Quite aside from the fact that Maine has voted for the loser plenty of times, in the 1936 election, FDR took every state except Maine and Vermont. FDR’s VP laughed publicly about that, and came up with the alternative “so goes Vermont.”

We now have templates to work from.

let's get real on that. I won't say that was the entirety of the problem but it was a huge part.

She wasn’t landing because she doesn’t meet the moment. She’s against filibuster reform, she was against regulating huge data centers, and yes, most voters prefer to vote for someone who isn’t approaching end of life. People on this site seem to think voters are clawing and begging for candidates between the age of 70-90, the general public is not.

All of that being said, Platner seems really problematic. I believe he will end up being a Manchin or Fetterman, and we will see a lot of buyers remorse here. I hope I’m wrong.

I just don't!

I live in Philly and was burned by Fetterman, so I may be biased.

Even though Ohio here, made many phone calls for Fetterman

Let's hope that Platner is not a Fetterman. Personally, I don't think he is, but what do I know? I live in Oregon. I just refuse to believe that he's playing us all for self-serving purposes -- power and wealth. That's the only reasonable explanation why he might be a Fetterman -- but I just don't see him as just another power-seeker.

Or not educated enough on many issues. It strains credulity to believe someone who is almost 80 understands how badly young people today are struggling or what the effects of technology and AI are on the future. Before anyone says it; I also apply this to Bernie and others. Everything has its season, and some of these people would be better off as advisors than remaining in office for their entire lives.

When I was young I was so idealistic and I wanted to vote on anything possible. Low turnout out in that demographic is nothing new, I just don’t understand it.

They are entirely wrong. Nobody cares if they don’t vote nobody notices.

They are trying to create a life and career for themselves, so it’s easy to say “they all suck” to absolve themselves from responsibility. I don’t know if there is a way to break through that or if it’s just a part of our life journeys.

We have a lot of lazy, and frankly stupid people.

You realize all of this is nothing new. You also will understand why the Pope speaking out is so important. There is nothing new under the sun, but at the same time, we are living in an extraordinary time.

to take elections seriously. Everything in their life is comparatively new and comparatively exciting. They are immersed in new experience and gobbling it up, having the time of their life. Elections are not what energize them because they are distracted with too many other exciting things to pay much attention to politics. And at that point in life, especially in the 18-21, maybe even into their 25 or 26 years, they haven't directly felt the weight of disadvantages on their own personal lives. Hell, when I was that young, I could live on $50-60 a week without feeling stressed or even uncomfortable. I was resilient, adventurous and starry-eyed. Why would I waste good time worrying about politics?

But things have definitely changed today. We are seeing more young people voting. Because it does more immediately affect them today. Nothing gets attention better than direct impact and harm. That's happening to them today. And things aren't getting better so I'm sure the numbers of young voters will continue to grow -- more than we might expect even.

So, I'm pretty optimistic about our younger people going forward.

this isn't difficult. I'm older now too - gen X - my volunteer work for Obama led me to this website.

I have gen z kids and I can tell you what they are saying. They want progressive candidates, someone like Mamdani gets them excited. They're not going to vote for anyone helping Israel - it's a hot button issue for them. And they can't afford anything right now, so as Clinton said back in the 90s "It's the economy, stupid". Whoever is running for office right now should be laser focused on making this country livable for non-billionaires again.

It’s a secret vote. Nobody’s gonna know. They’ll still be cool.

Was social security a pony, was ending the draft a pony, is wanting healthcare for all a fucking pony?

I don’t understand why you are trying to drive off democratic supporters?

Bernie has been highlighting this issue for years, and he’s very outspoken about the dangers of AI.
Also, he probably would have beaten Trump in the 2016 Presidential election, had his campaign been allowed to continue.
It’s not their age that makes a person out of touch, it’s their mindset.

Bernie Sanders is a national treasure, and he is endorsing Graham Platner. I've been listening to Graham Platner's YouTube videos and interviews, and I get why Bernie believes in him.

Bernie should have been able to run against trump the first time, but the SAME democratic party that he has always supported, did everything they could to NOT support him in that election.

Hence, here we are.

Congress & the Senate have gotten older & older for the past several years. We've had several examples of outright inability to perform the duties of the office but they dont resign.

We need all of us represented.

Older folks are a key voting demographic.
So are middle of life folks.
And young folks.

We should be working to make sure that all are represented among our ranks. Turning 70 doesn't disqualify one from being a public servant. Neither does being 25. or 45. We should have Elected Democrats who can speak to and from EVERY group imaginable.

Honestly, im far more bothered by the wealth of our federal representatives than I am by their ages.

She also suffered from distortion of her actions and positionso. At B one point it was popular to say that she either neglected or brushed off Maine’s Native American tribes. I asked her about that point blank. She said that the ones that made the most noise and complained loudest were NOT looking to improve the status of their people as a whole, but were looking for financial perks for already wealthy casino owners. When they didn’t get everything they wanted, THEN they whined that Janet wasn’t looking out for the tribes. “Corporate Democrats,” my ass. Just because they didn’t have Italian last names, it didn’t mean there was no mafia-like structure that in the tribal casino ownership.

But that's all water under the bridge now. We are all still allowed to hope for a pleasant surprise from Platner. It’s also up to him to deliver or not. Yelling “corporate” all the time will change exactly nothing and conbince exactly no one.

my biggest worry is he can't win. He literally called rural people stupid in the most rural state in the nation. It will be deplorables on steroids.

I think his nazi tattoo might be a bigger problem for Ds. Of course this may actually garner him some republican votes!

NM

Janet Mills main problem was being a stop gap solution to the perceived problems with Platner.
As usual Democratic leadership panicked and fell back on the "favorite son" idea for a candidate.
So Mills was the anti Platner. As such she had to attack Platner from the right and she couldn't develop a meaningful platform beyond, I'm experienced, I'm moderate, and I'm not him.

Mills was forced into a role that was never going to win. She had to cede the left to Platner and he ran with it. If we're lucky he'll run right into the senate with it.

This whole problem is caused by the Democratic leadership's love of centrists and fear of criticism.
They should have read the tea leaves and seen that there was a leftist backlash growing. They could have been grooming populist Democrats to run against Collins going back several election cycles.
Instead they get surprised by Platner and fumble.

Anyone else remember Joe Brennan? There was never anything in particular to complain about with the guy and he, by all accounts, performed his job(s) well, but there comes a time to pass on the torch. With him, the state party establishment kept insisting on supporting him election cycle after election cycle for one elected position or another ad nauseum for years.

Showing obvious contempt for questions during a “phoned in” town hall didn’t help her case either.

One of the most important takeaways from this article was “talk the way they talk” with regards to messaging. Speak to voters like they do in their normal conversations. Enough already with the Washington-based consultant-speak. “Food insecure” is hungry.

Most every time I speak with a farmer, logger, school teacher, business owner, truck driver, nurse, carpenter, college student, I hear the same basic complaint. Congress is out of touch, too far removed from the average person.

In my view, elected leaders need fresh ideas, new approaches, more town halls and a gargantuan shot of courage.

People like to eat, people like to have housing, and people like having some leisure time and money. It really shouldn’t be that difficult to talk about.

Again, let us get Joe Rogan -- apparently a Texas resident -- to run for something as a Democrat and he will likely win, and every nasty thing he says won't matter, because he certainly talks like "the average person".

About time our party starts following what Bernie Sanders has been saying for years.

Clear, unapologetic, progressive change is the ticket.

she is 78 years old! Of course voters should reject her. Way too long in the tooth to begin a career in the Senate! As an old friend used to say, what the hell is wrong with her? And I'm older than her

and govern like they’re scared of their own shadow. They want fighters." - Thom Hartmann

Couldn't agree more.

Thom Hartmann is host of a progressive show. As much as I wish every congressional district was a progressive-leaning one, they are not. But let him think members of the Squad could run competitively everywhere. And while I don't always like to listen to moderates, I defer to them knowing their constituents better than I do.

I hate dealing with people who don’t speak clearly. Everything doesn’t need to be dumbed down and simple, but, you should be able to understand what someone stands for clearly when you go to the voting box.

I think it’s the same as an interview for a job. If you don’t have a clear “why”, and a plan of implementation that can be drilled down to a simple message, people aren’t going to spend their time to find out the details.

Harris' plan was $25,000 for first-time homeowners, New Affordability Agenda's is $20,000.

Cheaper food and groceries. Ban corporate price gouging.
Raise minimum wage.
Paid family leave, medical leave.
Expand child tax credit.
Extend $35 cap on insulin.
Medicare covering in-home health care.
Minimum tax on billionaires.
Campaign finance reform.
Help small businesses, end four-year college degree requirements for some federal jobs, double # of apprenticeships.
and much more.

Both sides are not the same at all. Neoliberal as an insult for Democrats, all the other name-calling. The Democratic Party is not the enemy, Republicans are. It's the 21st century.

Reaganomics was neoliberal, and adopted in some form by both Bushes. Clinton, and to a lesser degree, Obama diluted and repackaged it.

Biden was the first Keynesian president since LBJ, and we all saw how vigorously the oligarchs rebelled against his BBB agenda, getting their Neoliberal saboteurs on the Problem Solvers caucus to gut the bill after promising not to in order to pass the infrastructure bill and avert a shutdown.

The items on your list are classic Keynesian remedies for economic suffering and inequality.

We must ensure that those who campaign on populist, Keynesian policies follow through and sponsor bills consistent with their Affordability Agenda philosophies, and prevent bipartisan saboteurs from substituting the more oligarch-friendly Neoliberal “Abundance Agenda” Trojan Horse. The Abundance Agenda claims to cut red tape to expedite development of housing, manufacturing, etc. creating good paying jobs in the process, but it’s actually a smokescreen for gutting environmental regulations, building codes and labor laws so that developers can maximize their profits.

https://kayuma.substack.com/p/the-abundance-delusion-how-silicon

Trump, on the other hand, is simply a demented Protectionist.

messaging devise for the left. The 'neoliberalism' rubric implicates the Democratic Party in the rightward drift of American politics that has in reality been caused by the Republican Party's growing radicalism. It yolks the two parties together into a capitalist Establishment, against which socialism offers the only clear alternative.

"By relabeling self-identified liberals as 'neoliberals,' their critics on the left accuse them of betraying the historical liberal cause. ... Its basic claim is that from the New Deal through the Great Society the Democratic Party espoused a set of values defined by, or at the very least consistent with, social democracy or socialism. Then, starting in the 1970s a coterie of neoliberal elites hijacked the party and redirected its course toward a brand of social liberalism targeted to elites and hostile to the interests of the poor and the working class. The first and most obvious problem with this version of history is that there is little reason to believe that the Democratic Party has actually moved right on economic issues. ... This chart indicates that the Democrats have not moved right since the New Deal era at all.

"Democrats ... have never been a left-wing labor-dominated socialist party. (Union membership peaked in 1955, two decades before the party's supposed neoliberal turn ... [and working class whites began leaving the Democratic Party during the '60s, also before the supposed Democratic neoliberal turn].) The widespread notion that 'neoliberals' have captured the modern Democratic Party and broken from its historical mission plays upon nostalgia for a long gone era, when the real thing was messier and more compromised... . ... But it is the political climate that has grown more hostile to Democratic Party economic liberalism. The party's ideological orientation has barely changed."

It's "an attempt to win an argument with an epithet"

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/how-neoliberalism-became-the-lefts-favorite-insult

Until Biden was elected, neoliberal economics had inserted itself to some degree into every administration from Reagan through Obama.

The use of Neoliberal as a catchall, broad brush epithet to smear Democrats who don’t pass the progressive purity test does a disservice to legitimate criticisms of neoliberal economic policies as well as undermining progressives’ own efforts to convey their alternative (IMO better) vision for America.

PUBLIC NOTICE: when you see me use the term Neoliberal in a post, it will always be as a descriptor of economic policy, and not a broader definer of left/right politics.

The right wanted to make "liberal" a curse word, so they couldn't call themselves neoliberal. My ranking of presidents in my lifetime is: 1. Biden 2. LBJ 3. Obama. My biggest issue with Obama was his failure to create a constitutional crisis when they stole an Extreme Court pick from him.

Neoliberalism is an economic ideology, embraced by both Republicans (Reagan) and Democrats (Clinton)

Neoconservatism is an ideology primarily concerned with foreign policy and the wielding of state power internationally, including militarily. GW Bush and his administration were the best known proponents of.

The two terms do not exist on the same political continuum.

but she has a VAGINA!!

It’s a sad day when this excuse is used to describe how D candidate can’t win against another woman R candidate…

It shows the weakness of our party in messaging and candidates. Realistically, he should not be in the US Senate, and Dump should have never been elected twice. When clowns have taken over the show, it’s a good time for some self reflection as a party.

So far it's only a promise, voters' hopes have been dashed in the past.

Although none of them acknowledge Democrats were put in the minority because of election results, everything is Schumer’s fault. And corporations.

And he has beaten mills and schumer so far, so good start

Have any thoughts about the deliberate, malicious, evil theft of the franchise from Black Americans?

Because honestly? Just me?

Fuck the USA! This is a shit ass country - always has been always will be.

But he's truly very sorry for having been caught saying so.

I'm sorry that so many people think this is what America should be.

John Wayne is dead perhaps everyday Americans should try to be the heroes we seek. Work the primaries, go to the meetings, vet the candidates based on performance, stop listening to bullshit influencers and make your vote count for everyone not just your immediate needs. I am tired of fighting people in this party who feel my needs are not important and only what white men feel matters. How did that work in the last election?

We want “bomb throwers” not “milquetoast”.

People need a clear reason to vote FOR a candidate, not “hey! We’re better than that because we, like, care something something”.

PLANS to make our country better.

And as much as I hate to say it, PLANS to rein in Russia and Israel.

So of course we all want bomb throwers. Any candidate who doesn’t understand that shouldn’t even be a candidate.

To call out the deep corruption. And, we need to not only do it in speeches, we need to go door to door. Talk to people.
But, I also think there ought to be some sort of training to give those people on the ground a road map of sorts of how to approach and talk to strangers. Just telling people to go door to door won’t work. Not everyone is skilled at things like that. And, republicans have made us hate each other. We have to find a way to speak in a way that softens that barrier to open up listening. Teaching volunteers how to approach that would be a great thing. (I am an introvert and would be terrified going door to door. If someone gave me the skills to do it, maybe I wouldn’t be so apprehensive about it.) just a thought.

It’s great advice.

He is always ahead of the curve and a truth teller.

One of Democrats' biggest enemy is Democrats, we do circular firing squads. Cornell Belcher may be the best political consultant in the business but when I see him on TV I turn the station.

Throwing money at the election is needed but getting out in the streets is more important. Go to Indivisible rallies, walk the picket lines, get arrested trying to get into concentration camps, the politics will take care of itself when people see Congressional Democrats fighting.

I do not espouse to the Schumer strategy that Krasnov will burn it all down and then Democrats will win. We need to fight to stop him from burning it all down.

It will never happen but I wish that Democrats would nominate a non-politician for president in 2028, someone who moderates can't bitch about, someone who progressives can't bitch about. Nominate a fighter who the voters know will hold Magats accountable for what they did to us.

Miles Taylor - 2028
Malcolm Nance - 2028

Do you see where I am going?

against Trump, but he did not.

This is the rise of the progressive agenda.

Universal healthcare
Universal childcare
Universal education
No more genocide. Here or anywhere else in the world. (No more immigration concentration camps and no more genocide in Palestine and Lebanon)
Abolish (frozen water) (ie tear it completely down and put its function elsewhere with actual checks and balances and accountability)
Less bombs, more education.

This is the will of people.

She got directly to the point.

Her opponent gave eloquent, detailed speeches and he won the primary.

Oh what a conundrum!

You make a good point. I think Dems in TX perceived her race to be an insurmountable problem. I do think Talarico was very to the point, but there is a big conversation to be had here.

if she had entered the primary several months earlier? ( Asking as I read that that was a factor in some articles.) Did Harris's endorsement come to late to start any momentum? Was it that Texas Democrats had two exceptional candidates?

Externally, she had tons of signs, blockwalkers etc.

Of course, you had the neighsayers about her being black, but I didn't see that as an issue. With Jasmine, what you see is what you get. Yeah, they could depict her as a welfare queen, voodoo, defund the police, white person hater etc, but those are old, transparent tropes. Voters are more likely to see through those.

Look what they did to John Kerry? He was a white, decorated veteran. What could go wrong?

With Talarico, everyone was saying his religion was an asset, but I knew the GOP would use it to "swiftboat" him and they did as soon as he won the primary, they branded him as a satanic cult member etc..."He's no Christian, he's pro-abortion" etc etc etc...

I hope Jasmine Crockett doesn't give up on politics, but maybe she'll find a new constituency in state government?
I hope so.

About 800,000 of that population even vote

A little over 400,000 of those voted Democratic

Whatever those numbers mean, I wouldn’t consider that a knockout punch or however he worded this.*

It seems Collins would have an easy attack on Platner since he voted for her. But she’s getting to be one of those unwanted older women (sarcasm), so she should be easy for him to banish.

*Mills fought Trump right to his face.

I wanted Mills in the beginning because I wasn't happy with some of the things Platner said in the past, but now that it looks like he's the Democratic candidate I'm all for him defeating Collins

You've just defined the DU mission statement. Vote for the Dem.

wouldn't believe how much they are spending on advertising for Republicans in the very red state of Indiana.

winning in ME, I think it's populism. There is a difference.

In an era where everything is expensive, AI is threatening jobs, and the rich just keep getting ahead by pushing everyone else down.....it really makes a lot of sense that populism is...popular.

I really don't like populism, but if it's going to happen I'll much prefer the left-wing type over the right-wing type.

There's a big difference. Huey Long was an asshole but as a left-wing economic populist he was to the left of progressives, FDR, and the New Deal. In the grand scheme of left-wing history, progressives are actually moderates when it comes to economics and challenging the foundations of capitalist wealth transfer. Even with that, the progressive movement of today resembles nothing close to its past. "Winning" the culture wars, endless political demands, and marginality politics are meaningless drivel detached from real economic demands. Today's progressives love to tinker around the edges on economics and call it "progress." To do that tinkering, wealthy progressives have to unleash a huge dose of authoritarianism on the working class and the poor. People see that and they reject it. And progressives will be the first in line to label Long a fascist, an authoritarian, and declare class war a dead relic of the past. Class war is the only war. Everything else is noise to distract from that fact.

He talks. Talk is cheap. If he knew how government works he'd know he can't do anything by himself except make noise.

If one person could do it alone wouldn't we all have ponies by now?

"Maine just handed Democrats a wake-up call that they’d damn well better actually listen to this time."

Or what? They won't vote? They'll vote MAGA to teach Dems a lesson? They'll post nasty paragraphs on their substacks?

Personally, I don't appreciate being threatened.

Where's the tough talk for Piggy and the MAGAts???

There's envy that the Republican Party has been taken over the way it's hoped the Democratic Party will be taken over but no luck. The revolution is not happening. It makes a person cranky.

Paul LePage, the former governor, has reared his mentally deranged head and it looks like he has a good chance to win a seat. He makes the worst nut currently in office look downright sane.

and slinks back to Florida again with his tail between his legs
and STAYS THERE this time

Let’s see if Platner beats Collins before these pronouncements. The same people that claimed they were tired of “weak” Dems and wanted fighters were the same ones that threw Jasmine Crockett away because “she couldn’t win”. I didn’t see Thom comment on that so just let the candidates run and if they win then make the pronouncements.

At this point, he has shown what will win a Democratic primary. Not to mention, it could be candidate specific and or state specific.

I think that in November, looking back at all the primaries and the general election might be a time where this type of claim might be made.

My hope is that Democrats in all states vote for candidates who win the general election, even if that was not there number one criteria. My guess is that the message and persona of the nominees will differ by state. It seems premature to claim that someone who has not won the seat yet should be considered as the role model of how to win nationally ... even if he matches his own values.

pro-corporate and pro-AI bros message even if he's trying to use it for liberal messaging. He should stop using AI, which is based on theft from creatives, almost all of whom are on our side, and who hate AI-generated fake art and music, for good reason.

after she beat Bernie, which helped her lose to Trump. I can't take his ideas seriously.