The scandal is the failure of the Maine Democratic Party to understand how its own voters were thinking. Platner got 72% of the primary vote despite everything, and now they want to replace him with some “normie” who won’t fight?
No. Sensible people, within the Maine Democratic Party and elsewhere, want to replace Platner with someone who is “normie” enough not to commit sexual assault – and not lie about a Nazi tattoo.
I understand that Maine State Party is looking at some sort of caucuses type process for selecting Platner's replacement. That would be much much better IMO than having the party apparatus make a pick. I hope its feasible.
Let the people decide, if at all possible. They are the ones that will be making the decision in November.
Caucuses are not a representative process which is why the Democratic Party has moved away from them. This is a tough situation and we have to be open to all options but caucuses benefit a highly organized, left leaning co-hort traditionally which is why we've done everything we can to discourage their use. They are the opposite of representative.
Yes… It worked out well for the Democratic Party in 2008 that Barack Obama had a well organized team with a caucus strategy, and he ended up being a marvelous candidate in the general election. But, it must be acknowledged that he won fewer actual votes in those primaries than Hillary Clinton but got more delegates… Caucuses are kind of like the electoral college.
I am here again. I posted to you below. I think they do understand that. Do you see that the polls have drastically changed and Collins is way up? The people are no longer choosing him. People like me. He is toast and we need him to step down, get a viable candidate and try to still be the corrupt and fascist Collins.
You might want to spend a little more reading the data I presented today. The primary result is irrelevant. He was a weak general election candidate. He was not beating Susan Collins. He was dramatically underperforming all other candidates in major races this cycle and over the last several cycles. Another "normie" Hannah Pingree is up by 15 points. I know this transition is going to be hard for Platner fans but the story the campaign told of his electoral strength was bullshit, and part of the broad gaslighting he and they did over the past year. If Dems pick a candidate close to Platner I think it is likely they will lose as Platner's image transforms from hero to villain in the coming weeks. I am writing here as a strategist who wants to win. That is all.
The thrust of what I've been writing in recent days is that the DSA/Bernie/Fight Agency politics may work well in primaries in blue areas but there aren't examples - yet - of it working in general election audiences in battleground states, for in part the anger at the Democratic Party driving this politics among Democrats is wildly overstated. Here's more on that - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/its-time-to-move-on-from-the-democrats
Finally, the strong primary vote Platner received was gained through fraud, for he lied, repeatedly, about his story. The Platner everyone embraced in the primary was a fiction, a lie, and never existed. Coming to accept this is going to be hard, understandably, for many people - for it is hard to believe.
You still need a candidate who will uphold the fiction. The things Platner stood for. The fight he represented. I find it increasingly hard to trust you, because you lost in 2024 and don’t seem to have learned a thing from it.
he didn't lose, america did. and tell me where simon said we had the election in the bag. you can't. he always said it was a close election and we had not won it yet. to a person, from rachel bitecofer to rick wilson to almost anyone who studies these things, no one predicted a trump win. the effects of racism and sexism were just unforeseen, we can be forgiven for thinking things had changed; and it was assumed women would not vote for the guy who took away their reproductive rights; that was a miscalculations. and yet you will still see leftists insist we lost that election over gaza, despite no data ever showing that. i'll give them inflation, but ffs it wasn't that bad considering everyone had a job, health insurance and higher pay. and that is exactly what voters will tell you right now, even if they voted for trump.
Stronger is someone with integrity; Platner's veneer of authenticity was nothing but a sham. He stands for lying, narcissism, and sexual assault--nothing more: same as MAGA pedofuhrer.
His supporters aren't at fault; I'm not disparaging them. They were deceived, and not for nothing, so were we, as several people in this community--for a short time, anyway--financially supported the Platner campaign. I don't doubt that even his most ardent supporters--once they process being lied to and consider the necessity of changing candidates--will make informed decisions about their support and about for whom they vote.
It is Platner's choice whether to withdraw. After that, he has no say in the process or its results. That is in the hands of the Democratic Party of Maine. Your assumptions are not factual, Dana.
Your statement leads me to believe Platner will tell the Maine Democratic Party to go f’ itself, and that Maine will re-elect Susan F’n Collins overwhelmingly, guaranteeing Trump a Republican Senate. Which you’ll blame on the people who agreed with what Platner stood for.
I think folks here needed to see this exchange. The kind of sentiment expressed here is important to understand how we got into this mess in the first place.
Good to know that you don't believe women. Many women have now made it clear that Platner is unfit for any office anywhere. Try having another primary today and see how few votes he gets.
That would be nice. But I am sick and tired of this bullshit that if I say anything about Platner’s voters being ignored or misrepresented it’s because I “don’t believe women.:” Easy to see how Collins keeps winning
Platner has a pretty massive Discord server full of volunteers for his his campaign. At least 1500 active members. They all want him to step aside. Not because of his beliefs but because he is a rapist.
Not only should he step aside, he should be arrested and charged for rape. He should be in jail for the next decades of his life for what he did.
Those people who have actually worked for him have already spoken too as to who they want to see replace him (Troy Jackson probably). I agree with you that a good progressive should carry on that fight, but we absolutely cannot tolerate someone who abuses women in the exact same way as the fascist president he pretends to want to stop and that's why Graham has to go.
Actions speak louder than words. When a criminal slips past us we have to correct course and move on. We don't have time for drama or deliberately divisive comments, so if you're in this with us put your head down and get to calling, otherwise ask Simon for a refund of your subscription and leave.
Thanks for sharing this. The Me Dem FB post about the Platner campaign is massively ratioed. People are screaming their votes are being stolen and they want Platner. They seem to believe they will have no say. I am hoping the ME Dems can clarify and be really transparent so people understand they are not going to be disenfranchised.
I am relieved to hear his volunteer discord page understands he needs to step down.
Dana take a break. For your own good. I would strongly suggest that you pay attention to what is going on here - a group of influential women in Maine have all come forward, putting their reputations and jobs on the line, to say that this man cannot be our candidate. He's been accused of rape. He cheated on his new wife with between 6 and 12 women. His reddit posts were incredibly misogynistic. More stuff just keeps coming out which means more will. The women of Maine are saying no, and they are the swing voters that will decide this race. Whatever he was he is no longer. He lied to all of us, as did his campaign. He has the worst poll numbers of our any of our battleground candidates in the bluest state. Bernie has called on him to step down. All of this was known by the campaign last summer and they decided to plow ahead. It was reckless, arrogant. We need to move on. One has to assume that Devon and the Party put out the statement they did last night for they feel betrayed, misled, lied to in ways that none of us can understand; and that the campaign was making ridiculous demands about picking the successor when as I've pointed out the Platner "fiction" wasn't working with Maine general election voters. Staying in the Platner lane almost guarantees failure, not success. Of all the gaslighting from the campaign that argument that he was strong and successful and not weak and wobbly was always the most pernicious.
This was just posted elsewhere in the chat - Platner has a pretty massive Discord server full of volunteers for his his campaign. At least 1500 active members. They all want him to step aside. Not because of his beliefs but because he is a rapist. Not only should he step aside, he should be arrested and charged for rape. He should be in jail for the next decades of his life for what he did. Those people who have actually worked for him have already spoken too as to who they want to see replace him (Troy Jackson probably). I agree with you that a good progressive should carry on that fight, but we absolutely cannot tolerate someone who abuses women in the exact same way as the fascist president he pretends to want to stop and that's why Graham has to go. Actions speak louder than words. When a criminal slips past us we have to correct course and move on. We don't have time for drama or deliberately divisive comments, so if you're in this with us put your head down and get to calling, otherwise ask Simon for a refund of your subscription and leave.
A new poll of Maine was released this afternoon and it has Platner down 5, 47-42. That puts him 16 points below a generic Democrat. It's over. I will share when I get a link.
Thanks Simon. I am looking at the FB page of the Maine Dems. Their messaging is not clear enough that the voters will get to have input. It is a nasty place full of rabid supporters. A know quite a few of them and boy they are entrenched. Somehow the messaging needs to be clear quickly that their votes will not be cast aside for an annointed candidate by the Me Dems.
Dana, Mainer here. I hear what you are saying. I see friends and fellow resisters, people I trust, angry and upset. I see you saying they do not want their votes cast aside for another "centrist". I am one of many women who defended and supported Graham. I was donating, active online, going to his events, persuading voters he had changed. My street of 50 houses had 8-10 Platner signs in front of LGBTQ homes, business people, young people, progressives, elderly. I took my sign down as soon as I read the Politico story. By the next morning, every sign was gone. All my neighbors are done with him. He cannot win now, so he has to step down.
I do still have plenty of friends, acquaintances and see his supporters hanging in, angry and still believing. They are now saying who cares if Collins wins, because our cause is more important. OMG, they are missing the point that if Collins wins and we lose the senate, we lost the right to our votes in the future.
This is all a nightmare. I am grateful for Simon's clear headed reporting of the polls.
I also believe in Charlie Dingleman and Devon Murphy, who are assuring the voters they will be part of the process.
worse for me was seeing lepaige signs over the weekend. and folks, with climate change, you really need to consider air conditioning up there.....96 degrees in a camp without ac was pretty tough...i put the fan next to my face and popped a pill to help me sleep....and the lake water was florida warm, i've never seen that before....got the bass biting though.....
Do you think he would still get that much support, knowing what we do now? And what if a Platner without all the baggage had been his primary opponent?
What is it you want to see happen now, given everything we know at this point in time, today? I'm really asking. I get that you're really angry, but I don't understand what it is you want to see happen. Is there a particular candidate or replacement process you are advocating for, and if so, why?
You need a nominee who will bring Platner’s votes with them, because that is apparently the bulk of your party. I’ve seen people denying it, or claiming they were tricked in some way, but their anger and their passion have to be on your ticket for it to win.
OK, you want a candidate who can win the general election and send the very concerned Ms. Collins packing, which is what we all want. From what I can tell, the process for selecting a replacement hasn't been laid out yet, and certainly no candidate has been selected. Is it possible you're getting ahead of yourself? Maybe the candidate or type of candidate you want to see will ultimately become Platner's replacement. A progressive with good character, who can overperform expectations like Talarico is doing, per the data and G. Elliott Morris analysis shared in today's post.
The lesson from Maine is simple: When someone repeatedly shows us who he is – as Graham Platner has done very thoroughly through many years – we ignore it at our peril. And when those responsible for vetting totally botch their job, then it rises to political malpractice.
Platner’s backers kept giving him an undeserved narrative that he had “changed” or “learned”. In retrospect nothing could be further from the truth.
The people who need to “change” and “learn” are those who embraced and endorsed Platner without doing their homework, and who continued applauding him even as his shit kept piling up so high – that the shit inevitably hit the fan.
It seems that some of those people – at least those who are in positions of influence and power within the Democratic Party, in progressive circles, and within the Platner Campaign itself – were just as drunk as Platner allegedly was when he got his Totenkopf tattoo.
Yes. My rage at the Bernie Bros of 2016 has come roaring back. I'm particularly angry at my senior senator, Elizabeth Warren, for endorsing Platner. I respect her immensely but she clearly didn't do her homework on this one.
I would also like to see an apology and/or explanation from Elizabeth Warren for this mistake. I admire her and supported her for President, but this miss is a big one. I'm sure many voters trusted her judgment.
To be really honest, I did sign on after I went to their joint rally where she endorsed him. It was a glorious, wonderful night. But there were other factors too. We are a small state and his community really loves him and there were many many personal endorsements from friends and people he has grown up with. He is a really charismatic guy. He has a dark side when he drinks or drank, that perhaps most did not see. I can only guess.
But he’s got next to no political experience, and he is (was?) running for the U.S. Senate. That’s not a starter position. If elected (which at this point I think/hope is highly unlikely), he was going to be very dependent on advisers and staff for at least a couple of years and probably longer. Color me suspicious, but the Sanders people probably saw an opportunity there.
What many people seem to have missed or overlooked that Platner presents himself as an oyster farmer/working guy, but his parents are upper-middle class and he went to private school. In my younger days I knew quite a few guys from similar backgrounds who screwed up and wound up in the military to straighten up. Platner’s escapades (and tattoos) look familiar in several ways, 50 years later. At this point it looks as though many people saw what they wanted to see instead of what was actually there. Not exactly a new story. :-(
I wrote something, and it disappeared, so if it shows up somewhere, you'll understand.
I am hopeful that this will be a seminal point in history: If we can make lemonade out of these lemons, or oyster sauce out of these oysters, we will have taken a few steps back, yes, but a giant leap forward.
Please see my below comment as to my personal experience on why I was willing to vote for Platner, if you are interested. I hear and truly understand your frustration. It is kind of like how we feel about Trump supporters, right? Only Platner was selling really amazing things that most of us on the left want desperately and some like me, have deep fear driving me. have been asking people in my circles who feel as you do to have compassion and try not to judge. There are so very many reasons why Mainers took a chance. I hope you will give me and our voters some grace to try to understand. We are in a great deal of pain and watching our youth and immigrants who believed In Platner is just devastating as they have been seriously lied to and manipulated. This is not about being "drunk" or foolish, it is about the desperation of a people who understand fully who Susan Collins is and what deep harm and damage she has caused, and not being able to get her out. Thanks for listening.
Just to be clear, I am NOT faulting you or other Maine voters who were sincere in your choice and support for Platner! I am faulting those in the know – and those whose job it was to know.
I definitely did not take it that way. I am just trying to help people understand at least from my perspective what happened. I have been vocal here about him and I feel badly for that. I have so many reasons to never even talk to a person like Graham, given my history. But I have become more tolerant and loving, and generous I think as I have grown older. Looks like not wiser lol. In any event, I do realize it is bizarre to people how so many of us decided to defend, support, donate and vote for Graham Platner. I pray to the heavens above he steps down asap and we get an opportunity to have Mainers coalesce around a wonderful candidate to take down corrupt Collins, who makes me see red and lose all my senses.
Thx for sharing this. Your point-of-view is well-articulated. I'm not from Maine, so what I think doesn't really matter. But in another sense, we are all in this together across 50 states. We do well to understand each other.
Quite a few folks knew from early on that Platner was of suspicious character and not a good candidate. It appears that many Maine voters drank the Kool-Aid.
donated to maine dems! seems like they have a good roster of candidates to choose from. there will be a process established. lawrence last nite pretty much summed up platner faux working class credentials.
I trust that the Maine DC will navigate this and a candidate will emerge that can unseat Collins. This was never going to be easy. Collins, despite how everyone outside Maine views her, seems to be viewed within Maine as a moderate and a reasonable politician who has served Maine fairly well. So, there was never going to be a silver bullet for Maine. It's going to take a great candidate, a great campaign, and all of our support.
Honestly, I never followed his campaign closely and I've never even seen him speak. I'm not sure I've heard his voice. I was aware of some of the scandals but I never closely looked into it. I put money behind him because we have to beat Susan Collins. I only did this after Mills dropped out and it was clear he'd win the primary.
He also had several high level endorsements in the party.
What I don't understand is why some people in our party, or Independents who caucus with our party, are not more careful with their endorsement. Because this does matter.
Surely you wouldn't endorse someone who you knew wasn't properly vetted, or who you had no way to know whether or not he was properly vetted? Especially when there were reasons to be skeptical. I don't get it.
I commented something similar about Sanders and Warren on another platform and got slammed. I was called a corporate democratic which would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic. I was told Warren and Sanders are too busy, they rely on their staff, they trusted blah blah blah. Oh and they threw in that Hillary was a war monger and the establishment forced her on us, etc.
Hey, if a good number of us HERE were worried after the first story about Platner came out, you mean to tell me they weren't? Do politicians just assume proper vetting has been done? Before endorsing, they don't ask questions about what kind of vetting was done and what it showed?
Well if they are "too busy", then maybe they shouldn't endorse if they don't know what they are doing. That's someone else giving excuses for them. I'll wait to see what they say.
It's one thing to have information drop, but this just feels like carelessness or wishful thinking. I admit I had a certain amount of that. I don't have a reputation to maintain, and no one is hanging on my "endorsement".
My son warned me several weeks ago Platner was a disaster. I hoped otherwise, but knew he might be right. He had followed the facts more closely than I did. Somehow he figured it out, when the elites in our party couldn't figure it out.
Patrick, you are owning your own personal regret over your "wishful thinking". Hey, I was going to vote for John Edwards back in the day. Remember that jerk?
To my knowledge, you are not a paid consultant, nor were you involved in the campaign and I doubt anyone was asking for your public endorsement.
LOL I am equal to your insignificance. I believed that cheating weasel Edwards - hook, line etc. Ugh By the time the primary got to CA, I feared Edwards didn't have a chance and I did not want to waste my vote bc defeating W was more important. So, ultimately, I did not vote for him. Lot of good that did anyway.
The itchiness I felt when Platner started to talk about his PAST life struggles in the context of undiagnosed PTSD, is the same itch, in the same spot, I had when Edwards and his late wife did cutesy inteviews talking about how they celebrated their wedding anniversaries by eating at a local Wendy's.
And, just to offer a little spicy twist, wasn't it our great Jack Smith who brought Edwards to court -- and lost that case?
Elizabeth came to Waterville Maine, and she spied me holding my darling little daughter, aged 2 all tricked out in a tam and cute little gap outfit. She sought me out afterwards and was so supportive of my canvassing for John whilst having 3 kids under age 4. She was such a sweet elegant beautiful woman. My heart was broken with her cancer and his infidelity.
someone on dkos said, what do you expect bernie to do, vet all his picks? ummm, yes....the site is a mess. it ran an article criticizing bernie's picks and it has blown up. i'm staying over here now because simon doesn't tolerate such nonsense. have not gone to other sites, really don't need to. got all you need right here.
OMG 🤦🏻♀️. I don't go on Daily Kos too much. I can only imagine it these days. I don't think it is monitored too much but I wouldn't know. It seems most of the people who comment don't even like Markos.
I guess Markos just keeps the site up. I do like to read his posts. I probably miss most of them. I periodically check on the site to see if he has posted. I can't help myself but I check out the comments on whatever post I think I might find interesting - and always regret it.
Candidates are the ones who declare their candidacy with the Secretary of State and show they have met the legal requirements. That is how they qualify to be on the ballot. Once the voters have spoken, there is little choice but to support them in order to defeat their maga opponent. Withholding support only helps maga, in my opinion.
Here is the State of Maine 2026 Candidate’s Guide to Ballot Access
Yes, but Bernie was out there supporting him long before the people had a chance to vote… Which exposed him to an enormous fundraising apparatus, and a whole infrastructure that’s been built to run Democrats against Democrats… Which as we’ve been learning, works well in deep blue states where the only competitive race is the primary, but they’re trying to take this out into battleground states now as well, and Bernie in my view has really stained himself by coming out so strongly for a guy who was recruited and not vetted for a statewide race in arguably the most important battleground Senate contest in the entire country.
Yeah I think Bernie and whoever else built a Frankenstein monster. They created a character to play a role. They tried to create another Fetterman because, as we know, that's worked out so well for us.
Having gone to a number of Platner's events, some very small, and meeting him as well as his wife, I have to tell you he is brilliant and has an amazing knowledge of history and politics. He was a fantastic orator and generated hope and excitement. I have worked as a therapist for decades and some of my patients have had incredible transformations working with me. So I took a chance. Am I gullible or stupid? Perhaps, but Graham was good and I loved his wife. My heart breaks for her, and all of us frankly. At the end of the day, I believe Graham is a progressive and would have fought for many great things. in many ways he is a good human being. His community loves him and came out strongly to share their life long experiences with him in such positive endorsements. That influenced me significantly. But he is also someone with an alcohol problem who is abusive. Both are true. Not sure this is helpful or not......
It's a sad story all around and I hope for the best for everyone involved. People are not one-dimensional but are complex. Running for Senate there are just some things a person can't overcome.
For what it’s worth Jennifer, I haven’t really made a decision one way or the other about what kind of person he is from all of this…I am a late diagnosed AuDHD person who didn’t learn of the condition until I was almost 48 years old, and by that time I had made such a mess out of my life in so many ways thinking I was doing the right thing, and struggling to understand the world the way other people do… It’s entirely conceivable to me that he’s a good guy at heart and is struggling with things that normal people don’t struggle with. And I absolutely believe that he is probably sincere in his positions and his desires for what America can be. I’m a sucker for a redemption story, and most of the people I admire most of people who have overcome incredible challenges… Often with their mental health that caused them to make decisions that we put people in jail for… And not always violence… And there’s a lot less compassion for that out in the world than I wish there was.
My issue with his campaign at this point is that any proper political operation who recruited him should have been able to thoroughly vet him for a statewide race, especially one is forward facing to the public as United States Senate, especially in the most important battleground state of the entire cycle, and most especially at a time when the viability of our democracy kind of depends on flipping the seat. They didn’t do that… They either didn’t know things about him that they should’ve known before they even tried to recruit him, or they knew about them and just assumed that it wouldn’t be a problem to have those things plastered all over the airwaves with $20 million backing it from the most wealthy and powerful oligarchy that’s ever been assembled in all of mankind. That not only hung all of us out to dry, but if Graham Platner is the good guy that I hope he is who just doesn’t have a hold of his demons yet, they hung him out to dry too by making him believe that he could be a viable candidate in American politics, as Puritanical as it is culturally, and with the amount of money that was going to be spent against him. I’m angry with them for not being more professional.
In my heart, I’m holding out that he’s a good guy who’s still on the path of trying to figure his life out. You can have all of those problems and still be a very intelligent person with a lot of passion and great vision. But you cannot win big political victories with that kind of baggage, particularly if you are not truly past all of it. I hope this doesn’t destroy his life too much, but I do hope that this badly damages the political consultation agency behind recruiting him because they shouldn’t be in business, and they aren’t helping anyone by running such an unprofessional operation.
On a personal note, thank you for what you do… There are a lot of very good people in the world who could easily be painted as very bad people because they have injuries in their psychology, and we don’t treat them like they’re injured, we treat them like they have character flaws. And when your brain chemistry tells you that something is a good choice, and then society disagrees with you, it’s pretty hard to ever get in line with society. It’s not always a choice, and if it is, you’re working at an unbelievable disadvantage sometimes, and most people are not widely aware of this, particularly when the challenges are neurological and not simply behavioral issues that have developed from trauma. And generally when your issue is neurological, you end up experiencing a lot of trauma from all the misunderstandings in your life that then develop behavioral issues too. So people like you are a refuge and a godsend to people who need someone to understand them and to remind them that they are not bad people… And to help them navigate life in a world designed for people who integrate naturally, and don’t face the same structural challenges from within their own minds. You have my eternal love and respect 🙏❤️
i did not realize i had hfa until my own son was diagnosed....then it all made sense, the attention problems too, and the dyscalculia on top. how could i be reading the gulag archipelago in 5th grade and not be able to do times tables? and you know what i did after i changed careers? i case managed autistic teens.....
With utmost respect, in my opinion whether Platner is brilliant and a great orator is not the point. Yes, it can explain the excitement around him. This is my opinion and not a fact but I 💯 believe if elected Platner would do and vote in whatever was in his own best interest. Alcoholic or not, his actions and lies after he became sober and supposedly changed speak volumes for his true character. He and his team knew about his past and lied. He seems like a narcissist to me among other things. I absolutely agree that those who endorsed him should apologize. Their endorsements mean something least of which is donations. My sympathy is for the victims, the people he slandered and attacked and the small donors who believed in him and gave from the little they had.
Trust me, I’m not condoning anything that he’s done. Nor do I condone anything any alcohol alcoholic or neurodivergent or any other person with an affliction that can explain but not excuse bad behavior. And I don’t know who he is personally. I was just offering Jennifer some validation that she wasn’t the only one who believed in his redemption and saw some genuine good in him even with all of these other problems arising. As I said, public office isn’t the right place for folks that have those problems whether it’s because of character flaws or personal demons arising from neurological or trauma response issues. For one thing, you probably can’t handle the fire hose coming at you without cracking up, and for another thing, all of those problems will be Weaponized against you by your political opponents. And there’s more than just you at stake. So, nothing you’re saying is incongruent with what I believe… And you’re welcome to draw your own conclusions about him, I would never try to deny you that. I will forever be a relentless believer in the inherent goodness of almost all people, even when they lose their way, and it’s what I have to believe to feel OK about the world. Other people feel better about the world when they perceive it as buckets of good and buckets of bad. I don’t think anyone’s wrong for how they make sense of the world. The one thing we fully agree on, he shouldn’t be the nominee, and he should never have been recruited with all of this looming in his past, regardless of what he would’ve tried to do had he won the election.
well, i'm a retired therapist too. jen, he sounds a bit like a polished sociopath to me, but you have met him, i have not. not gonna diagnose from afar. there are charismatic orators like fdr, lincoln, jfk, and obama....and there are also ones like mussolini, hitler, and pol pot....and trump. in his own twisted way, he can be very charismatic to the right audience. what other president had people wearing swimming trunks with their names on them? napoleon too, was seen as a charismtic reformer; in war and peace, pierre was an admirer at first, in goya's ghosts, the character played by javier bardem sees napoleon as a reformer taking on the royal houses....never mind he declares himself emperor and gets the pope to crown him.....now i'm not saying platner is like these people, but he also just may be a fraud who told people what they wanted to hear in a way that sounded genuine. sometimes there is a simple explanation. like that used car salesman who just wants to give you the best deal....he is nice, he offers you coffee, donuts, water.....and then you get fleeced. you're driving off the lot in a car held together with super glue and duck tape.....
I wrote a comment to the NYT for the reporter who suggested that HCR was a candidate. It was accepted and published this morning and includes a summary of the ongoing process in NM. Perhaps Democratic Party of Maine will also stipulate a process in law for all parties, and greater detail for the Democratic Party in their rules. 2025 DPNM rules are here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTo22wjSnnWLza84dayjVyse0zAHXAfv/view
Sorry, but the candidates listed in this article do not reflect the process of how a candidate will be chosen. Heather Cox Richardson is an academic and already stated on Instagram that she is not interested. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DagwSJax0M6/ In New Mexico we are currently going through the process to replace the candidate for Lt. Governor for the Democratic Party on the general election ballot in November. The process for all major parties is stipulated in 2025 State Statute, NM Stat § 1-8-8 (2025). Chapter 1 - Elections, Article 8 - Nominations and Primary Elections, Section 1-8-8 - Vacancy on general election ballot; occurring after primary. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-8/section-1-8-8/2025 with further detail in DPNM Rules Article I, Section 4.3. Section 4 – Filling Vacancies for Nominees for Public Office and Article 1, Rule 5.5
DPNM State Central Committee of elected Democrats (including myself) will have a candidate forum on July 18, and meeting on July 25th followed by a voting period. Voting results will be released July 29, 2026. It is very similar to the process used to elect Rep. Melanie Stansbury to replace Deb Haaland when she was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Interior by President Biden. I voted for Melanie on both rounds of voting. The upcoming vote will be by ranked choice. Article I section 5 Voting and Elections 5.1 – Ranked-Choice Voting and non-secret ballot. 5.5 – Optional Absentee Voting for Non-Secret Ballots.
Thanks for the great info, Deborah. HCR is a beloved daughter of Maine and we are so proud of her. It is my understanding that HCR said she would not run, but I have no definitive evidence of this. I am waiting to hear Simon's suggestion/s for a candidate and will push hard in my circles for this individual once this is shared.
I cited HCR on video in my chat comment above explaining she does not have the interest or skill set for the job. No sign in required (just click on the X). https://www.instagram.com/reel/DagwSJax0M6/
I’m so glad you launched a fundraiser for the Maine Democratic Party! As soon as I watched Devon Murphy-Anderson’s video I had decided to give to them on my own. I’m glad that my contribution went via Hopium.
Would you mind sharing the link for that? I had trouble finding it- I’m sure I missed something obvious
Edit: Sorry, I found it. It's the Big Blue button that says "Donate to Maine Dems." Simon could not possibly have made it more obvious. If I'm asking where the canned peas are in a grocery store, the answer is that they're behind me.
I agree with Dana above. If Platner denies the allegations (does not = proof) then the voters of Maine should have the final word, not “people from away” sitting in their Ivory Towers within the Beltway. I seem to remember that Susan Collins wasn’t bothered by credible allegations against Justice Kavanaugh.
Steve this thing is over. He has to get out. Bernie has called on him to get out. The Maine Democratic Party has called on him to get out. This isn't about Ivory Towers - fuck off on that - he was already cratering in the polls and I am sure if we poll now he will ten points down. It was unlikely he was going to win prior to these latest stories but now it is over and we must move on.
Simon, do you anticipate Platner will actually withdraw and not let his ego stand in the way? Hopefully? If so, and I know you can only provide so much info atm, what’s your intuition concerning what time of candidate the Maine Democratic Party will go with? They have to know anyone too aligned with Platner would be potentially detrimental to our chances in Maine and furthermore, towards retaking the senate (even though there are multiple pathways towards such a feat). Hoping for someone like Mills, HCR, or someone who can cater to both the Progressive and centered wings of the state Democratic electorate. Lot of talk about Troy Jackson lately. I’m just keeping my cautious optimism in check and hoping for the best regardless.
You’re prob right but wouldn’t it be amazing though?!? Then again, we want someone like HCR to always be in control of her wheelhouse. Rather than her image being contorted by anyone. I would trust any executive decisions she makes concerning her career path.
Simon, lawyers, like myself, are loathe to condemn someone if they profess innocence. Obviously, politics operates on a different scale of truth. I lived in Maine for 9 years. People in Maine don’t take kindly to being told what to do.
I get that Steve. No one likes to be told what to do. Do Mainer’s like to be lied to? Because that is what Platner and his campaign have been doing. Platner isn’t a redemption story. Platner isn’t a regular oyster farmer - he went to a prep school and has a well off daddy. Lies! Platner has or had some nasty disrespect or hatred for women… seeing them as objects for his pleasure, disregarding their objections ( like being told no to sex and removing his condom surreptitiously on multiple occasions.) Platner is lucky he’s not in jail for sexual abuse. Platner can’t be trusted.
I personally hate to be lied to and hate being manipulated. He and his team did both. My bottom lines.
Just praying he drops out to begin with! He needs to take the cue and if he really wants to ‘do what’s best for the party and to defeat Collins,’ the he needs to drop! Should his ego cause him to stay, I won’t outright say Maine is an impossibility especially given the increasing disdain for Collins amongst the Maine electorate (including even amongst Maine independents and Anti Trump Republicans). However, with Platner still in there, it innately now becomes a harder battle. Can we still win the senate without Maine? Yes we can! Will it be harder? Yes. Here’s to hoping 🙏.
And his good pal Troy Jackson, has told him so, at least publicly. For Maine voters like me, I am getting angrier and angrier he and his team are digging their heels in and riling up his die hard supporters. Each moment creates another crack. Susan Colliins and her team are celebrating, I assure you. UGH!
Unfortunately, his video message was more about him and how he is the victim than rallying his supporters to support the new nominee and rally to send Collins packing. He always comes across as whiny - to me at least . In any event, good riddance . Hopefully, he fills out the necessary paperwork and has a change of heart for the greater good and encourages his supporters to support the nominee to get Collins out.
I think it is very premature for people to be jockeying about who replaces Platner. Step 1 is he needs to go, the rest can be figured out later. We need to keep the pressure on his people.
I’m also of the belief that we can still win the senate without Maine. Especially with the optimistic quartet of NC, OH, AK, and IA. Not to mention, a very likely, hopeful retaining of GA with Ossoff’ prowess and popularity and God willing, a retaining of MI (especially if Whitmer and Slotkin help push whomever the nominee is, be it Stevens or Sayed over the finish line). However, it would certainly be nice to ADD Maine to that trajectory. Hopefully, the pressure comes through to push Platner out and subsequently work in our favor.
I do to, but as a Mainer, It will really suck for us to have to endure 6 more effing years. I am swearing a bit more than usual. As I posted somewhere else, we Mainers have a good chance of being stuck with Jared Golden's seat going to our former racist ignorant Trumpian Mayor Paul Lepage. So Two of our four DC delegates are Trumpys. We were also massively deceived by Jared Golden, our pretend D MOC who began slowly voting for Trump policies and came out last year saying Trump was going to be re-elected and he was okay with that. Then at the last minute he decided not to run, when many of our good possible candidates had signed up for other races. So we Mainers are really in a terrible place.
Lastly, (sorry, should’ve just typed all this in one 😂), it almost feels like Platner is now trying to take the party down with him courtesy of his ego in this moment. Haven’t we seen enough of that with Trump and the GOP? I guess, thank God for the rising Anti Trump/GOP sentiment across the electorate in spite of this 🙏.
Blake, Simon is saying that, and I have to agree. His team wants to use their leverage to further splinter off people. It is so damaging to our state. It feels like a civil war here right now and the winners are the Rs. This is a dream and they will continue to excoriate every dem that runs since this is such a good recipe. Of course we must never let such a flawed candidate run again.
Jennifer the other thing that needs to get aired out there is that the Fight Agency, the NY based consultants behind Platner, are on the cusp of losing a major pay day if the candidate who emerges does not pick them for the general (which is almost certain given the gaslighting). So for all the accusations about DC intervening the current stand off may be being driven by NY based consultants and tens and tens of millions of dollars of business.
Simon, do you think as hectic as this moment is in Maine, that this can ultimately become a blessing in disguise for us? It’s inevitable he’ll drop out in time, he’s just slow rolling out of spite, and shamefully so. That said, assuming Devon Murphy Anderson plays a key role in helping to appoint a good candidate, amidst the growing negative sentiment against Collins, this could still end up playing very well for us no? If the new candidate is ‘progressive enough’ for Platners’ now prior base, then as long as he or she intently separates in ‘character,’ I think we stand a strong chance still in flipping it. If the new candidate is more moderate, again, the character separation would matter but with regards to a policy platform to campaign on, I would then hope someone like Pete B (who could appeal to both ends of the Maine Dem Party spectrum) would go out there to pose as a strong surrogate. It’s frustrating right now for sure cuz much of it seems now…like wasted time unfortunately. However, I insist it’s far from over for us in Maine and subsequently the senate 🙏.
Seems like there can be much learned from Platner. Vetting is an actual thing and should be taken seriously. We should also look at why he was popular and find someone who espouses at least some of those policies. A fighter without the criminality. Also, should we put Platner and El-Sayed in the same bracket? One has major ethical/criminal issues while the other seems to be just an inflammatory politician for better or worse?
We didn’t know what we didn’t know about platinum until it came out… If they’ve done as terrible a job vetting El-Sayed as they did Platner, we may very well get hit with some shit at a very inopportune moment… he may not have those kinds of skeletons in his closet and I hope he doesn’t, but I don’t trust this political operation any farther than I can throw Chris Christie. Not just because they suck, but because they’re not interested in what’s best for the pro democracy movement… we need team players right now. And all I mean by that, are people that understand the job number one is to win the fucking election and check Donald Trump‘s power.
I have two thoughts regarding the Platner debacle:
1. We are very lucky he is not the nominee, and Maine will have time to help with his replacement's campaign;
2. ALL THOSE mistakenly responsible for "vetting" Platner should be banned from doing anything similar with any Democratic candidate in the future! Let's not be stupid folks!
Prior to the election, it was Platner's choice alone to be on the ballot if qualified by the State of Maine Division of Elections by meeting all requirements. Then it was up to the voters to choose.
He is still the darn nominee. He has not stepped down yet and he and his team seems to be almost blackmailing the party in order to get what they want using the people to do their bidding.
Simon, thanks for the good summary. Lawrence O'Donnell's discussion of Platner last night included a lot of information I didn't know. We can only be grateful that this new damaging info dropped while there's still (just) time to change course. If Platner cares at all about removing Collins, he'll drop out today and disappear. I'll make a donation to the Maine party.
One of the concerns about Platner has been the vetting. I can recommend Danica Roem's autobiography, Burn the Page, for a great example of the importance of doing oppo research on yourself. Danica's a Virginia State Senator who decided to run for office after a life as a Heavy Metal musician with a history of drinking and as a trans woman. She did extensive oppo research on herself to prepare for the campaign and then ran being open and honest about who she was. The chapters in her book begin with sections of the oppo report.
I called my representatives to say that they need to stop Trump's destruction of the city of DC and that he's not in touch with reality and needs to be removed from office. I'm writing postcards to Ohio voters today. I think we have great candidates there and can flip the state.
I am a Maine resident. I voted for Janet Mills in the primary even though she had dropped out. Graham was chosen by some higher up mucky mucks, but darn it. It is the responsibility of the party to THOROUGHLY vet all candidates. The bad news about Graham started as a trickle but now it’s a flood. The line “ he’s changed “ reminds me of Susan Collins saying Trump learned his lesson. Both are wish casting
The Party was constantly blamed for any story that came out about Platner. Platner, his team, POD Save America and others kept saying it was all in the past (as if that made it ok) and said the Party/"Establishment" was out to ruin Platner's campaign. I honestly, don't know if the DNC and other Dem Groups could have done anything. It's well above my pay grade. The red flags were there for everyone to see. Platner lied over and over.
As Simon has written, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee DID do the necessary opp research on Platner and informed his campaign what was likely to come out. His former campaign manager's op-ed that Simon quoted today alludes to this, too. And she wasn't some "Washington consultant," she was a liberal former (and now current) public official with a working class background who believed in Platner. And, as she describes, she kept wanting to believe the rationales given by Platner and his campaign backers as to why the stories weren't true or how he had changed. Sadly, those explanations were gaslighting of the highest order. So, in my view, it wasn't the "Party Establishment" (whatever that is) that destroyed Platner's campaign, he did that himself.
I think it is interesting that El-Sayed's # is flat since McMorrow dropped out (41 -> 41), whereas Stevens' # increased by 4 (38 -> 42). Another data point for the conventional wisdom that McMorrow voters were closer to Stevens. Lot of game left though. Let's go Haley Stevens!
I just donated to the MAINE campaign. After a rattling few days of this, it was my therapeutic way to purify the air and get pointed in the right direction. Today is a new day. I'm hopeful this guy will announce his departure shortly.
Throughout this whole time with Platner, I've kept my head down.
I don't know if it's the New Yorker in me or an inherited trait, but the minute he came on the scene and was feted with words like "authentic" and "authenticity," I just knew it wouldn't end well. He began to employ these perceptions of him in his interviews, too. A humble guy who laughed when he was being recruited and told the recruiters initially to fuck themselves.
It became part of his persona. I never put "authentic" in the same sentence as a candidate. I don't know them, so I can't tell. What I want to see is that they can reliably perform the duties I hired them for.
There's a saying that work is easy; it's dealing with people that you get paid for.
When he began to talk about undiagnosed PTSD, the back of my neck itched. Not because it's not a real, profoundly disrupting and often lethal affliction - but because I sensed it was being used for something.
Everyone -- every one of us - shows up to introduce ourselves with a story.
That's not the bugaboo with me.
But you have to match the candidate with the job, and if you don't know them, what you have are their stories.
And you have to put the chapters together: Who What Where When How and Why.
It's not that they are not entitled to their stories or their triumphs and failures.
It's that they have to be suited to execute their duties, and if you are going to invest in them, you want the best, don't you?
I work with vulnerable families seeking suitable, reliable caregivers. It's something to try to teach them how to be recruiters, managers, and bosses, and how to size up candidates to care for their loved ones.
What I've written above is exactly what I try to support them with when someone appears in their living room, looking to get paid to care for their intellectually and sometimes physically challenged loved ones.
What is their story? Why are they here looking for this type of work?
I think we are lucky. Still have a chance. If this had happened next week with him locked in on the ballot, piles of R Oppo research would have been dumped and no chance.
Heard on Morning Joe that Rs were waiting to dump a lot more horrific info on Platner …just waiting until after the deadline to change the nominee pasts to expose him.
The scandal is the failure of the Maine Democratic Party to understand how its own voters were thinking. Platner got 72% of the primary vote despite everything, and now they want to replace him with some “normie” who won’t fight?
No. Sensible people, within the Maine Democratic Party and elsewhere, want to replace Platner with someone who is “normie” enough not to commit sexual assault – and not lie about a Nazi tattoo.
I understand that Maine State Party is looking at some sort of caucuses type process for selecting Platner's replacement. That would be much much better IMO than having the party apparatus make a pick. I hope its feasible.
Let the people decide, if at all possible. They are the ones that will be making the decision in November.
Caucuses are not a representative process which is why the Democratic Party has moved away from them. This is a tough situation and we have to be open to all options but caucuses benefit a highly organized, left leaning co-hort traditionally which is why we've done everything we can to discourage their use. They are the opposite of representative.
Yes… It worked out well for the Democratic Party in 2008 that Barack Obama had a well organized team with a caucus strategy, and he ended up being a marvelous candidate in the general election. But, it must be acknowledged that he won fewer actual votes in those primaries than Hillary Clinton but got more delegates… Caucuses are kind of like the electoral college.
You can’t put a normie Janet Mills Democrat in that seat. That’s re-electing Collins at this point. 72% of primary voters chose Platner. Deal with it.
Thanks for that clarification, Simon.
I have no experience and limited understanding of caucuses.
The people chose Platner. If the party doesn’t understand that at this point I can’t help them.
I am here again. I posted to you below. I think they do understand that. Do you see that the polls have drastically changed and Collins is way up? The people are no longer choosing him. People like me. He is toast and we need him to step down, get a viable candidate and try to still be the corrupt and fascist Collins.
You might want to spend a little more reading the data I presented today. The primary result is irrelevant. He was a weak general election candidate. He was not beating Susan Collins. He was dramatically underperforming all other candidates in major races this cycle and over the last several cycles. Another "normie" Hannah Pingree is up by 15 points. I know this transition is going to be hard for Platner fans but the story the campaign told of his electoral strength was bullshit, and part of the broad gaslighting he and they did over the past year. If Dems pick a candidate close to Platner I think it is likely they will lose as Platner's image transforms from hero to villain in the coming weeks. I am writing here as a strategist who wants to win. That is all.
The thrust of what I've been writing in recent days is that the DSA/Bernie/Fight Agency politics may work well in primaries in blue areas but there aren't examples - yet - of it working in general election audiences in battleground states, for in part the anger at the Democratic Party driving this politics among Democrats is wildly overstated. Here's more on that - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/its-time-to-move-on-from-the-democrats
Finally, the strong primary vote Platner received was gained through fraud, for he lied, repeatedly, about his story. The Platner everyone embraced in the primary was a fiction, a lie, and never existed. Coming to accept this is going to be hard, understandably, for many people - for it is hard to believe.
The Nazi tattoo was enough for me, and yes, I am Jewish.
So you’re a Collins (and Kavanaugh) supporter. That’s the choice.
You still need a candidate who will uphold the fiction. The things Platner stood for. The fight he represented. I find it increasingly hard to trust you, because you lost in 2024 and don’t seem to have learned a thing from it.
he didn't lose, america did. and tell me where simon said we had the election in the bag. you can't. he always said it was a close election and we had not won it yet. to a person, from rachel bitecofer to rick wilson to almost anyone who studies these things, no one predicted a trump win. the effects of racism and sexism were just unforeseen, we can be forgiven for thinking things had changed; and it was assumed women would not vote for the guy who took away their reproductive rights; that was a miscalculations. and yet you will still see leftists insist we lost that election over gaza, despite no data ever showing that. i'll give them inflation, but ffs it wasn't that bad considering everyone had a job, health insurance and higher pay. and that is exactly what voters will tell you right now, even if they voted for trump.
This just makes me sad, and embarrassed :(
Me, too. Sad for Maine, and for the whole country. Both parties have let you down.
You’re as wrong today as you were in 2024
I know a lot of smart people in Maine who fell for it, and I bet they are mighty angry now. They will gladly line up behind a stronger candidate.
Define stronger.
Stronger is someone with integrity; Platner's veneer of authenticity was nothing but a sham. He stands for lying, narcissism, and sexual assault--nothing more: same as MAGA pedofuhrer.
…and his supporters?
His supporters aren't at fault; I'm not disparaging them. They were deceived, and not for nothing, so were we, as several people in this community--for a short time, anyway--financially supported the Platner campaign. I don't doubt that even his most ardent supporters--once they process being lied to and consider the necessity of changing candidates--will make informed decisions about their support and about for whom they vote.
You’re re-electing Trump with every line you write.
It is Platner's choice whether to withdraw. After that, he has no say in the process or its results. That is in the hands of the Democratic Party of Maine. Your assumptions are not factual, Dana.
Your statement leads me to believe Platner will tell the Maine Democratic Party to go f’ itself, and that Maine will re-elect Susan F’n Collins overwhelmingly, guaranteeing Trump a Republican Senate. Which you’ll blame on the people who agreed with what Platner stood for.
Nope. I fully expect Platner to withdraw in time to be replaced on the ballot. His political life is over.
Sounds like you just got a phone call from Mitch McConnell
You are starting to be disrespectful.
oh, that line was crossed awhile ago....
Yeah, I am amazed that this person has been allowed to go on posting to be honest.
Considering what others have been reprimanded for in the past!!
I think folks here needed to see this exchange. The kind of sentiment expressed here is important to understand how we got into this mess in the first place.
Good to know that you don't believe women. Many women have now made it clear that Platner is unfit for any office anywhere. Try having another primary today and see how few votes he gets.
That would be nice. But I am sick and tired of this bullshit that if I say anything about Platner’s voters being ignored or misrepresented it’s because I “don’t believe women.:” Easy to see how Collins keeps winning
Platner has a pretty massive Discord server full of volunteers for his his campaign. At least 1500 active members. They all want him to step aside. Not because of his beliefs but because he is a rapist.
Not only should he step aside, he should be arrested and charged for rape. He should be in jail for the next decades of his life for what he did.
Those people who have actually worked for him have already spoken too as to who they want to see replace him (Troy Jackson probably). I agree with you that a good progressive should carry on that fight, but we absolutely cannot tolerate someone who abuses women in the exact same way as the fascist president he pretends to want to stop and that's why Graham has to go.
Actions speak louder than words. When a criminal slips past us we have to correct course and move on. We don't have time for drama or deliberately divisive comments, so if you're in this with us put your head down and get to calling, otherwise ask Simon for a refund of your subscription and leave.
Thanks for sharing this. The Me Dem FB post about the Platner campaign is massively ratioed. People are screaming their votes are being stolen and they want Platner. They seem to believe they will have no say. I am hoping the ME Dems can clarify and be really transparent so people understand they are not going to be disenfranchised.
I am relieved to hear his volunteer discord page understands he needs to step down.
Dana take a break. For your own good. I would strongly suggest that you pay attention to what is going on here - a group of influential women in Maine have all come forward, putting their reputations and jobs on the line, to say that this man cannot be our candidate. He's been accused of rape. He cheated on his new wife with between 6 and 12 women. His reddit posts were incredibly misogynistic. More stuff just keeps coming out which means more will. The women of Maine are saying no, and they are the swing voters that will decide this race. Whatever he was he is no longer. He lied to all of us, as did his campaign. He has the worst poll numbers of our any of our battleground candidates in the bluest state. Bernie has called on him to step down. All of this was known by the campaign last summer and they decided to plow ahead. It was reckless, arrogant. We need to move on. One has to assume that Devon and the Party put out the statement they did last night for they feel betrayed, misled, lied to in ways that none of us can understand; and that the campaign was making ridiculous demands about picking the successor when as I've pointed out the Platner "fiction" wasn't working with Maine general election voters. Staying in the Platner lane almost guarantees failure, not success. Of all the gaslighting from the campaign that argument that he was strong and successful and not weak and wobbly was always the most pernicious.
This was just posted elsewhere in the chat - Platner has a pretty massive Discord server full of volunteers for his his campaign. At least 1500 active members. They all want him to step aside. Not because of his beliefs but because he is a rapist. Not only should he step aside, he should be arrested and charged for rape. He should be in jail for the next decades of his life for what he did. Those people who have actually worked for him have already spoken too as to who they want to see replace him (Troy Jackson probably). I agree with you that a good progressive should carry on that fight, but we absolutely cannot tolerate someone who abuses women in the exact same way as the fascist president he pretends to want to stop and that's why Graham has to go. Actions speak louder than words. When a criminal slips past us we have to correct course and move on. We don't have time for drama or deliberately divisive comments, so if you're in this with us put your head down and get to calling, otherwise ask Simon for a refund of your subscription and leave.
A new poll of Maine was released this afternoon and it has Platner down 5, 47-42. That puts him 16 points below a generic Democrat. It's over. I will share when I get a link.
Thanks Simon. I am looking at the FB page of the Maine Dems. Their messaging is not clear enough that the voters will get to have input. It is a nasty place full of rabid supporters. A know quite a few of them and boy they are entrenched. Somehow the messaging needs to be clear quickly that their votes will not be cast aside for an annointed candidate by the Me Dems.
Dana, Mainer here. I hear what you are saying. I see friends and fellow resisters, people I trust, angry and upset. I see you saying they do not want their votes cast aside for another "centrist". I am one of many women who defended and supported Graham. I was donating, active online, going to his events, persuading voters he had changed. My street of 50 houses had 8-10 Platner signs in front of LGBTQ homes, business people, young people, progressives, elderly. I took my sign down as soon as I read the Politico story. By the next morning, every sign was gone. All my neighbors are done with him. He cannot win now, so he has to step down.
I do still have plenty of friends, acquaintances and see his supporters hanging in, angry and still believing. They are now saying who cares if Collins wins, because our cause is more important. OMG, they are missing the point that if Collins wins and we lose the senate, we lost the right to our votes in the future.
This is all a nightmare. I am grateful for Simon's clear headed reporting of the polls.
I also believe in Charlie Dingleman and Devon Murphy, who are assuring the voters they will be part of the process.
Not sure any of this helps. What a damn mess.
worse for me was seeing lepaige signs over the weekend. and folks, with climate change, you really need to consider air conditioning up there.....96 degrees in a camp without ac was pretty tough...i put the fan next to my face and popped a pill to help me sleep....and the lake water was florida warm, i've never seen that before....got the bass biting though.....
Do you think he would still get that much support, knowing what we do now? And what if a Platner without all the baggage had been his primary opponent?
What is it you want to see happen now, given everything we know at this point in time, today? I'm really asking. I get that you're really angry, but I don't understand what it is you want to see happen. Is there a particular candidate or replacement process you are advocating for, and if so, why?
You need a nominee who will bring Platner’s votes with them, because that is apparently the bulk of your party. I’ve seen people denying it, or claiming they were tricked in some way, but their anger and their passion have to be on your ticket for it to win.
OK, you want a candidate who can win the general election and send the very concerned Ms. Collins packing, which is what we all want. From what I can tell, the process for selecting a replacement hasn't been laid out yet, and certainly no candidate has been selected. Is it possible you're getting ahead of yourself? Maybe the candidate or type of candidate you want to see will ultimately become Platner's replacement. A progressive with good character, who can overperform expectations like Talarico is doing, per the data and G. Elliott Morris analysis shared in today's post.
The lesson from Maine is simple: When someone repeatedly shows us who he is – as Graham Platner has done very thoroughly through many years – we ignore it at our peril. And when those responsible for vetting totally botch their job, then it rises to political malpractice.
Platner’s backers kept giving him an undeserved narrative that he had “changed” or “learned”. In retrospect nothing could be further from the truth.
The people who need to “change” and “learn” are those who embraced and endorsed Platner without doing their homework, and who continued applauding him even as his shit kept piling up so high – that the shit inevitably hit the fan.
It seems that some of those people – at least those who are in positions of influence and power within the Democratic Party, in progressive circles, and within the Platner Campaign itself – were just as drunk as Platner allegedly was when he got his Totenkopf tattoo.
Amen to all that.
Yes. My rage at the Bernie Bros of 2016 has come roaring back. I'm particularly angry at my senior senator, Elizabeth Warren, for endorsing Platner. I respect her immensely but she clearly didn't do her homework on this one.
You and me both. I also wish she would stay away from these endorsements in other states entirely. My friends in Iowa told me as much.
I would also like to see an apology and/or explanation from Elizabeth Warren for this mistake. I admire her and supported her for President, but this miss is a big one. I'm sure many voters trusted her judgment.
To be really honest, I did sign on after I went to their joint rally where she endorsed him. It was a glorious, wonderful night. But there were other factors too. We are a small state and his community really loves him and there were many many personal endorsements from friends and people he has grown up with. He is a really charismatic guy. He has a dark side when he drinks or drank, that perhaps most did not see. I can only guess.
But he’s got next to no political experience, and he is (was?) running for the U.S. Senate. That’s not a starter position. If elected (which at this point I think/hope is highly unlikely), he was going to be very dependent on advisers and staff for at least a couple of years and probably longer. Color me suspicious, but the Sanders people probably saw an opportunity there.
What many people seem to have missed or overlooked that Platner presents himself as an oyster farmer/working guy, but his parents are upper-middle class and he went to private school. In my younger days I knew quite a few guys from similar backgrounds who screwed up and wound up in the military to straighten up. Platner’s escapades (and tattoos) look familiar in several ways, 50 years later. At this point it looks as though many people saw what they wanted to see instead of what was actually there. Not exactly a new story. :-(
He applied to, was accepted, and attended Hotchkiss, one of the most elite private schools in America.
I wrote something, and it disappeared, so if it shows up somewhere, you'll understand.
I am hopeful that this will be a seminal point in history: If we can make lemonade out of these lemons, or oyster sauce out of these oysters, we will have taken a few steps back, yes, but a giant leap forward.
Here's to nailing down that Maine seat!
Please see my below comment as to my personal experience on why I was willing to vote for Platner, if you are interested. I hear and truly understand your frustration. It is kind of like how we feel about Trump supporters, right? Only Platner was selling really amazing things that most of us on the left want desperately and some like me, have deep fear driving me. have been asking people in my circles who feel as you do to have compassion and try not to judge. There are so very many reasons why Mainers took a chance. I hope you will give me and our voters some grace to try to understand. We are in a great deal of pain and watching our youth and immigrants who believed In Platner is just devastating as they have been seriously lied to and manipulated. This is not about being "drunk" or foolish, it is about the desperation of a people who understand fully who Susan Collins is and what deep harm and damage she has caused, and not being able to get her out. Thanks for listening.
Just to be clear, I am NOT faulting you or other Maine voters who were sincere in your choice and support for Platner! I am faulting those in the know – and those whose job it was to know.
I definitely did not take it that way. I am just trying to help people understand at least from my perspective what happened. I have been vocal here about him and I feel badly for that. I have so many reasons to never even talk to a person like Graham, given my history. But I have become more tolerant and loving, and generous I think as I have grown older. Looks like not wiser lol. In any event, I do realize it is bizarre to people how so many of us decided to defend, support, donate and vote for Graham Platner. I pray to the heavens above he steps down asap and we get an opportunity to have Mainers coalesce around a wonderful candidate to take down corrupt Collins, who makes me see red and lose all my senses.
Jennifer I am grateful your for incredibly constructive engagement here during a challenging time.....
Thx for sharing this. Your point-of-view is well-articulated. I'm not from Maine, so what I think doesn't really matter. But in another sense, we are all in this together across 50 states. We do well to understand each other.
Quite a few folks knew from early on that Platner was of suspicious character and not a good candidate. It appears that many Maine voters drank the Kool-Aid.
donated to maine dems! seems like they have a good roster of candidates to choose from. there will be a process established. lawrence last nite pretty much summed up platner faux working class credentials.
Lawrence killed it last night. He always stands up for women, and I appreciate that.
I also watched last night; in so many words "I told you so." Simon gave it space but he was right also.
I trust that the Maine DC will navigate this and a candidate will emerge that can unseat Collins. This was never going to be easy. Collins, despite how everyone outside Maine views her, seems to be viewed within Maine as a moderate and a reasonable politician who has served Maine fairly well. So, there was never going to be a silver bullet for Maine. It's going to take a great candidate, a great campaign, and all of our support.
I'm rather puzzled by the whole Platner thing.
Honestly, I never followed his campaign closely and I've never even seen him speak. I'm not sure I've heard his voice. I was aware of some of the scandals but I never closely looked into it. I put money behind him because we have to beat Susan Collins. I only did this after Mills dropped out and it was clear he'd win the primary.
He also had several high level endorsements in the party.
What I don't understand is why some people in our party, or Independents who caucus with our party, are not more careful with their endorsement. Because this does matter.
Surely you wouldn't endorse someone who you knew wasn't properly vetted, or who you had no way to know whether or not he was properly vetted? Especially when there were reasons to be skeptical. I don't get it.
I commented something similar about Sanders and Warren on another platform and got slammed. I was called a corporate democratic which would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic. I was told Warren and Sanders are too busy, they rely on their staff, they trusted blah blah blah. Oh and they threw in that Hillary was a war monger and the establishment forced her on us, etc.
Hey, if a good number of us HERE were worried after the first story about Platner came out, you mean to tell me they weren't? Do politicians just assume proper vetting has been done? Before endorsing, they don't ask questions about what kind of vetting was done and what it showed?
Well if they are "too busy", then maybe they shouldn't endorse if they don't know what they are doing. That's someone else giving excuses for them. I'll wait to see what they say.
It's one thing to have information drop, but this just feels like carelessness or wishful thinking. I admit I had a certain amount of that. I don't have a reputation to maintain, and no one is hanging on my "endorsement".
My son warned me several weeks ago Platner was a disaster. I hoped otherwise, but knew he might be right. He had followed the facts more closely than I did. Somehow he figured it out, when the elites in our party couldn't figure it out.
Patrick, you are owning your own personal regret over your "wishful thinking". Hey, I was going to vote for John Edwards back in the day. Remember that jerk?
To my knowledge, you are not a paid consultant, nor were you involved in the campaign and I doubt anyone was asking for your public endorsement.
I'm about as insignificant as one could possibly be.
I do remember Edwards. Yeah I remember that. I was never a supporter of his. I just wanted to beat W.
LOL I am equal to your insignificance. I believed that cheating weasel Edwards - hook, line etc. Ugh By the time the primary got to CA, I feared Edwards didn't have a chance and I did not want to waste my vote bc defeating W was more important. So, ultimately, I did not vote for him. Lot of good that did anyway.
The itchiness I felt when Platner started to talk about his PAST life struggles in the context of undiagnosed PTSD, is the same itch, in the same spot, I had when Edwards and his late wife did cutesy inteviews talking about how they celebrated their wedding anniversaries by eating at a local Wendy's.
And, just to offer a little spicy twist, wasn't it our great Jack Smith who brought Edwards to court -- and lost that case?
Elizabeth came to Waterville Maine, and she spied me holding my darling little daughter, aged 2 all tricked out in a tam and cute little gap outfit. She sought me out afterwards and was so supportive of my canvassing for John whilst having 3 kids under age 4. She was such a sweet elegant beautiful woman. My heart was broken with her cancer and his infidelity.
What a scumbag he turned out to be.
Edwards had my vote too, until he dropped out the week before our primary.
That's right - he did drop out before our primary. CA, right?
Yup
someone on dkos said, what do you expect bernie to do, vet all his picks? ummm, yes....the site is a mess. it ran an article criticizing bernie's picks and it has blown up. i'm staying over here now because simon doesn't tolerate such nonsense. have not gone to other sites, really don't need to. got all you need right here.
OMG 🤦🏻♀️. I don't go on Daily Kos too much. I can only imagine it these days. I don't think it is monitored too much but I wouldn't know. It seems most of the people who comment don't even like Markos.
markos is an "establishment dem", so no, he is not actually liked by a lot of them. odd.
I guess Markos just keeps the site up. I do like to read his posts. I probably miss most of them. I periodically check on the site to see if he has posted. I can't help myself but I check out the comments on whatever post I think I might find interesting - and always regret it.
Candidates are the ones who declare their candidacy with the Secretary of State and show they have met the legal requirements. That is how they qualify to be on the ballot. Once the voters have spoken, there is little choice but to support them in order to defeat their maga opponent. Withholding support only helps maga, in my opinion.
Here is the State of Maine 2026 Candidate’s Guide to Ballot Access
https://www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/inline-files/2026%20Candidates%20Guide%20to%20Ballot%20Access%20Final.pdf
I agree with that. I was "all-in" with Platner as the nominee, once it became clear. But it is still galling that this happened.
Yes, but Bernie was out there supporting him long before the people had a chance to vote… Which exposed him to an enormous fundraising apparatus, and a whole infrastructure that’s been built to run Democrats against Democrats… Which as we’ve been learning, works well in deep blue states where the only competitive race is the primary, but they’re trying to take this out into battleground states now as well, and Bernie in my view has really stained himself by coming out so strongly for a guy who was recruited and not vetted for a statewide race in arguably the most important battleground Senate contest in the entire country.
Yeah I think Bernie and whoever else built a Frankenstein monster. They created a character to play a role. They tried to create another Fetterman because, as we know, that's worked out so well for us.
Having gone to a number of Platner's events, some very small, and meeting him as well as his wife, I have to tell you he is brilliant and has an amazing knowledge of history and politics. He was a fantastic orator and generated hope and excitement. I have worked as a therapist for decades and some of my patients have had incredible transformations working with me. So I took a chance. Am I gullible or stupid? Perhaps, but Graham was good and I loved his wife. My heart breaks for her, and all of us frankly. At the end of the day, I believe Graham is a progressive and would have fought for many great things. in many ways he is a good human being. His community loves him and came out strongly to share their life long experiences with him in such positive endorsements. That influenced me significantly. But he is also someone with an alcohol problem who is abusive. Both are true. Not sure this is helpful or not......
It's a sad story all around and I hope for the best for everyone involved. People are not one-dimensional but are complex. Running for Senate there are just some things a person can't overcome.
For what it’s worth Jennifer, I haven’t really made a decision one way or the other about what kind of person he is from all of this…I am a late diagnosed AuDHD person who didn’t learn of the condition until I was almost 48 years old, and by that time I had made such a mess out of my life in so many ways thinking I was doing the right thing, and struggling to understand the world the way other people do… It’s entirely conceivable to me that he’s a good guy at heart and is struggling with things that normal people don’t struggle with. And I absolutely believe that he is probably sincere in his positions and his desires for what America can be. I’m a sucker for a redemption story, and most of the people I admire most of people who have overcome incredible challenges… Often with their mental health that caused them to make decisions that we put people in jail for… And not always violence… And there’s a lot less compassion for that out in the world than I wish there was.
My issue with his campaign at this point is that any proper political operation who recruited him should have been able to thoroughly vet him for a statewide race, especially one is forward facing to the public as United States Senate, especially in the most important battleground state of the entire cycle, and most especially at a time when the viability of our democracy kind of depends on flipping the seat. They didn’t do that… They either didn’t know things about him that they should’ve known before they even tried to recruit him, or they knew about them and just assumed that it wouldn’t be a problem to have those things plastered all over the airwaves with $20 million backing it from the most wealthy and powerful oligarchy that’s ever been assembled in all of mankind. That not only hung all of us out to dry, but if Graham Platner is the good guy that I hope he is who just doesn’t have a hold of his demons yet, they hung him out to dry too by making him believe that he could be a viable candidate in American politics, as Puritanical as it is culturally, and with the amount of money that was going to be spent against him. I’m angry with them for not being more professional.
In my heart, I’m holding out that he’s a good guy who’s still on the path of trying to figure his life out. You can have all of those problems and still be a very intelligent person with a lot of passion and great vision. But you cannot win big political victories with that kind of baggage, particularly if you are not truly past all of it. I hope this doesn’t destroy his life too much, but I do hope that this badly damages the political consultation agency behind recruiting him because they shouldn’t be in business, and they aren’t helping anyone by running such an unprofessional operation.
On a personal note, thank you for what you do… There are a lot of very good people in the world who could easily be painted as very bad people because they have injuries in their psychology, and we don’t treat them like they’re injured, we treat them like they have character flaws. And when your brain chemistry tells you that something is a good choice, and then society disagrees with you, it’s pretty hard to ever get in line with society. It’s not always a choice, and if it is, you’re working at an unbelievable disadvantage sometimes, and most people are not widely aware of this, particularly when the challenges are neurological and not simply behavioral issues that have developed from trauma. And generally when your issue is neurological, you end up experiencing a lot of trauma from all the misunderstandings in your life that then develop behavioral issues too. So people like you are a refuge and a godsend to people who need someone to understand them and to remind them that they are not bad people… And to help them navigate life in a world designed for people who integrate naturally, and don’t face the same structural challenges from within their own minds. You have my eternal love and respect 🙏❤️
i did not realize i had hfa until my own son was diagnosed....then it all made sense, the attention problems too, and the dyscalculia on top. how could i be reading the gulag archipelago in 5th grade and not be able to do times tables? and you know what i did after i changed careers? i case managed autistic teens.....
With utmost respect, in my opinion whether Platner is brilliant and a great orator is not the point. Yes, it can explain the excitement around him. This is my opinion and not a fact but I 💯 believe if elected Platner would do and vote in whatever was in his own best interest. Alcoholic or not, his actions and lies after he became sober and supposedly changed speak volumes for his true character. He and his team knew about his past and lied. He seems like a narcissist to me among other things. I absolutely agree that those who endorsed him should apologize. Their endorsements mean something least of which is donations. My sympathy is for the victims, the people he slandered and attacked and the small donors who believed in him and gave from the little they had.
Trust me, I’m not condoning anything that he’s done. Nor do I condone anything any alcohol alcoholic or neurodivergent or any other person with an affliction that can explain but not excuse bad behavior. And I don’t know who he is personally. I was just offering Jennifer some validation that she wasn’t the only one who believed in his redemption and saw some genuine good in him even with all of these other problems arising. As I said, public office isn’t the right place for folks that have those problems whether it’s because of character flaws or personal demons arising from neurological or trauma response issues. For one thing, you probably can’t handle the fire hose coming at you without cracking up, and for another thing, all of those problems will be Weaponized against you by your political opponents. And there’s more than just you at stake. So, nothing you’re saying is incongruent with what I believe… And you’re welcome to draw your own conclusions about him, I would never try to deny you that. I will forever be a relentless believer in the inherent goodness of almost all people, even when they lose their way, and it’s what I have to believe to feel OK about the world. Other people feel better about the world when they perceive it as buckets of good and buckets of bad. I don’t think anyone’s wrong for how they make sense of the world. The one thing we fully agree on, he shouldn’t be the nominee, and he should never have been recruited with all of this looming in his past, regardless of what he would’ve tried to do had he won the election.
It’s complicated, isn’t it!
well, i'm a retired therapist too. jen, he sounds a bit like a polished sociopath to me, but you have met him, i have not. not gonna diagnose from afar. there are charismatic orators like fdr, lincoln, jfk, and obama....and there are also ones like mussolini, hitler, and pol pot....and trump. in his own twisted way, he can be very charismatic to the right audience. what other president had people wearing swimming trunks with their names on them? napoleon too, was seen as a charismtic reformer; in war and peace, pierre was an admirer at first, in goya's ghosts, the character played by javier bardem sees napoleon as a reformer taking on the royal houses....never mind he declares himself emperor and gets the pope to crown him.....now i'm not saying platner is like these people, but he also just may be a fraud who told people what they wanted to hear in a way that sounded genuine. sometimes there is a simple explanation. like that used car salesman who just wants to give you the best deal....he is nice, he offers you coffee, donuts, water.....and then you get fleeced. you're driving off the lot in a car held together with super glue and duck tape.....
Glad you posted this. I’m not a Bernie fan. Never have been. But after this, I trust him even less. “Stained” is a good word.
And Platner’s managers need to find a new line of work.
I wrote a comment to the NYT for the reporter who suggested that HCR was a candidate. It was accepted and published this morning and includes a summary of the ongoing process in NM. Perhaps Democratic Party of Maine will also stipulate a process in law for all parties, and greater detail for the Democratic Party in their rules. 2025 DPNM rules are here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTo22wjSnnWLza84dayjVyse0zAHXAfv/view
Maine election law is here: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-a/title21-ach0sec0.html
Title 21-A: ELECTIONS, Chapter 5: NOMINATIONS, Subchapter 3: VACANCIES
Article 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
§363. Title 21-A,POLITICAL COMMITTEE; CHOOSING CANDIDATES AND NOMINEES
https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-a/title21-Asec363.pdf
_ _ _ _ _
Sorry, but the candidates listed in this article do not reflect the process of how a candidate will be chosen. Heather Cox Richardson is an academic and already stated on Instagram that she is not interested. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DagwSJax0M6/ In New Mexico we are currently going through the process to replace the candidate for Lt. Governor for the Democratic Party on the general election ballot in November. The process for all major parties is stipulated in 2025 State Statute, NM Stat § 1-8-8 (2025). Chapter 1 - Elections, Article 8 - Nominations and Primary Elections, Section 1-8-8 - Vacancy on general election ballot; occurring after primary. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-8/section-1-8-8/2025 with further detail in DPNM Rules Article I, Section 4.3. Section 4 – Filling Vacancies for Nominees for Public Office and Article 1, Rule 5.5
DPNM State Central Committee of elected Democrats (including myself) will have a candidate forum on July 18, and meeting on July 25th followed by a voting period. Voting results will be released July 29, 2026. It is very similar to the process used to elect Rep. Melanie Stansbury to replace Deb Haaland when she was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Interior by President Biden. I voted for Melanie on both rounds of voting. The upcoming vote will be by ranked choice. Article I section 5 Voting and Elections 5.1 – Ranked-Choice Voting and non-secret ballot. 5.5 – Optional Absentee Voting for Non-Secret Ballots.
Thanks for the great info, Deborah. HCR is a beloved daughter of Maine and we are so proud of her. It is my understanding that HCR said she would not run, but I have no definitive evidence of this. I am waiting to hear Simon's suggestion/s for a candidate and will push hard in my circles for this individual once this is shared.
I cited HCR on video in my chat comment above explaining she does not have the interest or skill set for the job. No sign in required (just click on the X). https://www.instagram.com/reel/DagwSJax0M6/
Ah, thanks, I see I misread. (I LOVE her, and of course so respect her smart decision) but I think part of me was slightly hopeful, lol.
Would that everyone had her level of self-knowledge.
I watched HCR's show and she was a definite no. She said she might have the skills to campaign, but definitely not the skills to govern.
She knows her limits, her strengths and weaknesses, and she was clear she wasn't interested.
Indeed
You are awesome, Deborah! The NYT should hire you!
Thank you, Deborah!
I’m so glad you launched a fundraiser for the Maine Democratic Party! As soon as I watched Devon Murphy-Anderson’s video I had decided to give to them on my own. I’m glad that my contribution went via Hopium.
Would you mind sharing the link for that? I had trouble finding it- I’m sure I missed something obvious
Edit: Sorry, I found it. It's the Big Blue button that says "Donate to Maine Dems." Simon could not possibly have made it more obvious. If I'm asking where the canned peas are in a grocery store, the answer is that they're behind me.
😂😂
I agree with Dana above. If Platner denies the allegations (does not = proof) then the voters of Maine should have the final word, not “people from away” sitting in their Ivory Towers within the Beltway. I seem to remember that Susan Collins wasn’t bothered by credible allegations against Justice Kavanaugh.
Steve this thing is over. He has to get out. Bernie has called on him to get out. The Maine Democratic Party has called on him to get out. This isn't about Ivory Towers - fuck off on that - he was already cratering in the polls and I am sure if we poll now he will ten points down. It was unlikely he was going to win prior to these latest stories but now it is over and we must move on.
Simon, do you anticipate Platner will actually withdraw and not let his ego stand in the way? Hopefully? If so, and I know you can only provide so much info atm, what’s your intuition concerning what time of candidate the Maine Democratic Party will go with? They have to know anyone too aligned with Platner would be potentially detrimental to our chances in Maine and furthermore, towards retaking the senate (even though there are multiple pathways towards such a feat). Hoping for someone like Mills, HCR, or someone who can cater to both the Progressive and centered wings of the state Democratic electorate. Lot of talk about Troy Jackson lately. I’m just keeping my cautious optimism in check and hoping for the best regardless.
HCR will not be a candidate. She does not want the job.
You’re prob right but wouldn’t it be amazing though?!? Then again, we want someone like HCR to always be in control of her wheelhouse. Rather than her image being contorted by anyone. I would trust any executive decisions she makes concerning her career path.
Dr. Potter is definitely right. Once again, you can hear it directly from Dr. HCR here. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DagwSJax0M6/
Simon, lawyers, like myself, are loathe to condemn someone if they profess innocence. Obviously, politics operates on a different scale of truth. I lived in Maine for 9 years. People in Maine don’t take kindly to being told what to do.
I get that Steve. No one likes to be told what to do. Do Mainer’s like to be lied to? Because that is what Platner and his campaign have been doing. Platner isn’t a redemption story. Platner isn’t a regular oyster farmer - he went to a prep school and has a well off daddy. Lies! Platner has or had some nasty disrespect or hatred for women… seeing them as objects for his pleasure, disregarding their objections ( like being told no to sex and removing his condom surreptitiously on multiple occasions.) Platner is lucky he’s not in jail for sexual abuse. Platner can’t be trusted.
I personally hate to be lied to and hate being manipulated. He and his team did both. My bottom lines.
Just praying he drops out to begin with! He needs to take the cue and if he really wants to ‘do what’s best for the party and to defeat Collins,’ the he needs to drop! Should his ego cause him to stay, I won’t outright say Maine is an impossibility especially given the increasing disdain for Collins amongst the Maine electorate (including even amongst Maine independents and Anti Trump Republicans). However, with Platner still in there, it innately now becomes a harder battle. Can we still win the senate without Maine? Yes we can! Will it be harder? Yes. Here’s to hoping 🙏.
It is unbelievable that he hasn't dropped out yet. The people behind his campaign hate the Democratic Party and it is showing right now.
What more does he need than for Bernie himself to insist he drop out seriously?!?
And his good pal Troy Jackson, has told him so, at least publicly. For Maine voters like me, I am getting angrier and angrier he and his team are digging their heels in and riling up his die hard supporters. Each moment creates another crack. Susan Colliins and her team are celebrating, I assure you. UGH!
collins may be worried that she will actually have to campaign some this fall.....
Unfortunately, his video message was more about him and how he is the victim than rallying his supporters to support the new nominee and rally to send Collins packing. He always comes across as whiny - to me at least . In any event, good riddance . Hopefully, he fills out the necessary paperwork and has a change of heart for the greater good and encourages his supporters to support the nominee to get Collins out.
I think it is very premature for people to be jockeying about who replaces Platner. Step 1 is he needs to go, the rest can be figured out later. We need to keep the pressure on his people.
I’m also of the belief that we can still win the senate without Maine. Especially with the optimistic quartet of NC, OH, AK, and IA. Not to mention, a very likely, hopeful retaining of GA with Ossoff’ prowess and popularity and God willing, a retaining of MI (especially if Whitmer and Slotkin help push whomever the nominee is, be it Stevens or Sayed over the finish line). However, it would certainly be nice to ADD Maine to that trajectory. Hopefully, the pressure comes through to push Platner out and subsequently work in our favor.
I do to, but as a Mainer, It will really suck for us to have to endure 6 more effing years. I am swearing a bit more than usual. As I posted somewhere else, we Mainers have a good chance of being stuck with Jared Golden's seat going to our former racist ignorant Trumpian Mayor Paul Lepage. So Two of our four DC delegates are Trumpys. We were also massively deceived by Jared Golden, our pretend D MOC who began slowly voting for Trump policies and came out last year saying Trump was going to be re-elected and he was okay with that. Then at the last minute he decided not to run, when many of our good possible candidates had signed up for other races. So we Mainers are really in a terrible place.
i spend a lot of time in golden's district. hoo boy. i'll just leave it there. if they didn't have such nice lakes full of hungry fish....
i'm leery of iowa polling after ann selzer missed it so badly in 2024. and she has retired.
Lastly, (sorry, should’ve just typed all this in one 😂), it almost feels like Platner is now trying to take the party down with him courtesy of his ego in this moment. Haven’t we seen enough of that with Trump and the GOP? I guess, thank God for the rising Anti Trump/GOP sentiment across the electorate in spite of this 🙏.
Blake, Simon is saying that, and I have to agree. His team wants to use their leverage to further splinter off people. It is so damaging to our state. It feels like a civil war here right now and the winners are the Rs. This is a dream and they will continue to excoriate every dem that runs since this is such a good recipe. Of course we must never let such a flawed candidate run again.
Jennifer the other thing that needs to get aired out there is that the Fight Agency, the NY based consultants behind Platner, are on the cusp of losing a major pay day if the candidate who emerges does not pick them for the general (which is almost certain given the gaslighting). So for all the accusations about DC intervening the current stand off may be being driven by NY based consultants and tens and tens of millions of dollars of business.
Maybe time to do an expose … with names… on the Fight Agency. They should be poison to any candidate in the future.
Okay. Boy thank you, Simon. I will get on that.
Simon, do you think as hectic as this moment is in Maine, that this can ultimately become a blessing in disguise for us? It’s inevitable he’ll drop out in time, he’s just slow rolling out of spite, and shamefully so. That said, assuming Devon Murphy Anderson plays a key role in helping to appoint a good candidate, amidst the growing negative sentiment against Collins, this could still end up playing very well for us no? If the new candidate is ‘progressive enough’ for Platners’ now prior base, then as long as he or she intently separates in ‘character,’ I think we stand a strong chance still in flipping it. If the new candidate is more moderate, again, the character separation would matter but with regards to a policy platform to campaign on, I would then hope someone like Pete B (who could appeal to both ends of the Maine Dem Party spectrum) would go out there to pose as a strong surrogate. It’s frustrating right now for sure cuz much of it seems now…like wasted time unfortunately. However, I insist it’s far from over for us in Maine and subsequently the senate 🙏.
Seems like there can be much learned from Platner. Vetting is an actual thing and should be taken seriously. We should also look at why he was popular and find someone who espouses at least some of those policies. A fighter without the criminality. Also, should we put Platner and El-Sayed in the same bracket? One has major ethical/criminal issues while the other seems to be just an inflammatory politician for better or worse?
The same consultants - the Fight Agency - are running the two campaigns and they are closely aligned with Bernie. It's the same people.
I see, but is there a quality difference between El-Sayed and Platner? Just asking for my own edification.
We didn’t know what we didn’t know about platinum until it came out… If they’ve done as terrible a job vetting El-Sayed as they did Platner, we may very well get hit with some shit at a very inopportune moment… he may not have those kinds of skeletons in his closet and I hope he doesn’t, but I don’t trust this political operation any farther than I can throw Chris Christie. Not just because they suck, but because they’re not interested in what’s best for the pro democracy movement… we need team players right now. And all I mean by that, are people that understand the job number one is to win the fucking election and check Donald Trump‘s power.
for me the hasan piker stuff is already a bridge too far.
I feel like on a really good day, I might be able to toss Chris Christie a few feet so that's something.
I’d have to do a lot of push-ups to catch up with you on that one 😉😂
😂
😂. Thanks for the chuckle.
weren’t many of these Fight Agency people associated with Fetterman’s 2022 senate campaign?
Yes, same for Bernie. Politico explains.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/27/fight-agency-consultants-democrats-00200636
Wow. Also, very interesting Politico article from last year. I didn't know any of this. But I will definitely be sharing this information.
eek
I have two thoughts regarding the Platner debacle:
1. We are very lucky he is not the nominee, and Maine will have time to help with his replacement's campaign;
2. ALL THOSE mistakenly responsible for "vetting" Platner should be banned from doing anything similar with any Democratic candidate in the future! Let's not be stupid folks!
I doubt they can be banned but they sure can be outed over and over - every time they get behind a candidate.
Prior to the election, it was Platner's choice alone to be on the ballot if qualified by the State of Maine Division of Elections by meeting all requirements. Then it was up to the voters to choose.
https://www.maine.gov/sos/elections-voting/becoming-a-candidate
He is still the darn nominee. He has not stepped down yet and he and his team seems to be almost blackmailing the party in order to get what they want using the people to do their bidding.
Yes they are blackmailing the party.
Simon, thanks for the good summary. Lawrence O'Donnell's discussion of Platner last night included a lot of information I didn't know. We can only be grateful that this new damaging info dropped while there's still (just) time to change course. If Platner cares at all about removing Collins, he'll drop out today and disappear. I'll make a donation to the Maine party.
One of the concerns about Platner has been the vetting. I can recommend Danica Roem's autobiography, Burn the Page, for a great example of the importance of doing oppo research on yourself. Danica's a Virginia State Senator who decided to run for office after a life as a Heavy Metal musician with a history of drinking and as a trans woman. She did extensive oppo research on herself to prepare for the campaign and then ran being open and honest about who she was. The chapters in her book begin with sections of the oppo report.
I called my representatives to say that they need to stop Trump's destruction of the city of DC and that he's not in touch with reality and needs to be removed from office. I'm writing postcards to Ohio voters today. I think we have great candidates there and can flip the state.
I always learn from your posts and appreciate your postcard activism. Thank you.
Is there a way to redirect Hopium funds that went to his campaign...??
No. But there is going to be incredible pressure on him to return funds or donate them in ways they can be helpful to others.
I am a Maine resident. I voted for Janet Mills in the primary even though she had dropped out. Graham was chosen by some higher up mucky mucks, but darn it. It is the responsibility of the party to THOROUGHLY vet all candidates. The bad news about Graham started as a trickle but now it’s a flood. The line “ he’s changed “ reminds me of Susan Collins saying Trump learned his lesson. Both are wish casting
The Party was constantly blamed for any story that came out about Platner. Platner, his team, POD Save America and others kept saying it was all in the past (as if that made it ok) and said the Party/"Establishment" was out to ruin Platner's campaign. I honestly, don't know if the DNC and other Dem Groups could have done anything. It's well above my pay grade. The red flags were there for everyone to see. Platner lied over and over.
As Simon has written, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee DID do the necessary opp research on Platner and informed his campaign what was likely to come out. His former campaign manager's op-ed that Simon quoted today alludes to this, too. And she wasn't some "Washington consultant," she was a liberal former (and now current) public official with a working class background who believed in Platner. And, as she describes, she kept wanting to believe the rationales given by Platner and his campaign backers as to why the stories weren't true or how he had changed. Sadly, those explanations were gaslighting of the highest order. So, in my view, it wasn't the "Party Establishment" (whatever that is) that destroyed Platner's campaign, he did that himself.
Agree. 💯. Well said.
I think it is interesting that El-Sayed's # is flat since McMorrow dropped out (41 -> 41), whereas Stevens' # increased by 4 (38 -> 42). Another data point for the conventional wisdom that McMorrow voters were closer to Stevens. Lot of game left though. Let's go Haley Stevens!
Don't read too much into it. It's just one poll, lots of undecided, things are going to bounce around. Just a close race.
I just donated to the MAINE campaign. After a rattling few days of this, it was my therapeutic way to purify the air and get pointed in the right direction. Today is a new day. I'm hopeful this guy will announce his departure shortly.
Throughout this whole time with Platner, I've kept my head down.
I don't know if it's the New Yorker in me or an inherited trait, but the minute he came on the scene and was feted with words like "authentic" and "authenticity," I just knew it wouldn't end well. He began to employ these perceptions of him in his interviews, too. A humble guy who laughed when he was being recruited and told the recruiters initially to fuck themselves.
It became part of his persona. I never put "authentic" in the same sentence as a candidate. I don't know them, so I can't tell. What I want to see is that they can reliably perform the duties I hired them for.
There's a saying that work is easy; it's dealing with people that you get paid for.
When he began to talk about undiagnosed PTSD, the back of my neck itched. Not because it's not a real, profoundly disrupting and often lethal affliction - but because I sensed it was being used for something.
Everyone -- every one of us - shows up to introduce ourselves with a story.
That's not the bugaboo with me.
But you have to match the candidate with the job, and if you don't know them, what you have are their stories.
And you have to put the chapters together: Who What Where When How and Why.
It's not that they are not entitled to their stories or their triumphs and failures.
It's that they have to be suited to execute their duties, and if you are going to invest in them, you want the best, don't you?
I work with vulnerable families seeking suitable, reliable caregivers. It's something to try to teach them how to be recruiters, managers, and bosses, and how to size up candidates to care for their loved ones.
What I've written above is exactly what I try to support them with when someone appears in their living room, looking to get paid to care for their intellectually and sometimes physically challenged loved ones.
What is their story? Why are they here looking for this type of work?
I think we are lucky. Still have a chance. If this had happened next week with him locked in on the ballot, piles of R Oppo research would have been dumped and no chance.
Heard on Morning Joe that Rs were waiting to dump a lot more horrific info on Platner …just waiting until after the deadline to change the nominee pasts to expose him.