The key truth about Graham Platner and Democratic leaders

It's not about one man

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When a friend texted me earlier this week and asked what I thought of Graham Platner in the wake of a rough few news cycles, I responded that “I definitely don’t plan to hire him as a babysitter.”

While technically true, it was really my semi-glib way of saying that I don’t have to be on board with all of a candidate’s personal decisions — or even like them personally — to root for their political success; there are some moral lines that cannot be crossed, of course, but if horny texts, PTSD, and crude internet comments were disqualifying, the Capitol building would probably be close to empty. As for the tattoo, my trepidation over whether Platner is a secret Nazi is alleviated by the sheer number of Jewish people who are running and supporting his campaign. Plus, I’d rather him in office than the party supported by actual Nazis.

If all the skeletons really have been excavated from his closet, my sense is that in this environment, Platner’s progressive-populist politics, righteous anger, and gruff charisma will be enough to carry him over the line against Susan Collins. Naturally, some centrist Democrats disagree and are freaking out over Platner’s candidacy, to the point that some have asked Gov. Janet Mills to campaign again while several groups have even urged voters to back for her in Tuesday’s primary. Take a step back, however, and it should be clear that they only have themselves to blame.

Graham Platner’s ascendancy is as much a condemnation of a sclerotic national establishment as it is affirmation of his talents. To put it simply, nobody outside of local seafood aficionados would know Graham Platner’s name if Chuck Schumer and the DSCC hadn’t cleared the field for a 78-year-old centrist governor who’s been in public office since the 1980s and didn’t ever seem all that interested in going to Washington.

In the most turbulent and dangerous times of our lives, they went with business as usual. Mainers responded by giving Platner a 64-26% lead in April.

Is Platner that compelling? He’s a decent speaker with a compelling background, but he’s no rock star or Barack Obama, and it’s safe to say that he would probably not be drawing massive crowds at raucous rallies if there were some other candidate who was willing to speak truth to power, channel populist outrage, and promise to work on behalf of working people.

If Democrats had welcomed a competitive primary and backed a half-decent elected official with a pulse, Graham Platner probably never would have been recruited by Zohran Mamdani-aligned outsiders, much less become the presumptive nominee for Senate.

Mills had every advantage in the world, from name recognition to money to institutional infrastructure, yet she was almost effortlessly toppled by a tatted up shitposter who was willing to make searing yet obvious critiques of a political and economic system that is a total failure for most Americans. And what’s even more damning is that in a must-win race, leadership tried to clear the field for Mills because they thought she was the most electable. Platner’s ascension is the end result of a party apparatus that has lost the pulse of the people it is supposed to represent, of a desperation for authenticity and urgency instead of buzzwords and managed decline.

While Mills was a uniquely bad candidate and Platner is the only contender to come out of literally nowhere, the disconnect between Democratic Party apparatus and primary voters has been evident all across the country.

It’s happening in Michigan, where the DSCC’s handpicked candidate, Rep. Haley Stevens, has flailed under the spotlight and now trails progressive former health commissioner Abdul El-Sayed, a champion for Medicare for All (he literally wrote the book on it), opponent of the genocide in Gaza, and open critic of business as usual in DC. The knives have come out for El-Sayed in recent weeks while establishments endorsements and outside money have poured in for Stevens, but only one of them is drawing huge crowds to rallies and building a steady lead in the polls.

It’s happening in California, where corporate money and a bot army buoyed Xavier Becerra in the gubernatorial primary and Sacramento city council member Mai Vang (watch our interview with her here) fought off a deluge of dark money to make the general election against octogenarian incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui in CA-7.

It’s even happening in Colorado, where the state endorsement conventions produced massive upsets up and down the ballot.

She wants to overthrow the Democratic gerontocracy (while respecting elders)

Sen. John Hickenlooper, who previously served as mayor of Denver and governor of the state before gliding to a Senate seat, now faces a very spirited and credible primary from progressive state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who won top billing at last month’s convention.

Activist and lawyer Melat Kiros (who we interviewed) blew the doors off 30-year incumbent Rep. Dianna DeGette when at the Denver convention, taking the top slot on the CO-1 ballot. And Sen. Michael Bennet, who probably figured he’d cruise to the open governorship, is trying to fight off AG Phil Weiser, who is campaigning from the populist left.

Not all of these candidates will win, but it would be a net positive for Democrats if the party leadership took a serious lesson from the broad anger powering them.

A quick catchup on stories and subjects we’ve been following for the long haul:

Lawmakers in New York took a big first step toward amending the constitution and redrawing the state’s Congressional map. It’ll have to be approved by voters, and should that happen, the Democratic majority would be able to draw at least four more blue seats ahead of the 2028 election.

Illinois became the third state to grant gig drivers (as in Uber and Lyft) the right to unionize while remaining independent contractors. It’s an imperfect solution to a widespread problem, but an improvement over the status quo. Illinois joins California and Massachusetts with these unique statewide union rights.

Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker announced that his administration will freeze tax credits for new data centers as it works to enact a longer suspension. It’s a sign of just how much the public sentiment has shifted on data centers that ambitious lawmakers who once courted and showered money on these projects are now actively working to limit or fully curtail their construction. Pritzker has clear presidential aspirations and this move suggests that running on a platform that includes reining in AI is on his mind.

Inside the biggest political AI fight in America

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is going out with a bang. Commuting election denier Tina Peters’ jail sentence drew significant blowback, but it’s two vetoes that have many on the left up in arms: First, Polis for the second straight year nixed the Worker Protection Act, which would have repealed Colorado’s onerous anti-union law. Then, he vetoed the bill that would have protected consumers from surveillance pricing and workers from AI-driven, privacy-violating wage setting (see above).

Activists in Redwood City, CA officially collected enough signatures to have their rent control initiative placed on the November ballot, an enormous triumph in the face of a deluge of spending from the landlord lobby that only figures to intensify. We spoke with the organizers about the campaign last month:

An inspiring grassroots fight for housing and power in Silicon Valley

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