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Whenever I write about Graham Platner, everyone gets mad at me. The people who don’t like Platner think I’m covering for him and the people who love Platner think I’m condemning him.
And now that (mostly) everyone has come to a consensus on Platner as a candidate I am here to . . . still make everyone mad at me.
Because it seems to me that some progressives—especially in the populist progressive space—are either misreading or misrepresenting what’s going on.
This is frustrating to me because some of these people claim to be alarmed by Trump’s authoritarian movement—but seem to be more interested in defeating the Democratic “establishment” than in beating Trump’s Republican party.
I reject this view, completely. The Democratic establishment is imperfect and compromised in many ways—but it is still a liberal institution. More importantly, it is the only vehicle we have for accumulating the political power to push back against Trumpism in this moment.
People who cannot distinguish between the desire for Medicare for All and the danger of authoritarianism are making a grievous mistake.
At The Bulwark, we may have a miss from time to time but our mission is transparent—and if you share this threat assessment I hope you’ll ride with us.
–JVL
Progressives Are Mad at the Wrong People
The last Graham Platner piece we’ll ever have to muddle through together.
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1. Platner Discourse
A certain type of progressive is very upset about the Graham Platner implosion.
Who are they upset at?
The Democratic party. Or Israel. Or oligarchs. Whatever. Some examples:
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Here’s more from Matt Stoller:
Let's be clear, the goal of pushing Platner aside is to destroy the agenda on which he was elected, which is about taming oligarchy and reorienting us from endless war. That is why the Maine Democrats aren't saying 'let's respect Platner voters and transition to someone else,' they are taking a sanctimonious 'he gets NO say in ANYTHING.' Those are not the actions of people who want to win a Senate seat, those are the actions of nasty insiders claiming factional power for themselves.
Here’s David Sirota:
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The bad guys in the Graham Platner saga are: corporate Democrats, oligarchs, Neera Tanden, AIPAC, Israel, the media, the elites, and the establishment.
I have a question: Why aren’t these people angry at Graham Platner?
There is one person and one person only to blame for the disaster unfolding in Maine: Graham Cunningham Platner.
This asshole knew who he was and what he’d done. He put himself forward anyway. He lied—over and over—to the public, to his supporters, to the media. He asked people to prostitute themselves for him and cover for him. He encouraged the Bernie Bro cult that coalesced around him.
Now everyone who went out on a limb for the guy is cut off. The Maine Democratic Party is in an impossible situation. And Susan Collins is seventeen weeks from her election and she doesn’t even have an opponent.
Think about that for a minute: In the single best chance to flip a Republican Senate seat, Democrats don’t even have a candidate.
This wasn’t a Neera Tanden–engineered coup. Graham Platner did it.