Maine’s latest progressive sensation, Democrat candidate for US Senate Graham Platner, was interviewed on Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar on Thursday. However, despite the exterior facing facade of the Platner campaign, the interview with Breaking Points has, perhaps inadvertently, shown some light on whats happening inside of his campaign.
The interview opened with Platner discussing why he wants to “get in the fight” at the US Senate [1:01], his military career with the Marines, Army and private contractors [6:14], and apologizing for using the word “guys” instead of “men & women”. [9:32]
When asked by guest host Ryan Grim:
“Um, hows the uh hows your fundraising been? Because in Washington, you know, that’s that’s the thing that people like uh the Democratic senate committee, if they’re trying to talk to Janet Mills about whether or not she should run, are you looking at like, have you have you seen an influx of uh smalls donors from around the country or you what’s can you give us any details?” [14:45]
Platner first prefaced his answer by saying…
“So, uh for the record, I just mean to put this out like Ive never done this before, I have no real benchmarks. Uh mostly what I say is sounds good is because somebody who knows what they’re talking about told me this is good.” [15:06]
After suggesting that the words coming out of his mouth only sounded good because someone smarter than him told him what to say, Platner explained how his 9 day old campaign had already hit a million dollars in small dollar donations, boasted to not taking any PAC, Corporate PAC or Super PAC monies and that…
“We have been able to tap into a fundraising mechanism that I think you know we saw a few years ago explode with Bernie um and AOC with a lot of that small dollar stuff…” [15:58]
Wrapping up the interview, show host Krystal Ball, recalling Platner’s previous comments on Sen. Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, asked “When did Democratic leadership go astray?”. Platner closed his response with…
“We need leadership that does understand that we that does understand that when they send out text messages saying we’re in a fight for our democracy, we actually are. Its not its not a fundraising message. It’s a legitimate thing that is happening. And we need to be acting. We need to be acting like the language we are using. And I think the fact that our leadership has not done that just shows that we cannot continue with this kind of leadership in the party.” [18:43]
Over the span of an approximately 20 minute interview, Platner explained that people that “know what they’re talking about” are telling him what to say, that they’re using the same funding network used by Bernie Sanders and AOC, and that, in a time when cooler heads call for less inflammatory language, Platner believes that their actions should reflect their inflammatory language; that words like “fight” should be used literally and not just a marketing tool for their party.
The media spotlight enjoyed by the Platner Campaign has placed renewed interest on Maine’s current governor, Jane Mills, to finally announce her intent to also run for Senate on the Democrat ticket. When asked recently about any intention to run for US Senate, Governor Mills effectively responded with a maybe. At this point, she would be the 8th candidate to file FEC paperwork for the Democrat primary but would also be the only candidate currently holding an elected office, has any experience running a successful campaign and is already well connected into the Democrat machine.
When Mills decides to finally enter the race, the Platner campaign’s ability to turn this recent media blitz into sustained fundraising steam will be required to keep up with the machine preparing to back the current governor. Platner’s ability capitalize on this moment will decide if the democrat primary is an unchallenged blowout or a well-funded battle between establishment Maine Dems and their progressive wing. Organized around the Maine People’s Alliance, recent photos have already been released connecting Platner to this progressive, money raising, activist group.
Presumed republican primary winner, Susan Collins, has yet to file papers for her potential re-election. Collins, however, had not rejected the idea in the past and, baring some unforeseen debilitating medical condition, it’s only a matter of time before she’s officially campaigning for her 6th term. When she does, she’ll be facing at least two primary challengers. According to FEC filings, she’ll have at least two primary challengers. Army veteran and founder of Voice of the People USA Radio, Daniel Smergilio of Frenchville, as well as Kennebunkport resident, former business-owner and over-the-road trucker Carmen Calabrese are both expected to run in the Republican primary.
–TMP