You spend years calling your political opponents Nazis and then your own Senate candidate turns out to have an actual Nazi tattoo. Sometimes the universe just hands you the comedy and walks away.
As USA Journal laid out, the Graham Platner situation in Maine is one of those political disasters that manages to be both completely predictable and somehow still shocking. The man won 72% of the Democratic primary vote. That is the highest percentage any Democratic Senate candidate has ever received in Maine. Historic enthusiasm! For a guy the party is now desperately trying to shove out the emergency exit.
Here is the timeline that really makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of this mess. Republican women raised serious allegations against Platner before the primary. Democrats did not seem terribly concerned. Then a Democratic woman made a sexual assault allegation, and suddenly the DSCC yanked its funding, endorsements vanished, and party leaders started appearing on camera demanding his immediate departure. The outrage was not about the conduct. It was about which team the accuser played for. That is not principle. That is arithmetic.
But the best part, the part that elevates this from regular political incompetence to genuine art, is that Platner is not going quietly. With five days left until the July 13th replacement deadline, he is reportedly demanding a say in choosing his successor, insisting on guarantees about his "values and vision," and continuing to call party headquarters even after they publicly told him to stop calling. The man got 72% of the vote. In his mind, he is the people's champion. You almost have to respect the audacity.
None of this matters for the actual Senate seat, of course. Susan Collins has been polling ahead of Platner even before his campaign became a dumpster fire documentary. Whoever Maine Democrats manage to staple to the ballot in the next five days will have no momentum, no name recognition, and no realistic path to beating one of the most durable political survivors in modern American history. Collins is watching this unfold from a comfortable lead, presumably with popcorn.
The bigger problem for Democrats nationally is what the mood polling reveals. A third of Democratic voters now describe their own party negatively, using words like weak, disorganized, and ineffective. That is not people switching sides. That is people deciding the couch looks more appealing than the voting booth. Apathy does not show up in the data until it has already eaten your turnout.
This is also just the latest entry in a pattern. Biden got pushed out. Franken got pushed out at warp speed. Bernie had the rules rewritten on him mid-race. The Democratic establishment treats its own voters like suggestions rather than decisions. They just usually do it to candidates who do not have Nazi tattoos, which makes it harder to justify.
Maine Democrats built a historic wave of grassroots energy around a candidate they never bothered to vet. Now the wave is crashing directly onto their own heads, the candidate will not leave, and the clock is ticking. Some political parties learn from their mistakes. Others just keep providing content.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
As USA Journal laid out, the Graham Platner situation in Maine is one of those political disasters that manages to be both completely predictable and somehow still shocking. The man won 72% of the Democratic primary vote. That is the highest percentage any Democratic Senate candidate has ever received in Maine. Historic enthusiasm! For a guy the party is now desperately trying to shove out the emergency exit.
Here is the timeline that really makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of this mess. Republican women raised serious allegations against Platner before the primary. Democrats did not seem terribly concerned. Then a Democratic woman made a sexual assault allegation, and suddenly the DSCC yanked its funding, endorsements vanished, and party leaders started appearing on camera demanding his immediate departure. The outrage was not about the conduct. It was about which team the accuser played for. That is not principle. That is arithmetic.
But the best part, the part that elevates this from regular political incompetence to genuine art, is that Platner is not going quietly. With five days left until the July 13th replacement deadline, he is reportedly demanding a say in choosing his successor, insisting on guarantees about his "values and vision," and continuing to call party headquarters even after they publicly told him to stop calling. The man got 72% of the vote. In his mind, he is the people's champion. You almost have to respect the audacity.
None of this matters for the actual Senate seat, of course. Susan Collins has been polling ahead of Platner even before his campaign became a dumpster fire documentary. Whoever Maine Democrats manage to staple to the ballot in the next five days will have no momentum, no name recognition, and no realistic path to beating one of the most durable political survivors in modern American history. Collins is watching this unfold from a comfortable lead, presumably with popcorn.
The bigger problem for Democrats nationally is what the mood polling reveals. A third of Democratic voters now describe their own party negatively, using words like weak, disorganized, and ineffective. That is not people switching sides. That is people deciding the couch looks more appealing than the voting booth. Apathy does not show up in the data until it has already eaten your turnout.
This is also just the latest entry in a pattern. Biden got pushed out. Franken got pushed out at warp speed. Bernie had the rules rewritten on him mid-race. The Democratic establishment treats its own voters like suggestions rather than decisions. They just usually do it to candidates who do not have Nazi tattoos, which makes it harder to justify.
Maine Democrats built a historic wave of grassroots energy around a candidate they never bothered to vet. Now the wave is crashing directly onto their own heads, the candidate will not leave, and the clock is ticking. Some political parties learn from their mistakes. Others just keep providing content.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
