Originally published at: The Brief: Graham Platner’s Exit Would Set Up a Busy Few Weeks in Maine - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Maine Senate Thunderdome Here We Come? Staring down the prospect of a candidate in a critical race having to be swapped out in July, with four months to go before the general election, Democrats might be feeling some PTSD. But even before multiple outlets reported a sexual assault accusation Monday night (which Graham Platner denies),…
1 Like
My dumb-ass predictions.
Platner drops out today, 07/07/2026.
Platner’s wife files for divorce within the next year.
For those who accuse Ms. Racicot of waiting suspiciously long to drop this news, maybe she did intentionally wait. In this often misogynistic culture, perhaps she felt this was the only way to be heard of what happened to here. She is now being heard, and she is also exacting a form a justice on this man who injured her in a society that still, all too often, sweeps this shit under the rug and rewards the rapists.
17 Likes
Free to read
Who Might Replace Graham Platner if He Drops Out of the Maine Senate Race? - The New York Times
Top Maine Democratic Party officials have discussed possible plans to replace Mr. Platner on the ballot, with options including a pop-up convention on the weekend of July 25 to choose a nominee, or holding a statewide caucus to effectively redo the party’s primary election, according to two people who have talked with the officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party conversations.
Officials have ruled out having the state party’s committee, which includes about 100 members, choose the nominee, the people said.
Should Mr. Platner withdraw by next Monday, the leading candidates to replace him could potentially include the Democrats who ran for governor and did not win the primary.
They include Ms. Bellows, Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate, and Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s public health agency. Jordan Wood, who lost a primary for a House district covering northern Maine, is also a potential candidate.
Ms. Mills is seen as less likely to be selected. She did not respond to messages on Monday.
7 Likes
Platner needs to drop out today, right now, if he wants to preserve any shred of respect from the party and Mainers in general. There is no sense in waiting a few more days, making it even harder to find a new candidate.
15 Likes
… that seems to be absolutely essential - otherwise Platner becomes the unalterable candidate -on the non-stop trip to the November general election.
At the moment there appears to be a monumental problem - currently Platner is demanding - before he will withdraw - that he be able to judge whether the proposed candidate truly follows the principles that Platner represents and that the people of Maine selected in the primary.
This just doesn’t work if:
(1.)Platner needs to withdraw before Monday the 13th …
and
(2.) a new candidate won’t be named until a mini-convention in late July
There’s going to have to be a whole lot of political sausages made over the next 6 days if there any chance of avoiding disaster!
6 Likes
, Mike Johnson is once again floating the idea of doing President Trump’s SAVE America Act through the budget reconciliation process.
In other words cheating.
However half the time the Congress shuts down it is over the budget so that does not appear to be a good strategy.
As far as Graham Platner goes, maybe we should go back to “backroom” politics for picking the candidates.
3 Likes
this says it all…once again, thw weak-kneed democrats have allowed themselvs to be led around by the nose… they finally have a real man running for office,he has has a beard, moustache , a tatoo and seems to be fearless..and a MARINE.. i have been a democrat most of my adult life, i probably will never vote for a DEMOCRAT again…except locally..had this woman filed a police report when this thing happened to her,it might be believable,concerned Susan’s people proabably found a woman who would do this and once again, the DEMS fall for it. its sad that POLITICO supported this…it used to be a decent news site..now it is just another gossip page… i listened to the guy in MS. this morning…he offered no proof that this actaully happenned, instead it was the usual stuff like ’ she told her friends’ … all this stuff came from a woman whose party supports a pedophile and his ,FRIENDS and it all happened 5 years ago..
1 Like
If she was trying to hurt the party she would have WAITED until he could not be replaced!
18 Likes
I read “seeking assurances” the selection at least match the politics that the voters chose. (Depending on the editorial bent of the publication, the phrasing varies)
We should want that too, even if it means we’re uncomfortable wanting the same as him.
Like… it would be kinda messed up to then just install Mills, and I wouldn’t have necessarily put that past tin eared national democrats to push for.
So, using the little leverege to keep Schumer/ Gillibrand stink off the choice is the last best thing he can do… he cant look worse.
As it is, i think the Caucus idea at least puts it back to the people of Maine which would be a hard counter-offer for Platner not to agree to.
2 Likes
Quite apart from how difficult it will be for the D party to put in place a mechanism to choose the replacement candidate, the electorate needs time to decide what they think about that candidate. The dust needs time to settle.
2 Likes
Apropros of nothing – so this is now the precursor to Morning Memo I take it…and morning memo is what now? A roundup of the roundup? Sorry. Need mo’ caffiene.
5 Likes
“Still, he wants to exercise some influence over his successor, a “person familiar” told the New York Times last night.
“If he was to step down it would only be with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for,” that person said.”
Amazing that even today he can’t understand the word “no.”
11 Likes
Whether he is
“demanding” …or “seeking assurances” at this point is not exactly the problem.
The problem is that he - at the moment- has presented his withdrawal as being “conditional”… that there are certain stipulations that he- Platner- will need to opine upon and determine whether they have been satisfied - sufficiently- in his judgment.
Somehow - over the next six days - along with addressing a variety of issues - this waltz with Platner has to be danced - well enough for Platner to then take the formal official action of withdrawing.
3 Likes
We shall wait and see, but it seems like a reasonable way to sort the ‘news of the day’ (not sure Platner fits in that category, but… anyway) from the weightier developments that need context and a deeper dive.
2 Likes
What’s worse is that trump and his DoJ toadies have smelled some quirky brand of dysfunction or mild trepidation on the Democrats part and is sending fucking watchdogs, monitors and election intimidators to Michigan in some key Democratic strongholds like Lansing, E. Lansing (home to MSU) and Detroit to make sure that they work the refs in other swing states for Senator.
6 Likes
I think it’s sort of Morning Memo, Eastern Edition.
2 Likes
Yeah, that sounds about right. East Coast Edition. Good call.
1 Like
(DuckDuckGo reply to prompt Racicot interview Platner rape )
The story I recall is that Racicot split the interview for the early June story between on and off the record and, when that didn’t lead to his withdrawal, she went on the record with the whole story. That led us to where we are now.
IIRC, she shares his progressive politics and did not feel he was a suitable candidate.
1 Like
Not doing that gives her more credibility too.
4 Likes