The establishment, so to speak, ‘won’ on the Democratic side, although it wasn't their own doing: Graham Platner’s Senate bid in Maine is over, dismantled by a rape allegation from Jenny Racicot, a liberal Democrat who claimed the Nazi tattoo-wearing oyster farmer attacked her in 2021. Platner was already hit with allegations of domestic abuse that Democrats largely dismissed, but the rape allegation made by a liberal woman is apparently the final straw. This candidacy will be studied, as everyone knew this guy was trouble and a ticking time bomb. Also, all the unsavory details about him were dug up by Democratic opposition research. The GOP was holding its powder dry until after the July 13 deadline, when Democrats would be stuck with Platner on the ballot.
With the Nazi candidate receiving the Aldo Raine treatment up north, the Democrats are now directing their anger toward the far-left wing, which has caused the chaos. That would be Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is trying to become the new kingmaker for a party that’s lost its way. His mixed record is now making him a target of the DNC’s fury, as the Maine race is likely to slip away from them—a must-win if they hope to flip the upper chamber. Rachael Bade has more:
This week, the grumbling is reaching a fever pitch behind the scenes in Washington’s Democratic circles.
The trigger, obviously, is GRAHAM PLATNER — the Mainer whom Sanders transformed into a rising star, headlining his Labor Day rally in Portland and standing by him through a Nazi tattoo, ugly Reddit posts and multiple women’s accounts of his misbehavior — only to watch it all collapse this month over a rape allegation. Sanders turned the oyster farmer with zero political experience into the presumptive Democratic nominee in a state Democrats NEED to flip the Senate — a candidate some even whispered for a hot second could be a future presidential nominee. Now that bet is in ashes, and Maine Democrats are in chaos trying to replace him.
But Democrats are grumbling that Platner isn’t a one-off. Many who’ve spent the cycle biting their tongues are now running the tape on every other Sanders pick — and they don’t love what they’re finding.
MIX RECORD — Sanders has endorsed more than 15 House candidates this cycle, and — credit where due — a chunk of them have actually won their primaries. Call it a coin flip with a decent tailwind: roughly half of his House bets have paid off so far in places like New York, New Jersey and California — even red states like Montana.
But Dems argue that’s only half the story, because when you sit with the list of Sanders picks who’ve gone down, you find that several didn’t just lose; they lost embarrassingly, dragging Sanders’ credibility into the story right along with them. While Sanders can point to real wins this cycle, the losses, these people argue, reveal a concerning pattern of elevating untested, unvetted candidates with skeletons nobody bothered to check for — a pattern that’s starting to look less like bad luck and more like poor judgment.
[…]
THE NEXT TEST: There’s a fear among some of these Dems that Sanders Orbit’s damage may not be done… All eyes now turn to the August 4 Michigan Senate primary, where Sanders has endorsed progressive ABDUL EL-SAYED over centrist Rep. HALEY STEVENS, who has Chuck Schumer and AIPAC money behind her. El-Sayed, who campaigned with HASAN PIKER, has been leading in recent polling and picked up the UAW’s backing along with Sanders’ — though the recent exit of MALLORY McMORROW is likely to help Stevens.
That still doesn’t mean the socialist insurgency is over. Quite the opposite. This was one major battle they lost, but Colorado got hammered and sickled, with Melat Kiros defeating 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the June primaries.
Again, this isn’t our problem, and the GOP shouldn’t do much to interfere in the ongoing Democratic Party civil war between the leftist and establishment factions, but the latter only has themselves to blame: they didn’t pivot when the brand was suffering, the anti-Trump cries aren’t unique, and when your approval ratings are that low, a fiery socialist will step in to fill the void.
Will it implode? I think it will—the Left does well to hide their true agenda through all-encompassing messaging about affordability, but that can only last so long.
