially if Collins, Murkowski, Cassidy, and Paul decide to vote against Blanche? I guess maybe Vance can break a tie and maybe Thune can work with the governor of SC to try and time things, but it seems to make life interesting.
Lindsey Graham sat on the judiciary committee, which has not yet held its hearings on Blanche's nomination. Without Lindsey, it's 9 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Cornyn and Tillis are on that committee. If the committee vote is a tie, then the nomination does not move forward to the full Senate.
Thanks for this info. I am backspacing all the comments I start to write about this major event so I can be appropriate. But this is really hopeful that the process may slow down for the Rs to jam through all these unqualified and dangerous people.
We really have to hope that Tillis and/or Cornyn stops the Blanche nomination in the Judiciary Committee, so that it never gets to the floor. Tillis has said he won't support any AG nominee who doesn't condemn the J6 riot and rioters, or who supports pardoning them. Looking at you, Todd Blanche.
A few weeks ago, one of Tillis's aides went on a long rant to me about how much Tillis hates Bill Pulte. I hope the same is true of Todd Blanche! I will be sure to mention Blanche every day.
THANK YOU for doing the thankless task of contacting your Republican electeds. Fortunately, it sounds like you have made a contact in Tillis' office, and I'm sure that makes you hopeful. Keep it up, Elizabeth - I admire your commitment.
My understanding for Graham is that the governor of SC picks a temporary replacement and then there is an emergency primary to pick a Republican to run against Dr. Annie Andrews. Not sure for McConnell.
Scott MacFarlane has an excellent overview of the South Carolina process in his post this morning.
For Kentucky, if McConnell dies or resigns before an early date in August, then that triggers an election to finish out the term, otherwise, I think the seat stays empty until the new person is elected. Candidates for doing so need not be the ones running in the November election. The journalist Brian Karem has suggested that Republicans have put a lid on information about McConnell because they do not want that special election, as Thomas Massie might decide to run, and if he were to win the seat, might then run as an independent against Barr in November.
I keep wishing Beshear would just play chicken and schedule the primary so proof of life has to be brought forward! Does anyone know if there is a reason he cannot do this?
Can you say more about this? It seems to me that this new MIA is unprecendented and being used as a ploy. Are you in any way speaking from knowledge of the laws around this that you can share?
lol. I do not know. You are right that of course fewer votes are such an advantage.
For some reason if Beshear replaces him and they have to have this primary, I am thinking there will be lots of infighting. Massie versus who else? It would delay things until the end of August. I have no knowledge, just wondering things.
Yes. Here are KY's current regulations on this situation -
"August 3 is the critical political deadline in Kentucky. If Senator Mitch McConnell’s seat becomes vacant on or before this date, a special election must be called. If the vacancy occurs after August 3, the seat simply remains vacant until the November general election."
If a special election were to be called, Thomas Massie of KY might run even though the seat would only last until January. Marjorie T Green has called for him to run. At any rate, much easier for the Republicans if the vacancy (if there is one) happens after Aug 3, which means McConnell has to remain viable till then. If that happens, then the Repubs don't have to deal with anything except the Nov genl election, for which i believe the candidates are already set
In my book they are both hall of famers for their destructive ways over their long careers. No love lost.
I hope the Dems push HARD for a special election in Kentucky. Force McConnell's condition out. Give him a chance to prove he has even the potentital capacity to return to work before his term expires. Hardball politics, right? Americans and Kentuckians have the right to know his condition.
Do the Dems have the DNA to be that aggressive? If they end up waiting passively for the story to unfold, will that be another cut of perceived weakness against the brand? Shouldn't the Dems get LOUD about this? Is there a downside to that strategy?
I'm asking questions because I'd like to hear what others think.
100% Michael. The Republicans would be that aggressive. Brashear should too. Demand proof of life and capacity to return to work. Every day until everyone else piles on and they have no choice.
Agree. There is a way to demand proof of life and capability in a tactful manner. Andy Beshear certainly has it in him to ask tactfully and gracefully.
Yes this is right. Nice guys finish last. It does not mean we have to be ruthless, but people want fighters. This polite passivity is maddening and ineffective.
I agree, Michael, with your assessment of these two Senators' legacies. Per Deborah's post below, the uncertainty about Moscow Mitch's health appears to be resolved. (Though, perhaps not to every reader's satisfaction. ;>)
I can not say that I'm sad that Graham and McConnell are dead. I just can't. I certainly didn't wish death on them, but, DAMN, it's delightful to have both of them out of the Senate and any other governmental position.
I agree that, since both of them started with talking about the horror that is Donnie, baby, but then went for just how much they could get for themselves if they "just" ignored their oaths of office and ANY care about the country or The People, they were both interested in themselves only and just how much power they could gain. Instead, they've helped crush and shred what used to be a decent--though never mine--political party.
I can’t either, and it is quite upsetting to realize it. I don’t think I am happy about it, exactly. I am happy Graham is gone from the Senate, and I hope McConnell is out, too. They did a lot of harm, and this will stop that harm and create an opportunity for a better future, but I hate that I can’t find any empathy in myself for either of them.
Myrna, of course you are right, but voters are angry, enraged and disenfranchised. He was a highly effective orator and presented a platform that people in Maine want. He spoke up about the corruption in government and promised to work for the people, not the wealthy elites. It is not as simple as you might suspect. Mainers are smart and good people. Yes they have chosen Collins 5 times, so I can understand the Dems from other states thinking we are fools. We are quite a purple state, with a lot of poor, rural citizens.
My guess is your question will be studied. Why did 51% of white women vote for Trump? Why are they still voting for Collins? We have a long way to go....
Some of it is that in America, women grow up in a patriarchy and they absorb its messages, wittingly or not. The "blame the victim" mentality is strong in born again Christian circles, too. I was living in NC when the William Kennedy Smith scandal happened, and coworkers were saying she was "out to destroy" him despite all the credible evidence. It hasn't changed much, which is why women don't come forward.
So true, Lisa and Jennifer. We all absorb these societal messages like osmosis. We have to be taught to resist them, to literally purposefully fight back. With time it becomes easier. It used to pain me when my class had a week on feminism, misogyny, and gender discrimination to watch my women students' faces fall as they realized that their intuition about the world was true. I tried to spend as much time studying strong, bold, powerful, and accomplished women to give them role models to research. Sometimes being a White male teaching DEI is dodgy as hell.
I love this! I really believe it is powerful when men teach others about patriarchy. I really wish it would be a required in curriculum starting in pre-k. :)
I couldn't agree more, Jennifer. I've taught many high school kids this course for college credit and they tell me no one in their K-12 experience has ever mentioned race, patriarchy, sexual orientation, ethnocentrism, or ability differences. What are we doing?
What I don't understand is how he consistently got such a pass for the totality of his racist, homophobic, misogynistic comments. He did not cover the tattoo up until October 2025. I could never get past that inconsistency. I couldn't care less about his sexting bc I felt that was between Platner and his wife - except that it happened during the time he had supposedly changed.
I am in no way vilifying those that believed in Platner. There is lesson here for me. Because I want Trump and his ilk out of power so desperately, would I have been willing to set aside my values? In a way, it was easy for me to not support Platner. I don't live in Maine. But, honestly, if I lived in Maine and Platner were running, would I have held my nose, felt disgusted but voted for him bc Collins is as evil as the rest of MAGA in my opinion? I would not have had to make that choice. (Of course, no way would I vote for him after the credible sexual assault was revealed.)
Oh Mrs. CQ. You hit on so much. Platner's has jewish family and his marine buddies came out and explained the night they got the tattoo. Nothing in his posts or background supported him as a nazi, absolutely nothing. I read and met members of his family and read stories and endorsements from life long friends. The truth is that his community really loves him. He has been in the grassroots movement in Maine and I know people directly who I protested with at Collins office who know and love him for his generous heart and passion about progressive causes. He is highly intelligent and an dynamic speaker. He just is a generational talent. His reddit posts were absolutely troubling but I believe that people grow and heal and I thought we was a great role model for reformed toxic males. in 2020 he trained trans people how to use a gun and protect themselves. He worked with the Maine's People's Alliance, a very progressive group working on health care for all. He would help a neighbor fix something without being asked. I do believe he is a genuinely decent guy, with addiction. Now that I see the sexual issues and alcohol, I think he is not as far along on his journey of healing as I hoped he was.
I am not sure I can adequately express the utter loathing and hatred many of us in Maine feel about Collins. The degree of lies, deceit and betrayal by her actions is hard to quantify. Some of us worked tirelessly to get her out of office, for more than one cycle. 2020 was bittersweet because Joe won, but we ended up with Collins. Anything Platner had done was miniscule to Collins's horrific votes, confirmations and lies. Many of us were active protesting her relentlessly with the guidance of Indivisible. I helped co found a group that brought all the resistance groups in Maine together to resist Trump, elect Ds and co-ordinate rallies and protests. For a long time, Collins had supported Planned Parenthood, but we were watching her moving further to the right and we were becoming very mistrustful of her. I sat in Collins's office in Portland, Maine with other women, maybe 50 of us squished on the floor and into the hallway, while she read her speech. It was a shocking and deeply offensive missive. After all the advocacy we had respectfully done with all her offices, including many of us going to DC, it was horrifying to hear read those words. Her speech was a defiant and insulting attack on not just women and Christine Blasey-Ford, but particularly it was aimed at all the Maine women who had shared their stories about their SA and opened their souls about how this confirmation would impact them if Roe got overturned. Women were traumatized and in disbelief. So to say many of us are motivated to have Collins gone in no way encapsulates the degree to which she has hurt her constituents.
Anything Graham had done or was accused of pales in comparison to Collins's actions. We want her out that badly. Soooo, when the NYTs article really made me take pause but when I read Lyndsey FiField was really the only accuser with some troubling story, I was skeptical when I learned (and the times kept out) that she was a right wing operative who had worked for years at the Heritage Foundation, Nikki Haley, was enamoured with Brietbart style reporting, founded Ladies for Kavanaugh and had bragged about her helping to develop the language and argument for Collins to use for her speech to confirm Kavanaugh. The NY Times literally camped out in our state and elsewhere digging for dirt. The timing right before the primary made many of us skeptical and it was easy to dismiss Fifield because she smeared Blasey- Ford and assist Collins in removing our sacred bodily autonomy.
When Ms. Racicot's story dropped in Politico, those of us already feeling uneasy and not at all thrilled at his past, given his stellar ideas and amazing rise, without even communicating, a huge number of his supporters said enough.
I guess I can liken this tale to the Music Man. Professor Harold Hill. He wasn't a perfect man, a swindler actually, but had a heart and at the end of the day was able to bamboozle the town. Maine was kind of like Gary, Indiana, I guess. We wanted the shiny new instruments and the big brass band.
I have given far too much detail as to why 72% of us were willing to take a chance on Graham Platner. Desperation is probably an easier and simpler explanation.
My husband is Jewish but I cannot speak for how Jewish people reacted or felt about Platner. I can't speak to what his family, friends and those who heard him speak in person felt or believed.
What I can say is, his past did trouble many people. When the tattoo story first broke, and I heard his explanation, my husband didn't buy it. I said, look, he was young and young people do stupid things. Then, and not to be redundant, when I read it took him until October 2025 to cover it up, his reasons just didn't ring true. This was before I read his comments about sexual assault victims in the military and the list goes on. I watched his interviews and to be fair, not all of them, he just didn't sound as if he had changed - at least to me. I didn't take the time to evaluate whether he was extremely intelligent, a good public speaker, etc.
When discussions were ongoing here, I always tried (and try) to be respectful but the attacks some of us got from our fellow "plucky patriots" were distressing.
You have always been respectful, non judgmental and respected those who disagreed with you. I admire and respect you.
Now, what I CAN say is that the Maine Democratic Party is fierce. I love how they stood up to Platner's campaign and didn't "negotiate" with them about which candidate should take his place. It does appear they are really trying to be fair and transparent.
Now let's get behind a really good candidate in Maine! I have no idea who that is but I'm sure you and other people from Maine will help get the word out.
I am not someone who believes that the the results of the 2024 election were accurate. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. My head is firmly on my shoulders. But I have listened to some very credible people say that the 2024 election was tampered with. I don't believe that the same women who voted to keep their reproductive rights turned around and voted for a rapist. Sorry I just don't. That is a narrative that I just cannot swallow.
Maybe the tide is turning a bit. When the woman came out publicly and said that Platner had raped her, his support evaporated and he was pushed off stage.
Maybe actually being believed and having action taken (getting Platner out as a candidate) will start making a difference. I think there are very few examples of powerful men who behave badly suffering any consequences (so why should you stick your neck out to get abused again).
And I have to love E. Jean Carroll. What a fighter! And finally! She's getting her money (at least some of it)! That she said that she would spend doing everything Trump hates. Her goal is to make him angry:
Like in NM, all (101 ME) members of the Democratic Party State Committee are automatic voting delegates to the convention because the State Committee is the governing body of the State Democratic Party. So, in addition to the opportunity to be elected as a ME Convention delegate this month, if you want to be more involved in ME party politics you can look for future opportunities to be elected to State Committee, as Officers in Wards and Precincts, or other Committee Members. Getting to know the elected Ward, Precinct and State Committee members that represent you is also wonderful.
Thanks Deborah. Also, voting will be done in rounds, with the top 5 advancing past the first round. Then each subsequent round will eliminate one candidate until there is a winner. Seems fair and open especially with each County having its own meeting to elect delegates to the state convention, and any Democrat allowed to run as a delegate in their County. This is all from the State party link Simon posted, including the FAQs.
p.s. Devon and Charlie are great spokespeople for all this.
Even on a Sunday, you crank out the most amazing posts for us.
I have been running and refreshing my email to see what you might say about Dr. Annie Andrews. I sure hope she has a chance.
I am going to share this substack with my circles. Your vetting experience and views are so important.
Maine has a tough battle ahead 1/3 of our voters are Indies and Unenrolled. Even farther left Dems are angry and threatening not to vote, writing GP in or even voting for Collins, to "teach the Dems a lesson because they stole my vote" along with those non enrolled Ds. I have no idea if this is just several thousand or tens of thousands. I am using all my conflict resolution trainings to see what approach works to calm and help them through their anger on social media.
Maine is a small state. Someone popped up on my social media feed who says they are in Op Research and disparaged one.of the candidates the GP folks seem to be gravitating towards I posted to one of the candidate's posts beseeching their team to make sure they clear this up as we cannot have another candidate destroyed for their past s. That candidate reached out to me within hours and we had a fantastic, candid and thorough discussion where I asked tough questions. I left feeling good about still being able to consider them as a viable candidate and that there will be no surprises. Hoping the vetting is there. How do with do that with 9 candidates so far and only 2 weeks until we have to nominate them? Maine is a very small state. This anecdote is an example of how accessible our candidates are. I just sent a message to another candidate who is another potential pick from the GP crowd. I feel confident they will get back to me too. Mostly I have suggestions from them about connecting with unenrolled and indie voters. We have a very disturbing candidate who will sink our chances of winning and give the win to Collins. He came in second in our gubernatorial primary last month. Senator Duckworth warned Mainers again about selecting him yesterday. Some of his ardent supporters are not listening. "He said he learned his lesson" is what they respond to me. Where have we heard that before and from whom in Maine? I bet any one of you can answer that question! I already knew about her concerns from my research on him prior to our primary and did not rank him. I am trying to strategize how I, someone with no connection to anyone can help get the info out to Maine voters. Any thoughts anyone? I intend to write an LTE. I do not know if that will be a far enough reach. Any other suggestions? I have about 12 points that make a compelling case that he will be an absolute disaster.
We have this unfolding process coming up to elect our new senate case as Simon has so well communicated. Cumberland County, my county, is the largest and will have 149 delegates and 30 alternates. I think the race for becoming a delegate will be competitive! Our county party chair, Joe Zamboni, is doing an amazing job. He is communicating frequently and throughly and understands that 1/3 of the voters may feel disenfranchised and may not vote if their voices are not heard. I continue to hope my 250 word essay gets me on the delegate team, but with 2000 people already having submitted forms, I may not prevail.
This is not in any way an ordinary situation in Maine. 'A centrist anointed by the party in a rigged sham by the DEM elites" is the view of so many voters who are still heavily aligned with GP. If the ME Dems do not recognize the seriousness of these voters stayng home, writing hm in, or voting for Collins to punish the DNC, we are likely not going to retire Ms. Collins. The process, I believe, must somehow legitimately include the voices of the 1/3 of who cannot be a delegate. Such a hard situation as what does that look like. The team creating this process is doing a spectacular job. I do not envy their challenges to get this right.. I have deep respect for Charlie, Devon and the rest of the ME Dem team. They are trying their best to make this work.
Thanks to all who have supported us here in Maine!
We have lots to be hopeful around the country and I am so grateful for this community to keep me feeling hopeful and energized.
Jennifer, I would write to every sparkplug / communicator type you know with a one-pager about the candidates and ask them to send it to their networks. Good luck and thanks for doing this important work!
thank you for those insights. i don't vote in maine but have spent many summers there, or portions of summers, since 2003. it's just lovely. the people are great, the food is great, the weather in summer anyway, is great, though you never know when a shower will suddenly pop up, and most important of all, the fishing is great, the way it used to be in nj before the commercial boats cleaned everything out; you don't have that problem in lakes. clean lakes in nj are few and far between, have limited access, and are overfished. i do meet a lot of maga up there, but also a lot of people who are sick of trump. depends where you are at.
Thank you, Jennifer, for your thorough observations of the situation in Maine. You've probably thought of this already but in your writing you might make the point that threatening to not vote, or to vote for Susan Collins to "teach Dems a lesson" may be the same tactic that helped elect Donald Trump in some swing states. Michigan comes to mind. I think they call this "cutting off your nose to spite your face." Not a winning strategy.
Yeah, I am not going to say word one about Sen. Graham, because if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. ;) My loathing of both Graham and McConnell burns with the fire of a thousand suns.
Agree 100% on the vetting. Running your mouth on the socials, as we tell students at the university where I work, can get you into trouble later in life, which is why kids love SnapChat (ok) and Signal (much better), and 100% the Repugs will use whatever they can, and if they can't they'll still make sh*t up. So yeah, vetting. I have said this before - we had a primary candidate here in NJ04 who was a fiery progressive, and he had a nefarious past that blew up unexpectedly. It's nothing you want to deal with in a key race.
Hi Simon ~ Good Day to you ~ I tried to copy the link for the Gift Article in the Atlantic from your but it wouldn't let me copy it. Atlantic suggested you send the link for the article.
Ditto here. Thank you, Simon, for sharing this excellent and insightful article, and Michelle, for pointing out the glitch in the original link. (Mine cut off about 2/3 of the way in, just as the explanation for "collaboration" was beginning.)
As a long time subscriber to the Atlantic, I have amassed a group of saved articles, this one among them. I am so glad you referenced it which prompted me to go back and re-read it. Really excellent. And a great reference to Alex Vindman! Any possibility his race could receive your endorsement?
Boost your spirits by watching this seven-minute video of weekly protests in rural NC. This is happening across the country and speaks to the momentum on the pro-democracy side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfrwj7jiiuE
What is it a protest of?
Great video interviewing folks standing on street corners in rural NC, waving American flags, holding signs that say, "Defend Democracy." Some were from Indivisible, others from similarly aligned groups. Not candidate campaigns--just encouraging people to exercise their rights in order to protect them.
Every week people stand on the same street corners with signs. They are general protests against Trump and MAGA -- 38 different weekly protests across central NC, many in red towns!
Thanks. Enjoyed the video. I see a change in rural TN. At the parade last week, we had a float and it read "We The People". We were treated well and I did not see any middle finger salutes.
We do the same in Menlo Park every Sunday. There is a Saturday protest in San Mateo and a Friday night one in Redwood City. Uplifting for those of us participating and honking.
These may the be the people who find that courage to go one step further in their opposition (that Anne Applebaum wrote about in her article), and help others do the same.
Wow! Didn’t see this coming. The unexpected sudden death of Lindsay Graham, and McConnell’s obvious incapacity (whatever the details), must surely complicate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate voting arithmetic.
I would love to see both replaced by able Democrats of integrity, although I realize my wish is unlikely to be fulfilled.
Well, I made a donation to Dr. Annie Andrews' campaign last quarter. Lindsey did not exactly blow away competition in the Republican primary, so I hoped the door was ajar. South Carolina has also gone out of its way on gerrymanders, but the Senate is a state-wide seat.
So did I, today.
It would be nice to see them divide themselves over Massie running for the KY seat. Beshear being popular there is important as well. I’m sure there will be plenty of right wing infighting over Graham’s seat. Like Simon always says, those little cracks have become big cracks, and the divide on the MAGA side over Epstein, Iran, and Trump’s failed economy among other promises are real. Massive opportunity to divide them further even if it doesn’t result in a Dem seat in either. Time to rub some salt in those wounds!
Good point.
⬆️ "The unexpected sudden death of Lindsay Graham, and McConnell’s obvious incapacity (whatever the details), must surely complicate Majority Leader John Thune’s Senate voting arithmetic."
I agree!
This article goes into some detail with respect to that issue: https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/lindsey-graham-death-shake-senate-130619964.html
I am no Lindsey Graham fan but any serious comment on his death should include his constant support for Ukraine.
So this was not a serious comment?
Supporting Trump and his authoritarian project is the opposite of supporting Ukraine.
Graham needs to be remembered as a facilitator of Trump. Yes, once he seemed to believe in democracy and a strong NATO, but he abandoned everything he once seemed to believe in when he started stroking his oar in support of Trump. Graham did absolutely nothing for Ukraine. Nothing. Giving a speech or supporting a bill that has zero chance of passing is not more than nothing. His once seeming friend John McCain had real principles and would be rolling over in his grave today. Miss Lindsey just flowed with the tide.
can we please not use lgbtq slurs? thanks
I apologize. That was inappropriate. Thanks for pointing it out.
And also Israel.
Running riskier candidates like Platner can also give us a positive - revealing issues people really think are important, that mainstream candidates may not be emphasizing.
Today, a number of those issues form the core of progressive or democratic socialist concerns. If the Maine Dems pay attention to what Platner's popularity was based on, in addition to 'charisma', they have an opportunity to choose appropriately.
Platner was never a strong general election candidate. Even at the height of his polling he was the worst performing battleground general election candidate relative to the partisan lean of his state in the last three election cycles. This idea that he was popular or successful is simply not true, and it was part of the noxious gaslighting of the Platner campaign itself.
As I point out here we have to differentiate between what works in Dem primaries in blue states and places and what works in the battleground.
I also want to say that it is important to realize that the whole Platner thing - fight oligarchy, working class guy, redemption story - felt too good to be true, felt so fresh and powerful because it actually was a fable, an untrue story, concocted by a bunch of out of state consultants that they are got Platner to buy into and spent a year selling. It was all a fraud. He was not redeemed - and they knew that. He grew up wealthy and privileged, and attended one of the most elite private high schools in the country. I could go on but the real lesson here from the whole Platner tragedy is my view is that people in this business must respect voters and not lie to them, tell them tall tales, create unicorns and rainbows rather than hard truths. People bought into Platner in part because it was a fiction and felt new and different - and that is in part because it was a fiction and not real. He and his team in essence committed fraud over a long period of time; many, many warned about it; and when we did we were attacked on social media and even here in Hopium world. A big part of how they pulled this off with through the use of "manufacturing consent" on social media, and that is another big lesson we must take away from this. They encouraged regular people to act like animals towards others who had concerns and doubt, and in that way this was very much like MAGA or the Bernie Bros in 2016; and in that way is how hostile foreign powers and significant manipulators of public opinion on social media execute their dark designs.
OK Simon. But let's separate the toxic messenger from the message he was campaigning on . You can't ignore the fact that Platner won more than 70% of Maine primary voters- which is more than any other Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine history.
My big fear is that Democratic Party leaders, throw the message out with Platner.
The electorate wants change- the Democratic Party better deliver change. Or you are going to see yet another swing to Republicans.
And the fear among the base is that deep pocket donors to the Democratic Party are going to have more sway than the rank and file. There's real concern that the gobsmacking awfulness of Republicans will lead to complacency withing the Democratic Party. That it will rely on simply running against Republican crimes without also offering real reforms and a governing agenda the will make our lives better:
-The Supreme Court Needs to be reformed- that is going to require expanding the number of justices on the court (if you don't expand the court, the Federalist Society 6 will simply rule reforms as unconstitutional)
-Social Security needs to be saved.
-The tax code needs to be simplified, made fair, with EVERYONE (corporations, the billionaires etc.) paying proportional shares.
-Workers need a pay raise.
-We need affordable housing (wage increases are part of that solution, but we also need more housing stock).
-We need real universal healthcare (the ACA was a big step forward, but with 16 years of living with the ACA we can see its flaws and the fact that too many Americans remain without healthcare)
-The childcare marketplace is broken. Americans need financial assistance to afford childcare.
-Education/skills training after K-12 is becoming unaffordable and hard to obtain. Families need assistance getting their kids through college or getting their kids into trade that will sustain them through life.
-Campaign contributions from corporations and the wealthy are corrupting our democracy. And they are preventing Congress from actually representing the will and the needs of the American people. We need campaign finance reform (that can't happen with this SCOTUS in place).
We want to see candidates fighting for these things. And we want to see Congress putting them into action. And there isn't much faith that Democratic Party leaders will do these things.
the dsa agenda, from what i can see, has designs beyond all these things that are not, frankly, conducive to the way our country actually runs, imho....i never really paid much attention to them but now that the truth is coming out in places like the atlantic and even markos on dkos has a piece on them today for which he is being savaged, i have a real issue with them trying to gain ground in our party. i do not see them as the same as progressives, not when half their members claim to be communists. communists are not socialists, and they are not progressives. if they want to be their own party fine, but i do not think they should be running under our banner. the new deal, progressive economy is a mixed one, not a socialist one, and surely not a communist one. now its possible i am misreading jonathan chait's analysis in the atlantic, or that i have misunderstood kos' analysis today, and if so then i stand corrected. but that is the impression i have gotten, that they are as much a problem for us as actual republicans, so extreme they have attacked and banished aoc, their most talented and successful example to date, because she supported biden and harris in 2024. and of course, simon has been writing things here about the dsa and protesters and so on who seem only to want to attack democrats. that's a problem. i believe it was ruth ben ghiat who said the fascists win when the left is divided. but it might have been ann applebaum....
Right well- if you don’t want DSA candidates getting traction, put up Democratic candidates that are running on the DSA issues that are mainstream and are immensely popular.
We don’t need candidates that are advocating for no private property, and other extremist positions.
At the same time not all DSA candidates are the same- nor is there (from what I can tell) even a consistent platform within the DSA. They seem to be all over the place depending upon which geography you are in.
Certainly Mamdani isn’t governing NYC as a radical- the man gave an extensive interview where he stated his favorite NYC mayor was Republican Fiorello La Guardia. Moreover, Mamdani is advancing his agenda by using existing laws on the books and ACTUALLY enforcing them.
If you don’t want DSA candidates taking over the Democratic Party, the best way to do it is steal the DSA’s thunder by actually making people’s lives better.
Democrats are already doing that - I would not have affordable health insurance right now if it wasn’t for the ACA. Yet there were far left people who told me it was terrible and totally okay if got overturned. They were on Medicare so I guess they didn’t care if other people couldn’t go to the doctor.
maybe its time for all of us to go engage with our state parties rather than cite reporting. ours has changed very significantly over the past 6 years
That’s a useful point. Local engagement which can build strength and unity around issues, and be the fertile ground for new leadership. I look at how the Republicans supported local judges and were able to put judges of their preference in from the local on up. That was good foresight that the Dems could emulate.
G, not sure how much of my commentary you follow so will recap a few points here from the last few weeks: 1) we cannot disaggregate the policy message from the rest of Platnerism for I believe it was all gaslighting - gaslighting about his background, gaslighting about the strength of his politics, gaslighting about the nature of the modern Democratic Party. It was all invention and confabulation. 2) you are creating a straw man here. Where are the Democrats that don't fight for working people? In the states, in Congress? Where are they? Biden? Obama? Name them. 3) We built and run our politics through low dollar donations. Why don't people understand that? Their politics is paid for by oligarchs. Ours is paid for through low dollar donations. This whole corporate controlled thing is just a wild distortion of how this all works - more gaslighting in my view. The reason the Supreme Court just changed the rules on party coordination was to undermine our grassroots fundraising advantage. 4) In this Congress Democrats have successfully gotten a GOP Congress to vote against Trump on his most important issues - tariffs, Ukraine, Iran, Epstein and we drew even on the redistricting until Callais. The single most important thing we can do for working people is roll back the tariffs and we got Congress to go there. Our candidates lead across the country even in red states. We've been winning elections all across the country throughout the cycle. Party ID is the best it's been for us in 18 years.
As I wrote here the other day the "Democratics suck" is false, gaslighting, a fake and inaccurate construct - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/its-time-to-move-on-from-the-democrats. You may disagree but in 34 years of doing this full time I don't think I can remember when there has been more bullshit in our family than what we are currently experiencing. It's understandable, given the circumstances. But there is one thing Trump, Russia, and their allies want more than anything else - is for us to fight with one another and not them. Don't do it. Keep your eyes on the prize. Defeating MAGA in these elections is all that matters. Everyone moment you spend doing something other than you are doing MAGA's work for them.
One- NOWHERE did I say Democrats suck. But I am advocating for progressive positions and advocating for Democratic candidates to advocate for them (recognizing that Red state candidates need to pick their spots). All the positions I laid out are popular. These are not radical things. Of the bulleted items I laid out in my initial post, which ones are the public policy issues the Democratic Party cannot support? Really- I'd like to know if any of those issues I laid out are non starters.
And if you want a specific example of Democrats going along with public policy that advances corporate interest at the expense of the voters- Let's talk about the H.R. 2853: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 (CORCA). This was bipartisan legislation voted by upwards of 80+ Democrats in the House and appears to have bipartisan support among Senate Democrats as well. Sara Elfreth, who I am extremely happy with as my Rep actually voted for it (to my disappointment). This Bill appears to be setup to enable Corporate surveillance that the US Government can then tap into. Think Chinese style surveillance capitalism. Why are so many Democrats supporting this legislation? Max Burns has written about this on his Substack Column and for MS NOW.
This is bad law, it enables corporate surveillance and enables corporations to turn that surveillance over to the US Government. All while the SCOTUS is advancing the Federalist Society "Unitary Executive Theory" setting the POTUS up as a dictator. This thing freaks me out- I don't understand why Democrats are supporting it.
Check out his article here-
https://www.ms.now/opinion/ice-private-data-surveillance-bill-corca
Also, did you catch Paul Krugman's discussion yesterday with Dennis Kelleher, who is the head of Better Markets, an independent think tank devoted to trying to make financial markets work better for the rest of us?
If you haven't- you should. We are 2-years away from the 20th anniversary of the 2008 Financial Crisis. 90% of American households had still not recovered from the Financial Crisis by 2016.
Kelleher point out that the financial markets are not set up to benefit the American people. They are really set up to benefit the top 10%, but, really, the 1% or less. And US financial policy is set up to reinforce this.
The private lending firms are now larger and have a larger percentage of the overall financial marketplace than they did in 2008 when private lending caused the great financial crisis.
Democrats should be leading the charge on advancing regulatory reforms of the finance industry.
But as Kelleher points out, most of our representatives are advancing regulatory policy that the financial industry is asking for, to the detriment of the rest of us. Kelliher also points out that Senator Gillibrand's 22 year old son, fresh out of college, just founded a company that has garnered the backing of several billionaires. Maybe he's got a fantastic idea that is worth investing in. But I think most of us look at these things the same way we look at Eric Trump and Don Trump Jr's business dealings- it sure seems highly corrupt.
At any rate- you asked for specifics- and I just gave you TWO very specific examples of where I don't see the Democratic Party advocating for laws or regulations that help the American people.
But if you want a 3rd, it would be Crypto and the fact that the Crypto industry has bought off Democrats as well as Republicans. As Kelleher notes in this discussion with Krugman, the only utility for Cryptocurrency is for profiting off of speculative bubbles and doing crimes. And Kelleher notes that one of my Senators, Angela Also Brooks (who I made campaign contributions for and supported) has stated that “I’m spending virtually all my time on crypto.”.
Senator Alsobrooks has the WRONG position on Cryptocurrency- but she's in good company. Mind you- I very much like Alsobrooks, Van Hollen, and Elfreth.
https://substack.com/@paulkrugman/note/p-206557106?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2ctvo
Your point about 'very much like MAGA or the Bernie Bros in 2016' was what was raising red flags for me about Graham Platner. If a candidate has a reputation of mistreating and disrespecting women, that basically says to me that they are a bad person and not a good candidate to represent people, 50%ish of which are women.
And then watching that 'concession speech' - so whiny, and entitled, and self-pitying.
One thing I have struggled with in my own mind is the extent to which Platner's weakness as a general election candidate was based on his character flaws as opposed to his positions on the issues. Hannah Pingree is identified by the NYT as a progressive and the polls you've shared indicate she is a strong general election candidate. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/us/politics/maine-governor-pingree-charles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xFA.nTyK.FpSVe3Y2uBl_&smid=url-share). Can anything be learned by the convention candidates from Platner's early popularity, before his character flaws became clear, as they decide who to support in the upcoming convention?
Thanks for this clarity. You make this a useful lens, to distinguish character flaws vs issue positions, and I hope participants in the convention use it.
We have all heard the message, "Don't shoot the messenger, it's the message"
In this case it's the reverse, "shoot the messenger, keep the message" He had winning message. There was record turnout in the Maine primary and he won by a mile.
Hopefully the 601 delegates will be fairly chosen and broadly representative, and so they will have the collective wisdom to recognize the failed messenger had a winning message including going after Collin's record, which to me seems like low hanging fruit.
I would assume that a "progressive leaning" candidate would be more appropriate to reduce the fracture of Platners exit and reflective of the primary voters message, but I don't know the players, or the voters as well as the delgates. They have the advantage of all that vetting that Simon was writing about today. Process is so important here, not only for the seat, but to show that the party is listening to the voters desires.
Michael, as i've written here repeatedly over the last week your argument here is simply not true. Platner was the weakest general election candidate relative to the partisan lean of his state of any Senate candidate in the last three cycles. What you are writing here is a continuation of Platner's gaslighting of us. And to be clear, as I've written other places, there needs to be publicly available, independent research of whether being close to Platner helps our candidate or hurts them. My guess from years of experience that going with someone close to Platner is far riskier than a clean break. But I will listen to the data and the research. The goal here is get the strongest candidate - period. That's our responsibility.
it’s so depressing that the progressives don’t care about electability at all in this race and are entirely focused on a candidate with similar policy views to Platner.
No one in the establishment thought Mamdani would win, but when Mamdani pivoted and spoke up for issues people care about, he trounced Cuomo. Cuomo was tainted in so many areas, and exhibited an arrogant persona, never speaking to issues about affordability, etc. A candidate with similar views to Platner but without the character history could very well appeal to Maine voters. We'll see.
Then why did he get 75% of the vote? Why was he so far ahead of the governor that she dropped out before the vote? People liked him enough to look past his scandals until the last one. His message, his policies were resonating. I don't see any other wsy to account for the "success" of the flawed candidate.
I guess we disagree on this one.
Wow, I wonder what the loss of Graham and McConnell will do to the confirmation of Blanche? Especially if Collins, Murkowski, Cassidy, and Paul decide to vote against Blanche? I guess maybe Vance can break a tie and maybe Thune can work with the governor of SC to try and time things, but it seems to make life interesting.
I'm working on postcards to Ohio voters today.
Lindsey Graham sat on the judiciary committee, which has not yet held its hearings on Blanche's nomination. Without Lindsey, it's 9 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Cornyn and Tillis are on that committee. If the committee vote is a tie, then the nomination does not move forward to the full Senate.
Thanks for this info. I am backspacing all the comments I start to write about this major event so I can be appropriate. But this is really hopeful that the process may slow down for the Rs to jam through all these unqualified and dangerous people.
We really have to hope that Tillis and/or Cornyn stops the Blanche nomination in the Judiciary Committee, so that it never gets to the floor. Tillis has said he won't support any AG nominee who doesn't condemn the J6 riot and rioters, or who supports pardoning them. Looking at you, Todd Blanche.
A few weeks ago, one of Tillis's aides went on a long rant to me about how much Tillis hates Bill Pulte. I hope the same is true of Todd Blanche! I will be sure to mention Blanche every day.
THANK YOU for doing the thankless task of contacting your Republican electeds. Fortunately, it sounds like you have made a contact in Tillis' office, and I'm sure that makes you hopeful. Keep it up, Elizabeth - I admire your commitment.
Thank you Meliss for thanking Elizabeth T. and recognizing how thankless it is to contact her Repub representative.
I add my thanks to Elizabeth T. for making these thankless calls.
must have been a fun call!
Texan here who will make his calls to Cornholio!!!
My postcards are arriving tomorrow! A positive action.
Where is the link for the Winning Maine fund?
Found it: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hopium4mainedems
Thanks!
Yes, sorry, ugh. I put it back into the online version. Shit happens!
Thanks Peter. Thanks Wendy!
Yes it does :)
What most of us would like to know is how successors to Graham and McConnell are chosen.
My understanding for Graham is that the governor of SC picks a temporary replacement and then there is an emergency primary to pick a Republican to run against Dr. Annie Andrews. Not sure for McConnell.
Scott MacFarlane has an excellent overview of the South Carolina process in his post this morning.
For Kentucky, if McConnell dies or resigns before an early date in August, then that triggers an election to finish out the term, otherwise, I think the seat stays empty until the new person is elected. Candidates for doing so need not be the ones running in the November election. The journalist Brian Karem has suggested that Republicans have put a lid on information about McConnell because they do not want that special election, as Thomas Massie might decide to run, and if he were to win the seat, might then run as an independent against Barr in November.
I keep wishing Beshear would just play chicken and schedule the primary so proof of life has to be brought forward! Does anyone know if there is a reason he cannot do this?
You would think there would be some kind of proof of life and/or cognitive ability to hold a seat in Congress.
100%
We need to be as brazen as they are in situations like this. Take charge! You know they would.
He does not as of now have legal grounds for doing so.
Can you say more about this? It seems to me that this new MIA is unprecendented and being used as a ploy. Are you in any way speaking from knowledge of the laws around this that you can share?
Thanks!
There was an article in The Atlantic that gives a short history of MIAs in Congress - no paywall!
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/07/mitch-mcconnell-health/687862/?gift=fsPlW3a5fb_9J_7CgJHbuRVmUySPZQSy7i8d69C1oxc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Explain why you are not happy with one less R vote in the Senate?
lol. I do not know. You are right that of course fewer votes are such an advantage.
For some reason if Beshear replaces him and they have to have this primary, I am thinking there will be lots of infighting. Massie versus who else? It would delay things until the end of August. I have no knowledge, just wondering things.
Beshear does not.
Yes. Here are KY's current regulations on this situation -
"August 3 is the critical political deadline in Kentucky. If Senator Mitch McConnell’s seat becomes vacant on or before this date, a special election must be called. If the vacancy occurs after August 3, the seat simply remains vacant until the November general election."
If a special election were to be called, Thomas Massie of KY might run even though the seat would only last until January. Marjorie T Green has called for him to run. At any rate, much easier for the Republicans if the vacancy (if there is one) happens after Aug 3, which means McConnell has to remain viable till then. If that happens, then the Repubs don't have to deal with anything except the Nov genl election, for which i believe the candidates are already set
You mean of the Kentucky process, yes?
Simon explained above
Of course it is sad when people are ill and pass unexpectedly
That said these two are two who are very much responsible for the state we are in
Two who knew better about MAGA yet were only interested in power.
Not great legacies IMHO
In my book they are both hall of famers for their destructive ways over their long careers. No love lost.
I hope the Dems push HARD for a special election in Kentucky. Force McConnell's condition out. Give him a chance to prove he has even the potentital capacity to return to work before his term expires. Hardball politics, right? Americans and Kentuckians have the right to know his condition.
Do the Dems have the DNA to be that aggressive? If they end up waiting passively for the story to unfold, will that be another cut of perceived weakness against the brand? Shouldn't the Dems get LOUD about this? Is there a downside to that strategy?
I'm asking questions because I'd like to hear what others think.
100% Michael. The Republicans would be that aggressive. Brashear should too. Demand proof of life and capacity to return to work. Every day until everyone else piles on and they have no choice.
Agree
Agree.
Agree. There is a way to demand proof of life and capability in a tactful manner. Andy Beshear certainly has it in him to ask tactfully and gracefully.
Why do you want another R voting quickly?
I don't understand your question. Could you amplify a bit?
Don’t want to replace McConnell quickly. Let them be missing his vote
TY, that's a good point.
Is there an advantage to making R's scramble, fight, and spend campaign money, etc?
And the larger question, proving those 3 R Senators lied about talking to him last week, and pressuring them to answer for that.
Yes this is right. Nice guys finish last. It does not mean we have to be ruthless, but people want fighters. This polite passivity is maddening and ineffective.
I agree, Michael, with your assessment of these two Senators' legacies. Per Deborah's post below, the uncertainty about Moscow Mitch's health appears to be resolved. (Though, perhaps not to every reader's satisfaction. ;>)
I can not say that I'm sad that Graham and McConnell are dead. I just can't. I certainly didn't wish death on them, but, DAMN, it's delightful to have both of them out of the Senate and any other governmental position.
I agree that, since both of them started with talking about the horror that is Donnie, baby, but then went for just how much they could get for themselves if they "just" ignored their oaths of office and ANY care about the country or The People, they were both interested in themselves only and just how much power they could gain. Instead, they've helped crush and shred what used to be a decent--though never mine--political party.
I can’t either, and it is quite upsetting to realize it. I don’t think I am happy about it, exactly. I am happy Graham is gone from the Senate, and I hope McConnell is out, too. They did a lot of harm, and this will stop that harm and create an opportunity for a better future, but I hate that I can’t find any empathy in myself for either of them.
People should have listened to the the women who were calling out platner. What does it take for us women to have credibility????
Myrna, of course you are right, but voters are angry, enraged and disenfranchised. He was a highly effective orator and presented a platform that people in Maine want. He spoke up about the corruption in government and promised to work for the people, not the wealthy elites. It is not as simple as you might suspect. Mainers are smart and good people. Yes they have chosen Collins 5 times, so I can understand the Dems from other states thinking we are fools. We are quite a purple state, with a lot of poor, rural citizens.
My guess is your question will be studied. Why did 51% of white women vote for Trump? Why are they still voting for Collins? We have a long way to go....
Some of it is that in America, women grow up in a patriarchy and they absorb its messages, wittingly or not. The "blame the victim" mentality is strong in born again Christian circles, too. I was living in NC when the William Kennedy Smith scandal happened, and coworkers were saying she was "out to destroy" him despite all the credible evidence. It hasn't changed much, which is why women don't come forward.
So yeah, we do have a long way to go.
So true, Lisa and Jennifer. We all absorb these societal messages like osmosis. We have to be taught to resist them, to literally purposefully fight back. With time it becomes easier. It used to pain me when my class had a week on feminism, misogyny, and gender discrimination to watch my women students' faces fall as they realized that their intuition about the world was true. I tried to spend as much time studying strong, bold, powerful, and accomplished women to give them role models to research. Sometimes being a White male teaching DEI is dodgy as hell.
I love this! I really believe it is powerful when men teach others about patriarchy. I really wish it would be a required in curriculum starting in pre-k. :)
This is a really good point about starting the message with youngsters. Boys (and girls) don't always have good role models at home.
I couldn't agree more, Jennifer. I've taught many high school kids this course for college credit and they tell me no one in their K-12 experience has ever mentioned race, patriarchy, sexual orientation, ethnocentrism, or ability differences. What are we doing?
AMEN
We need to get the house and senate so we can re- establish the Dept of Ed and get the bible out of our schools.
What I don't understand is how he consistently got such a pass for the totality of his racist, homophobic, misogynistic comments. He did not cover the tattoo up until October 2025. I could never get past that inconsistency. I couldn't care less about his sexting bc I felt that was between Platner and his wife - except that it happened during the time he had supposedly changed.
I am in no way vilifying those that believed in Platner. There is lesson here for me. Because I want Trump and his ilk out of power so desperately, would I have been willing to set aside my values? In a way, it was easy for me to not support Platner. I don't live in Maine. But, honestly, if I lived in Maine and Platner were running, would I have held my nose, felt disgusted but voted for him bc Collins is as evil as the rest of MAGA in my opinion? I would not have had to make that choice. (Of course, no way would I vote for him after the credible sexual assault was revealed.)
Oh Mrs. CQ. You hit on so much. Platner's has jewish family and his marine buddies came out and explained the night they got the tattoo. Nothing in his posts or background supported him as a nazi, absolutely nothing. I read and met members of his family and read stories and endorsements from life long friends. The truth is that his community really loves him. He has been in the grassroots movement in Maine and I know people directly who I protested with at Collins office who know and love him for his generous heart and passion about progressive causes. He is highly intelligent and an dynamic speaker. He just is a generational talent. His reddit posts were absolutely troubling but I believe that people grow and heal and I thought we was a great role model for reformed toxic males. in 2020 he trained trans people how to use a gun and protect themselves. He worked with the Maine's People's Alliance, a very progressive group working on health care for all. He would help a neighbor fix something without being asked. I do believe he is a genuinely decent guy, with addiction. Now that I see the sexual issues and alcohol, I think he is not as far along on his journey of healing as I hoped he was.
I am not sure I can adequately express the utter loathing and hatred many of us in Maine feel about Collins. The degree of lies, deceit and betrayal by her actions is hard to quantify. Some of us worked tirelessly to get her out of office, for more than one cycle. 2020 was bittersweet because Joe won, but we ended up with Collins. Anything Platner had done was miniscule to Collins's horrific votes, confirmations and lies. Many of us were active protesting her relentlessly with the guidance of Indivisible. I helped co found a group that brought all the resistance groups in Maine together to resist Trump, elect Ds and co-ordinate rallies and protests. For a long time, Collins had supported Planned Parenthood, but we were watching her moving further to the right and we were becoming very mistrustful of her. I sat in Collins's office in Portland, Maine with other women, maybe 50 of us squished on the floor and into the hallway, while she read her speech. It was a shocking and deeply offensive missive. After all the advocacy we had respectfully done with all her offices, including many of us going to DC, it was horrifying to hear read those words. Her speech was a defiant and insulting attack on not just women and Christine Blasey-Ford, but particularly it was aimed at all the Maine women who had shared their stories about their SA and opened their souls about how this confirmation would impact them if Roe got overturned. Women were traumatized and in disbelief. So to say many of us are motivated to have Collins gone in no way encapsulates the degree to which she has hurt her constituents.
Anything Graham had done or was accused of pales in comparison to Collins's actions. We want her out that badly. Soooo, when the NYTs article really made me take pause but when I read Lyndsey FiField was really the only accuser with some troubling story, I was skeptical when I learned (and the times kept out) that she was a right wing operative who had worked for years at the Heritage Foundation, Nikki Haley, was enamoured with Brietbart style reporting, founded Ladies for Kavanaugh and had bragged about her helping to develop the language and argument for Collins to use for her speech to confirm Kavanaugh. The NY Times literally camped out in our state and elsewhere digging for dirt. The timing right before the primary made many of us skeptical and it was easy to dismiss Fifield because she smeared Blasey- Ford and assist Collins in removing our sacred bodily autonomy.
When Ms. Racicot's story dropped in Politico, those of us already feeling uneasy and not at all thrilled at his past, given his stellar ideas and amazing rise, without even communicating, a huge number of his supporters said enough.
I guess I can liken this tale to the Music Man. Professor Harold Hill. He wasn't a perfect man, a swindler actually, but had a heart and at the end of the day was able to bamboozle the town. Maine was kind of like Gary, Indiana, I guess. We wanted the shiny new instruments and the big brass band.
I have given far too much detail as to why 72% of us were willing to take a chance on Graham Platner. Desperation is probably an easier and simpler explanation.
My husband is Jewish but I cannot speak for how Jewish people reacted or felt about Platner. I can't speak to what his family, friends and those who heard him speak in person felt or believed.
What I can say is, his past did trouble many people. When the tattoo story first broke, and I heard his explanation, my husband didn't buy it. I said, look, he was young and young people do stupid things. Then, and not to be redundant, when I read it took him until October 2025 to cover it up, his reasons just didn't ring true. This was before I read his comments about sexual assault victims in the military and the list goes on. I watched his interviews and to be fair, not all of them, he just didn't sound as if he had changed - at least to me. I didn't take the time to evaluate whether he was extremely intelligent, a good public speaker, etc.
When discussions were ongoing here, I always tried (and try) to be respectful but the attacks some of us got from our fellow "plucky patriots" were distressing.
You have always been respectful, non judgmental and respected those who disagreed with you. I admire and respect you.
Now, what I CAN say is that the Maine Democratic Party is fierce. I love how they stood up to Platner's campaign and didn't "negotiate" with them about which candidate should take his place. It does appear they are really trying to be fair and transparent.
Now let's get behind a really good candidate in Maine! I have no idea who that is but I'm sure you and other people from Maine will help get the word out.
This is a powerful message. What a dilemma!
I am not someone who believes that the the results of the 2024 election were accurate. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. My head is firmly on my shoulders. But I have listened to some very credible people say that the 2024 election was tampered with. I don't believe that the same women who voted to keep their reproductive rights turned around and voted for a rapist. Sorry I just don't. That is a narrative that I just cannot swallow.
You are literally espousing a conspiracy theory
She said she has doubts. I do too. However I have seen no firm evidence so i do not espouse a theory. Am I also espousing a conspiracy theory?
Maybe the tide is turning a bit. When the woman came out publicly and said that Platner had raped her, his support evaporated and he was pushed off stage.
Maybe actually being believed and having action taken (getting Platner out as a candidate) will start making a difference. I think there are very few examples of powerful men who behave badly suffering any consequences (so why should you stick your neck out to get abused again).
And I have to love E. Jean Carroll. What a fighter! And finally! She's getting her money (at least some of it)! That she said that she would spend doing everything Trump hates. Her goal is to make him angry:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/e-jean-carroll-trump-money-b2772478.html
I highly recommend her book 'Not My Type'. She has an effervescent personality that comes through in the book.
Here is an article from The Portland Press Herald with many details about the upcoming convention. Title and subtitle of the article:
"Here’s how the Maine convention to replace Graham Platner will work
Democrats will hold a nominating convention July 25 in Bangor, where 601 delegates will come together to vote on a replacement candidate."
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07/10/what-we-know-and-dont-know-so-far-about-the-maine-convention-to-replace-graham-platner/
Like in NM, all (101 ME) members of the Democratic Party State Committee are automatic voting delegates to the convention because the State Committee is the governing body of the State Democratic Party. So, in addition to the opportunity to be elected as a ME Convention delegate this month, if you want to be more involved in ME party politics you can look for future opportunities to be elected to State Committee, as Officers in Wards and Precincts, or other Committee Members. Getting to know the elected Ward, Precinct and State Committee members that represent you is also wonderful.
Thanks Deborah. Also, voting will be done in rounds, with the top 5 advancing past the first round. Then each subsequent round will eliminate one candidate until there is a winner. Seems fair and open especially with each County having its own meeting to elect delegates to the state convention, and any Democrat allowed to run as a delegate in their County. This is all from the State party link Simon posted, including the FAQs.
p.s. Devon and Charlie are great spokespeople for all this.
Even on a Sunday, you crank out the most amazing posts for us.
I have been running and refreshing my email to see what you might say about Dr. Annie Andrews. I sure hope she has a chance.
I am going to share this substack with my circles. Your vetting experience and views are so important.
Maine has a tough battle ahead 1/3 of our voters are Indies and Unenrolled. Even farther left Dems are angry and threatening not to vote, writing GP in or even voting for Collins, to "teach the Dems a lesson because they stole my vote" along with those non enrolled Ds. I have no idea if this is just several thousand or tens of thousands. I am using all my conflict resolution trainings to see what approach works to calm and help them through their anger on social media.
Maine is a small state. Someone popped up on my social media feed who says they are in Op Research and disparaged one.of the candidates the GP folks seem to be gravitating towards I posted to one of the candidate's posts beseeching their team to make sure they clear this up as we cannot have another candidate destroyed for their past s. That candidate reached out to me within hours and we had a fantastic, candid and thorough discussion where I asked tough questions. I left feeling good about still being able to consider them as a viable candidate and that there will be no surprises. Hoping the vetting is there. How do with do that with 9 candidates so far and only 2 weeks until we have to nominate them? Maine is a very small state. This anecdote is an example of how accessible our candidates are. I just sent a message to another candidate who is another potential pick from the GP crowd. I feel confident they will get back to me too. Mostly I have suggestions from them about connecting with unenrolled and indie voters. We have a very disturbing candidate who will sink our chances of winning and give the win to Collins. He came in second in our gubernatorial primary last month. Senator Duckworth warned Mainers again about selecting him yesterday. Some of his ardent supporters are not listening. "He said he learned his lesson" is what they respond to me. Where have we heard that before and from whom in Maine? I bet any one of you can answer that question! I already knew about her concerns from my research on him prior to our primary and did not rank him. I am trying to strategize how I, someone with no connection to anyone can help get the info out to Maine voters. Any thoughts anyone? I intend to write an LTE. I do not know if that will be a far enough reach. Any other suggestions? I have about 12 points that make a compelling case that he will be an absolute disaster.
We have this unfolding process coming up to elect our new senate case as Simon has so well communicated. Cumberland County, my county, is the largest and will have 149 delegates and 30 alternates. I think the race for becoming a delegate will be competitive! Our county party chair, Joe Zamboni, is doing an amazing job. He is communicating frequently and throughly and understands that 1/3 of the voters may feel disenfranchised and may not vote if their voices are not heard. I continue to hope my 250 word essay gets me on the delegate team, but with 2000 people already having submitted forms, I may not prevail.
This is not in any way an ordinary situation in Maine. 'A centrist anointed by the party in a rigged sham by the DEM elites" is the view of so many voters who are still heavily aligned with GP. If the ME Dems do not recognize the seriousness of these voters stayng home, writing hm in, or voting for Collins to punish the DNC, we are likely not going to retire Ms. Collins. The process, I believe, must somehow legitimately include the voices of the 1/3 of who cannot be a delegate. Such a hard situation as what does that look like. The team creating this process is doing a spectacular job. I do not envy their challenges to get this right.. I have deep respect for Charlie, Devon and the rest of the ME Dem team. They are trying their best to make this work.
Thanks to all who have supported us here in Maine!
We have lots to be hopeful around the country and I am so grateful for this community to keep me feeling hopeful and energized.
Have a wonderful Sunday everybody!
Jennifer, I would write to every sparkplug / communicator type you know with a one-pager about the candidates and ask them to send it to their networks. Good luck and thanks for doing this important work!
Thanks for this informative post of on-the-ground conditions.
Thanks Jennifer, really interesting. Any chance you will run as a delegate?
thank you for those insights. i don't vote in maine but have spent many summers there, or portions of summers, since 2003. it's just lovely. the people are great, the food is great, the weather in summer anyway, is great, though you never know when a shower will suddenly pop up, and most important of all, the fishing is great, the way it used to be in nj before the commercial boats cleaned everything out; you don't have that problem in lakes. clean lakes in nj are few and far between, have limited access, and are overfished. i do meet a lot of maga up there, but also a lot of people who are sick of trump. depends where you are at.
Thank you, Jennifer, for your thorough observations of the situation in Maine. You've probably thought of this already but in your writing you might make the point that threatening to not vote, or to vote for Susan Collins to "teach Dems a lesson" may be the same tactic that helped elect Donald Trump in some swing states. Michigan comes to mind. I think they call this "cutting off your nose to spite your face." Not a winning strategy.
I can’t seem to open the Atlantic link. Thanks for help or maybe it’s me and I’ll try later.
Yeah, I am not going to say word one about Sen. Graham, because if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. ;) My loathing of both Graham and McConnell burns with the fire of a thousand suns.
Agree 100% on the vetting. Running your mouth on the socials, as we tell students at the university where I work, can get you into trouble later in life, which is why kids love SnapChat (ok) and Signal (much better), and 100% the Repugs will use whatever they can, and if they can't they'll still make sh*t up. So yeah, vetting. I have said this before - we had a primary candidate here in NJ04 who was a fiery progressive, and he had a nefarious past that blew up unexpectedly. It's nothing you want to deal with in a key race.
Keep going!
It is currently "Weekend at Bernie's" with regards to McConnell
Hi Simon ~ Good Day to you ~ I tried to copy the link for the Gift Article in the Atlantic from your but it wouldn't let me copy it. Atlantic suggested you send the link for the article.
Can you post it here in the comments?
Thank you ~ I really want to read it.
:) Michelle
I updated it on line and here it is - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/trumps-collaborators/612250/?gift=ZIT7NMCmIj_IC4HqpIXYJm8RrQoeg9QX6jSGyPkeD6w&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Let me know if that works and sorry about that.....
Thank you So Much!~!
The link works great! Thank you!
Ditto here. Thank you, Simon, for sharing this excellent and insightful article, and Michelle, for pointing out the glitch in the original link. (Mine cut off about 2/3 of the way in, just as the explanation for "collaboration" was beginning.)
As a long time subscriber to the Atlantic, I have amassed a group of saved articles, this one among them. I am so glad you referenced it which prompted me to go back and re-read it. Really excellent. And a great reference to Alex Vindman! Any possibility his race could receive your endorsement?
I also can't open the gift link to Anne Applebaum's Atlantic article. I think it might have been cut off when it was copied.