DSA losing to republican in key senate race

[Elliott]

10 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

 

Yeah, you know why Platner raised that much more than Mills and so far even more than Collins?

DSA

Grassroots, from nyc and calIfornia, lol.

Approximately 78% of Graham Platner's itemized, trackable individual campaign contributions have originated from outside of Maine, according to figures tracked by the Federal Election Commission.

Quote

It's bc he raised a lot through a grassroots/small-dollar style donor base, while Collins’ financial ecosystem is much more tied to major donors, national Republican money, super PACs, and outside spending. That is one of the strongest arguments for Platner’s real political strength. Platner is not raising Mills/Collins-style establishment money and calling it enthusiasm. This is much more evidence of grassroots energy, which fits with the poll showing his supporters are more enthusiastic than Collins’ supporters.

Platner has been called a "communist" and at the same time he has been called "Nazi" which as Graham himself pointed out makes the whole thing a comical contradiction.

He called himself a communist

Edited Thursday at 06:52 PM by Elliott

[Inliytened1]

Don't worry the president will be a democrat coming up.  Too many shenanagans with Trump. But no Hitler as you fools all presumed. 

Edited Thursday at 09:47 PM by Inliytened1

[Elliott]

42 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

Don't worry the president will be a democrat coming up.  Too many shenanagans with Trump. But no Hitler as you fools all presumed. 

He's only 1 year into a 4 year term, we need to win the midterm, It could get much worse.

[Raze]

13 hours ago, Elliott said:

", 55% of respondents said they approved of the job Mills was doing as governor, up from 48% in February.

Just 14% of those polled viewed Collins favorably, while 57% had an unfavorable opinion. Even among Republicans, Collins’ favorability stands at only 29%."

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/06/27/more-mainers-have-higher-opinion-of-gov-mills-than-sen-collins-poll-finds/

Irrelevant, match up polls still found she was doing worse than Platner.

[Elliott]

45 minutes ago, Raze said:

Irrelevant, .

It's obviously 100% relevant

[Elliott]

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737

 

Like everyone didn't see this coming, Platner raped a woman. DSA scumbags

 

"Racicot said she tried to separate herself from Platner by telling him she couldn’t be in that room anymore, after which he followed her to her bedroom and had sex with her against her will."

Edited yesterday at 04:12 AM by Elliott

[Raze]

The allegation is obviously BS. She literally spoke to NYT a few weeks ago and said nothing about this. Now she claims her proof got deleted and the only proof she provided was a message she sent to her friends where she praises Platner but describes him as “consensually careless”, like that’s proof he broke in to her home and raped her.

[Raze]

Even more ridiculous is in her own proof when the friend directly asks if he forces himself on people she complains about his OKcupid profile.

But already all his allies and supporters are dropping him, an example of how hysterical feminist witch hunts are  anathema to any effective movement or institution, and that’s most of the democrat base now.

 

[Elliott]

6 hours ago, Raze said:

The allegation is obviously BS. She literally spoke to NYT a few weeks ago and said nothing about this. Now she claims her proof got deleted and the only proof she provided was a message she sent to her friends where she praises Platner but describes him as “consensually careless”, like that’s proof he broke in to her home and raped her.

I think you have bad judgement for people and confirmation bias, the guy is a dirtbag

 

https://www.wsj.com

Highly cited

Graham Platner's Wife Flagged Sexually Explicit Texts to His Senate ...

May 30, 2026 — The wife of the Maine Democratic Senate candidate last year told the campaign about texts she had found between Platner and other women

 

This bum needs put down

Edited 17 hours ago by Elliott

[Elliott]

6 hours ago, Raze said:

an example of how hysterical feminist witch hunts are  l

 

Its....rape

[Hardkill]

I’m not going to pretend this new Platner situation doesn’t change the race. It obviously does. A serious allegation that he denies, combined with major Democratic figures pulling support, is a major candidate-quality crisis.

But I also don’t think this proves that the original pro-Platner argument was stupid or that Collins was always safe. The argument was that Maine is a blue-leaning state, Collins is vulnerable, and a working-class anti-corruption/economic-populist message could beat her. I still think that lane is real.

What may have changed is whether Platner himself is still a viable messenger for that lane.

There’s a difference between saying “Platner’s message could beat Collins” and saying “Platner can survive any scandal and still beat Collins.” Those are not the same claim. The first claim was based on real political fundamentals: Maine’s Democratic lean, Collins’s vulnerability, anti-billionaire/anti-corruption energy, and Democratic voters wanting fighters instead of safe technocrats.

It’s also becoming more clear to me why this is not really the same as Trump, even though I initially thought that comparison was stronger. Trump survived worse scandals and crimes because the MAGA coalition treats scandal as persecution: “They’re only attacking him because he fights for us.” His voters often folded his corruption, legal problems, and personal misconduct into a broader anti-establishment identity. Trump could lose moderates nationally and still win because he had massive conservative consolidation and a national grievance machine behind him.

Platner does not have that same shield. He is running as a Democrat in Maine, not as the leader of a cult-like national movement. He needs moderates, independents, ticket-splitters, liberal women, progressives, and anti-Collins voters. Democratic coalitions are also much more likely than MAGA coalitions to police their own candidates over sexual misconduct or character scandals. That may be unfair compared to Trump, but it is politically real.

It’s also not really the same as Bill Clinton in 1992. Clinton had character and infidelity scandals before he first won the presidency, but the heavier public record of sexual harassment, assault, or rape allegations mostly came during his presidency, near the end of it, or afterward. In 1992, the public image was more “womanizer/infidelity/character problem” than a fully developed sexual-misconduct crisis before the general election. Platner’s crisis is happening before the general election, after he won the nomination, while the party still has to decide whether to support him, abandon him, or replace him.

Maine makes this especially important. Maine is blue-leaning, but it has a lot of independents and a ticket-splitting tradition. Collins has survived before by winning voters who may dislike the national GOP but still see her as familiar, moderate, or safer. If enough independents decide Platner is too risky, and if enough Democrats/liberals/progressives feel demoralized or morally conflicted and stay home, that could absolutely hand Collins reelection.

So the lesson should not be “economic populism cannot win.” That would be the wrong lesson. The lesson is that a must-win anti-oligarchy campaign cannot depend on a poorly vetted or personally damaged candidate. The message may still be powerful, but the messenger may have become fatally flawed.

So if your point is “Platner had serious risk,” fair enough. But I hope your point isn't “this proves the whole economic-populist theory was wrong,” I don’t buy that. A candidate can collapse without the political lane collapsing. Dunking after a late-breaking scandal is not the same thing as disproving the original electoral theory.

[Elliott]

1 minute ago, Hardkill said:

I’m not going to pretend this new Platner situation doesn’t change the race. It obviously does. A serious allegation that he denies, combined with major Democratic figures pulling support, is a major candidate-quality crisis.

But I also don’t think this proves that the original pro-Platner argument was stupid or that Collins was always safe. The argument was that Maine is a blue-leaning state, Collins is vulnerable, and a working-class anti-corruption/economic-populist message could beat her. I still think that lane is real.

What may have changed is whether Platner himself is still a viable messenger for that lane.

There’s a difference between saying “Platner’s message could beat Collins” and saying “Platner can survive any scandal and still beat Collins.” Those are not the same claim. The first claim was based on real political fundamentals: Maine’s Democratic lean, Collins’s vulnerability, anti-billionaire/anti-corruption energy, and Democratic voters wanting fighters instead of safe technocrats.

It’s also becoming more clear to me why this is not really the same as Trump, even though I initially thought that comparison was stronger. Trump survived worse scandals and crimes because the MAGA coalition treats scandal as persecution: “They’re only attacking him because he fights for us.” His voters often folded his corruption, legal problems, and personal misconduct into a broader anti-establishment identity. Trump could lose moderates nationally and still win because he had massive conservative consolidation and a national grievance machine behind him.

Platner does not have that same shield. He is running as a Democrat in Maine, not as the leader of a cult-like national movement. He needs moderates, independents, ticket-splitters, liberal women, progressives, and anti-Collins voters. Democratic coalitions are also much more likely than MAGA coalitions to police their own candidates over sexual misconduct or character scandals. That may be unfair compared to Trump, but it is politically real.

It’s also not really the same as Bill Clinton in 1992. Clinton had character and infidelity scandals before he first won the presidency, but the heavier public record of sexual harassment, assault, or rape allegations mostly came during his presidency, near the end of it, or afterward. In 1992, the public image was more “womanizer/infidelity/character problem” than a fully developed sexual-misconduct crisis before the general election. Platner’s crisis is happening before the general election, after he won the nomination, while the party still has to decide whether to support him, abandon him, or replace him.

Maine makes this especially important. Maine is blue-leaning, but it has a lot of independents and a ticket-splitting tradition. Collins has survived before by winning voters who may dislike the national GOP but still see her as familiar, moderate, or safer. If enough independents decide Platner is too risky, and if enough Democrats/liberals/progressives feel demoralized or morally conflicted and stay home, that could absolutely hand Collins reelection.

So the lesson should not be “economic populism cannot win.” That would be the wrong lesson. The lesson is that a must-win anti-oligarchy campaign cannot depend on a poorly vetted or personally damaged candidate. The message may still be powerful, but the messenger may have become fatally flawed.

So if your point is “Platner had serious risk,” fair enough. But I hope your point isn't “this proves the whole economic-populist theory was wrong,” I don’t buy that. A candidate can collapse without the political lane collapsing. Dunking after a late-breaking scandal is not the same thing as disproving the original electoral theory.

I agree. Economic populism is popular, but DSA messengers don't understand how to sell it to anyone outside disaffected college grads, in general. Trump ran on it...

[Raze]

52 minutes ago, Elliott said:

I agree. Economic populism is popular, but DSA messengers don't understand how to sell it to anyone outside disaffected college grads, in general. Trump ran on it...

For the last time, he isn’t in the DSA, and btw polls show the DSA endorsed candidate who people are saying should replace him does the best in polls against Collins.

[Elliott]

6 minutes ago, Raze said:

For the last time, he isn’t in the DSA, and btw polls show the DSA endorsed candidate who people are saying should replace him does the best in polls against Collins.

He entered the race today and already leading the polls!

[Hardkill]

3 hours ago, Elliott said:

He entered the race today and already leading the polls!

Ok, so then who do you think can inspire economic populism like TR or FDR could?

[Elliott]

1 minute ago, Hardkill said:

Ok, so then who do you think can inspire economic populism like TR or FDR could?

I don't know of anyone. I don't think it's necessary though, that would require them to be an independent and it would be a huge task to get a fringe of both sides of the aisle to coalesce on what is still a minor issue when they disagree on how to attack the issue and then disagree on almost every other issue.

Economic populism is popular with disaffected college grads, and middle aged low income people ('blue collar'), they have nothing else in common and it's not a strong enough issue to bind them.