Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

I am, of course, referring to the  Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment)

Once again the Very Serious People™ in the party have looked at possible challengers to Susan Collins in Maine, after completely screwing the pooch the last time, and are trying to nominate the worst possible candidate.

The story is nominally about a Maine oysterman who has decided to run against Collins, but it buries the lede.

The important part of the story is that Schumer and the DSCC are pushing another candidate, current Maine Governor Janet Mills, age 77.

She would be the oldest freshman Senator in history. 

But that's OK, 77 is the new 76!  AmIright?

The DC Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) are the biggest losers to come out of Washington, DC since the Washington Generals, who were paid to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters.

At 8 a.m., Taunton Bay is glassy—the air cool but salty enough to make your nose wrinkle. A man in rubber boots, canvas pants, and a black t-shirt worn to gray, carrying a large cooler on his shoulder passes me on the beach. “Ya here for Graham?” he says, his Maine accent looping the first two words together. 

“Yup,” I reply. 

“Good man,” he says, continuing on his way.

I flew here to profile Graham Platner because his announcement video for his Senate campaign (produced by the same company that’s done work for Zohran Mamdani) struck the same deep chord in me as it did in the millions of others who watched it. His plainspoken fury at the billionaire economy broke through the noise of the Trump presidency to capture extravagant donations of voters (the campaign says they’re closing in on $1 million) and the attention of media outlets across the country.

That he’s been added as speaker at Bernie Sanders’s anti-oligarchy rally on Labor Day is unsurprising. That Sanders has had to move the rally to a bigger venue since Platner got on the bill is telling.

Merciful heavens.  A candidate who excites the party base!

I have the vapors.  This cannot be allowed.

………

Someone asks Platner why bother running as a Democrat. He says the infrastructure for fundraising would not be as robust if he ran as an independent and, besides, running as a Democrat in Maine isn’t the campaign-killer it would be elsewhere. “Also,” he says, “At my core, I’m a Democrat. I grew up as a Democrat, I voted Democratic, my whole life.”

He cautions: “I want to make it clear, I’m not running as a reform candidate here. We need to take the party back. We need to build power and leverage power, both in the party and the institutions of power to get what we need.”

There are a lot of do nothing Democrats, both among elected officials and the consultants who don't want that.  

They are too timid, and selecting for nothing beyond fund-raising prowess is easy and it makes them money.

Thus we have:

………

Reportedly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is wooing Maine Governor Janet Mills to run for the nomination. At 77, a win against Collins would make her the oldest senate freshman in history. (Platner is 40.) Platner’s campaign only becomes an insurgency against Susan Collins if he first survives the Democratic establishment. His pointed critiques of party inaction have already set the tone. His candidacy isn’t just about beating Republicans, it’s about forcing Democrats to do more than fundraise off of their failures.

And this is why you want your name removed from the DCCC, DSCC, DNC, Mothership Strategies, etc. lists.

I don't know if he can beat Collins, but Mills certainly won't, but she'll raise a f%$# tonne of money to pay the consultants with, so Schumer et. al want her.