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Can someone please explain why this particular race is getting so much attention?
Like I'm seeing a lot of people point to Graham Platner specifically as evidence that working class Americans cannot take back the DNC from the Epstien-billionare class.
I don't understand why this particular race has become so front and center.
It's probably the most contested race between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. If there's any hope of Democrats taking the Senate, Maine is a must-get. The race was always going to me important regardless of the candidate.
Add to that that Platner's rise there is a direct challenge to the centrist political philosophy and that's why there's so much money going after him (not saying this woman isn't telling the truth). If Platner's progressive messaging could win in a purple state, then the idea that the Democrats need to moderate to win outside of deep blue areas is proven wrong.
If Platner's progressive messaging could win in a purple state, then the idea that the Democrats need to moderate to win outside of deep blue areas is proven wrong.
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Right now the centrist machine claims leftist politics (part of which is cutting funding for Israel) only works in deep blue states so centrism and all the money flowing into it is still the strategy to win elections. Platner win in Maine puts a grenade in the mouth of the machine. Once that nade explodes, we're gonna see a whole lot more leftist challengers all over the place. And that would be a big material problem for the ruling class as taxes will be next.
The one-two punch of Mamdani showing that progressive policies can actually be implemented to improve people's lives and Platner showing that unabashed progressive policy can win battleground states would be devastating to them.
Who knows what's going to happen with Platner now, but he is definitely a huge threat to shitty centrist politics.
My bet - heartfelt apology, like he did before, then pedal to the metal on that red hot communism! He's gonna put this at the feet of the corporate political machine which wants to keep Mainers from having free healthcare, etc. And I think it's going to work.
Nah, he's cooked this time. Many of his high profile supporters who stuck with him through the previous allegations are currently retracting their endorsements on Twitter. He's done.
Honestly, I do think he can just power through this. Charisma and the election being about bigger things will get people to just forget about stuff they don't really want to think about. The visceral emotional anger against him would need to last for months and that just hasn't been how people tend to respond to misdeeds by politicians.
Part of it is that this IS a very important race. It is a genuine chance to unseat collins and is a big part of the effort to... probably still not flip the senate but get it to within the range where even one republican caring about remaining electable can stop a vote.
But mostly it kind of became a flashpoint in the Democratic party itself. platner is a laughably horrible candidate. Like, if he were a character on The Simpsons or South Park, it would be deemed as unbelievable. But his populist platform means he is saying stuff that gets online leftists clicks so the podcast bros LOVE him and establishment Democrats kinda glommed on to. So... every single time some other horrifying revelation about the blackwater nazi comes out, it becomes a huge controversy about how everyone is out to stop the leftists and blah blah blah blah blah.
And then... people realize it isn't just bernie supporting him but a lot of other Democrats and we kinda remember why there was so little push by the Democratic party to actually act on the epstein files and... yeah.
And I think conservatives (and tankies) have realized this is a great way to undermine all the great work the DSA et al have been doing. Who cares about AOC or Tlaib or Mamdani or any other genuinely inspiring candidate. Here is a nazi rapist who got bored standing guard at Abu Ghraib and decided to join blackwater.
Wait so is bro an actual nazi?
I'm Canadian and I'm pretty tapped out trying to keep up with the USA anymore. Basically accepted that the next 10-20 of the USA is going to be the type of shit I tell kids around the barrel-stove while the more able bodied adults hunt radroaches
He's not, people scraped his reddit history and the worst they found was some typical ex-military grunt angst and some meat head talk. Nothing anywhere close to nazi-ism. The tattoo was a bad choice but it's very obvious to anyone who does even 5 minutes of research into him that he's not. He's pro-LGBT, believes in supporting minorities, is anti-authoritarian and wants to cut military spending. But leftists hate nazis so the billionaire media is paying big bucks to get leftists to hate him.
He's not. Some people here are nutty and think everyone recognizes a specific skull and bones as a third rate Nazi symbol and then instead of saying or doing Nazi shit throughout their lives or running for the party that embraces Nazis, would instead keep their Nazi ideology secret, but still keep the tattoo, and run on progressive political messaging to challenge someone who's already been letting the Nazis do whatever they want.
It's a really daft theory.
He also posted this video on twitter https://x.com/grahamformaine/status/2074214272628916296
So it sounds like he is dropping out of the race
I didn't get that impression from that video.
I believe her. It sucks that I agree with his politics, but get him the fuck out of the race, and into a prison cell.
Well at least this is coming out now. Warning signs have been there the whole time. Nazi tattoo that he continually lies about, worked for Blackwater, marine, misogynistic language, troubling fascist coded rhetoric, etc... He needs to drop out now cause he's sunk, him staying in guarantees a Collins win. Hopefully they find someone else quick.
The timing of this smells. Sounds like billionaire propaganda to me. How did he get in her home? Did she file a police report? Who in the Epstein files has been arrested?
Most rapes go unreported and even when they do authorities don't follow through or simply don't believe the victim.
People are saying it's credible, even Ro Khana who was one of his biggest supporters.
Right at an ideal time to impact the midterms, amidst a flurry of anti-leftist astroturfing I noticed starting yesterday. I've got some doubts.
Nah, he's been showing warning signs all the way, but people wanted to believe him too much so l just avoided the arguments. I've felt he was deliberately elevated by the oligarchs since the beginning for just this moment.