First things first. I wouldn’t necessarily say ETTD. Maybe I’d adjust it to ETTIC (Everything Trump Touches is Corrupted). We knew the Belgium game would be a challenge. They’re good. We needed everything to go right. And Trump inserted himself. The result -included one of the most epic goalie fuckups of all-time (as a NY Giants football fan, I posted on this on Bluesky - see below):
The players and team will never admit it (as predicted, this came out after I wrote this post: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49293102/usmnt-dismisses-balogun-noise-2026-fifa-world-cup-exit), but the whole Balogan affair absolutely had to have an impact, even if just at the margins. I’m a former D1 athlete. Trump’s/FIFA’s blatant corruption mattered and the players knew it. Belgium was better - give them credit. But still…
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On to the news of the hour/day.
So this happened yesterday evening:
I’m writing this the night before, so nothing is definitive as I wrote, but high level - Platner has to go. Before we get into the nitty gritty, there is one simple reason: he’s toast. He’s not going to win. And Democrats can’t afford that.
Also, a mea culpa on my part. I was always uncomfortably ambivalent on Platner (in my gut leaning strongly against but willing to accept the will of Maine Democrats). My concern was more in the “he’s not genuine or authentic” camp and might turn into another Fetterman. Turns out - whether he’s exorcised his past demons or not - they’ve reached out from his troubled past and grabbed hold of his now defunct campaign. I’m now feeling that I should have been strong in my convictions and listened to my inner voice from the get go. Lesson learned (for, like, the millionth time).
Some fervent supporters are saying he was destroyed by the Party for promoting Democratic Socialist views. I don’t know - maybe that’s plausible. Sadly, in my view and in futbol terms, this was simply an own goal by someone who had some pretty nasty skeletons in his closet and for whatever reason thought he could get away with them.
It does seem as if his campaign was actually a shit show from the start. And it started with the vetting process. Before everyone gets up in arms, “Vetting” doesn’t mean the party or people potentially running a campaign are winnowing out candidates based on ideological views, political philosophy or leanings. No. Candidates are vetted to try to ensure there are no skeletons in one’s past or present that could sink a campaign. When I first decided to run, even though I wasn’t even on the Democratic Party’s radar as a possible candidate, both my campaign team and the party vetted me; they interviewed me and probably used whatever tools they have of which I am not aware to look into my background and past. My initial reaction was to be indignant, however, I came to understand the reasoning.
Vetting seemed to be somewhat non-existent with Platner.
Like I said, a shit show with somewhat predictable results from someone as troubled as Platner was/is.
Another issue was the DSCC and Chuck Schumer inserting themselves into the race early on. Platner won the primary because people - especially Democrats across the country - wanted change. I wanted change. 74-year old Janet Mills and the institutionalists behind her candidacy didn’t seem to get it (and I’m still not sure they do). There was another valid candidate who was shoved aside by the party early on - Dan Kleban. From NOTUS:
Everything was ready for Dan Kleban to launch his candidacy for Senate in Maine: He had informed top Democrats about his decision, hired staff to run his campaign and picked an early summer day in 2025 to make the public announcement.
And then a call came in from Washington. It was a warning from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“They were basically like, don’t launch,” said one person with direct knowledge of the situation. “We’re telling you: ‘Don’t launch.’”
Kleban’s campaign was stunned. Kleban was a politically active owner of a well-known brewery, and he hadn’t kept his plans a secret. Just a week earlier, Kleban and his aides had told the DSCC that they were announcing their campaign shortly after the July 4th holiday and received no pushback, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Now, he and his campaign were left with the impression that if he ran, Democrats in Washington would make it difficult because they were holding their support for Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
So what about the mantra of “Vote Blue No Matter Who”? On its face, the mantra makes sense. This country cannot afford being ruled much longer by the current regime. Susan Collins HAS TO GO. The problem here is that Democrats care. Unlike the current iteration of the Trumpublican Party, we have morals and ethics and value honesty, and integrity and the truth; we expect our candidates and elected officials to have them as well and to adhere to social norms as well as the rule of law.
Where’s the line between “VBNMW” and backing someone who had nazi tattoos (yes, they were), called people r******d, treated women like shit (seems as if he’s lost women in Maine based on the latest allegation of sexual assault: Graham Platner Crossed the Voters’ Red Line), posed as a working-class oysterman while actually having grown up in a well-to-do family, etc., etc.? I rationalized Platner’s candidacy by convincing myself that anyone who goes through war comes out the other side a changed and somewhat damaged person, that some of his “indiscretions” were because of this, and that he deserved the benefit of the doubt that he was, again, as he said, a changed person. Because that is another liberal/progressive trait. We believe in the goodness in people.
In retrospect, I was wrong.
I find myself agreeing with Tom Nichols, of all people. Tom has been pushing his view that Dems will pay a price for acting like Republicans and overlooking certain egregious personal failings we decry in Republican candidates/electeds (and now, if the allegations are true, not just personal failings but also potential actual crimes against women). Just read though his Bluesky feed.
This stings because Democrats are different than today’s Republicans. And yet many of us were willing to throw that difference away to VBNMW. Honestly, I’m not sure I have an answer.
Platner is claiming this evening he will step down only if he has some say in choosing his replacement, someone who will carry on his “values and vision and policy agenda”. Read this thread from Noah Berlatsky: (1) Post by @nberlat.bsky.social — Bluesky (it won’t post here b/c he limited its distribution).
Not only does Platner need to go, but he also now needs to STFU. IMHO, he’s lost the benefit of the doubt here and has not earned - in any way, shape or form - the “right” to have a say in his successor. Quite the opposite.
This may all sound harsh, but politics is a contact sport. It’s merciless and, for better or worse, has very little, if any, room for being soft. And if you read my posts, you know that one of my mantras is “Politics is Policy and Policy is Politics”. Dems need a win in Maine. It’s time to move to Plan B.
Maine Democrats have some tough choices to make. They have until July 13 - 7 days, to find a new candidate. David Dayne of the Prospect thinks they may set something up:
I don’t know the Maine Democratic Party rules and bylaws, but if Platner does not voluntarily step down, they need to do whatever it takes to shove him aside and find another candidate. Mainers and Dems need a strong candidate who can claim Platner’s supposed progressive mantle and re-energize his supporters to show up at the polls.
It’s not a good situation to be in, but it is what it is.
Some of you may disagree with my point of view and I welcome your views as well. Convince me otherwise.
But, again, to repeat, even if you can convince me that I am not looking at this from the proper perspective, there is one thing I do know as a former candidate at the federal level. There’s lots of blame to go around. Nonetheless, Platner is toast. He’s not going to win. Collins will eat him alive. He needs to go.
Willie Nelson - The Party’s Over
