Graham Platner privately told staff that he is planning to officially file paperwork to end his Senate campaign on Monday — the drop-dead deadline for him to exit the race. Why it matters: Though Democrats largely appear to think Platner is done with his bid, his last-minute timing is likely to cause a final pang of anxiety within the party. Driving the news: Platner made the comments to his team Wednesday night shortly before he announced publicly he was suspending his campaign. "On Monday, I entire — I intend to file the requisite paperwork with the Secretary of State to remove my name from the ballot," he said, according to a person on the call. Under state law, Platner has until Monday at 5 p.m. to drop out of the race in time for the party to replace him with a new nominee. As of about 1 p.m. Thursday, Platner had not officially withdrawn from the race, according to the Maine Secretary of State. "No official withdrawal notice has yet been received from Mr. Platner," said Jana Spaulding, deputy secretary of state for communications. "A public declaration is not an official withdrawal, and a candidate must formally withdraw to the elections office in writing, including signature." Platner has sought to influence the process to choose his replacement. On Wednesday, he said in a social media videothat the protocol "needs to be driven not from back rooms, but by the will of the people." It "seems like people are underrating the odds he just doesn't file the actual withdrawal," Liam Kerr, co-founder of the center-left Welcome PAC, told Axios. Platner allies have described his comments as parting wishes, not hostage-taking. What they're saying: A Platner spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Between the lines: Progressive and establishment-oriented Democrats are feuding over how to pick the next nominee. The Maine Democratic Party said earlier this week that Platner's team would have "no role" in determining his successor. On Wednesday, shortly before Platner said he was suspending his campaign, the state party announced that it would hold a nominating convention to pick his replacement in the event of a vacancy. Several candidates have already jumped into the race. The convention is expected to include roughly 600 delegates, including 500 people chosen from county parties and 100 state committee members. Progressives worry that the process will be too insider-driven, while some moderates think it could empower activists on the left.
Hindsight shows we were better off with a contested convention? Do you not see what's happening in Texas senate race? Crockett has refused to campaign with James and alot of her followers are now refusing to vote for James cuz they claim the bad blood between them in the primary has caused them to sit out. If you think glancing over Kamala wouldn't have pissed off a ton of black voters then you're out of touch. Contested primary would've caused kamala to lose by 7 points The national DSA party couldn't even endorse kamala for president. The 2024 election was the most important election in our lifetime and the decision was easy yet far left couldn't even vote for her. Give me a break
most black people would’ve voted for whoever came out of a contested primary back in 2024 because black people understand the threat that is MAGA…Kamala Harris has never been that popular James Talarico isn’t even doing much black outreach focusing on Latinos as well as trying to court white people that have soured on Trump Kamala did worse than Joe Biden with black people, but still got the overwhelming amount of the black vote…meanwhile other races of people still out here voting for their own demise in droves…Latinos got duped so badly it’s unreal
Same ****, different day, from the Democrats. ____ is a terrible person.... ___ does ___ to women.... ____ lies.... All of which might be true. What they won't admit -- because their party leaders are blind and stupid -- is that this veteran from out of nowhere completely mopped the floor and got 72% of the vote in the primary, despite having mountains of baggage.
Talarico is literally speaking at black churches, going on radio stations and spending millions on black media. Crockett coming out against campaigning with him has led to alot of her supporters refusing to vote for him. Primaries are ugly and never help the candidate in the general election. Kamala was the single most popular elected official with black voters by a country mile in 2024. The idea that a contested primary would somehow help Kamala or whoever in 2024 is delusional and isn't based on any facts
Kamala Harris had the worst black support among a Democrat presidential candidate since 1992…she also got destroyed in the 2020 primaries she has never been that popular…she just had name recognition as the VP she would’ve never been the 1st choice for millions of people…she was tossed out there as the nominee thanks to Joe Biden a contested primary might’ve given somebody the chance to break from the clearly unpopular Biden administration as opposed to Kamala “I wouldn’t change anything” Harris
I'm not sure how this is reacting to my posts. I don't disagree with you on any of that, but I don't know what it has to do with the way party operators make paternalistic decisions about who the electorate get to vote for.
Kamala had the worst support with voters in the election only bcz voters were pissed off at the Biden admin cuz of immigration. She still had higher favorables than any other democrat leading up to the election. It was less about her and how bad the Biden admin was with social policy This delusional idea that there was somehow huge opposition to the Biden admin within Democrats. Multiple states like Nevada had "none of the above" option in their democratic primary yet Biden cleared the primary with 80%+ of the vote. Kamala would've won a 2024 Democratic primary by flying colors and anyone saying otherwise lives in an alternate reality. The issue was always Biden had awful immigration policies at the beginning of his admin
Never said she was a good candidate. Are you braindead? I'm simply saying she was always going to win a 2024 primary cuz she was the sitting black VP. She ran a bad campaign + Biden should've closed the border sooner than he did.
Or they remembered Kamala's 2020 Democratic Primary performance in which she won ZERO delegates. Even Butti and Pocahontas got delegates. But zero for Que-mala! OUCHIE Spoiler GOOD DAY
I haven't read all of it, but my understanding was your preferred path was all happening: pulling money, Sanders telling him directly to drop, no more endorsement, etcs. Some of it in private, some in public. That was the pressure that got him to drop out. My understanding is he was also trying to find someone to still support him publicly, to no avail, though I'll admit I can't confirm that part and could be wrong on it. On the public-versus-private point, I'd actually argue it cuts the other way. If Bernie and everyone else who had a stake in this only worked it out quietly, behind closed doors, that's the underhanded maneuvering, not the public statements. Everyone getting a voice, including Bernie, and saying it out loud where people can see it, actually leaves "the people" more in the loop, not less. Less transparency is what would leave voters more in the dark about what's happening and why. Same logic on the "scolding" point. People speaking their own minds isn't a coordinated message. There's no evidence anyone was directing a unified script here. If it were centralized and controlled, you'd expect one message, timed and worded the same way. Instead you got a bunch of different people, at different points, saying different things, based on their own read of the situation. And the reactions varied based on who was speaking and who was listening. I didn't believe him a month ago, so of course I don't believe him now. I'm sure some people who did believe him back then (about PTSD) are seeing this very differently. Individual judgment playing out. If anything, all of this is less "party controls the narrative" and more "the party has less control over the narrative than you're giving it credit for." There is also a bigger structural difference between the two parties. The Democratic coalition is a bigger, more fractious tent (labor, progressives, moderates, suburban independents, etc.) so you're always going to get a wider spread of individual reactions and messaging. Republicans tend to coalesce around a single message faster, partly because the coalition itself is narrower and more ideologically aligned. What looks like "the party" reacting here is really just what a big-tent party looks like when something like this happens, lots of individual voices, not a unified command. Except they all agree, he needs to go, but not how he should go. Honestly, I think the nature of the Democratic "looser" coalition is why we get this "vibe" issue in the first place. There is no clear leader to "ride" this ship as one.. yet the "elite" and "establishment" get blamed for both things. They have weak leader who can't get the party to align on a message or direction, but the leader is powerful enough to control the selection. (The Bernie Sanders effect lives on strongly) One more thing on your "so be it, you get another Dem" hypothetical: I don't think that's actually a good outcome. If a credibly accused candidate wins anyway because the base treats the allegation as a smear from party elites (or worse, as perfectly fine behavior), it's a step toward the exact dynamic that makes MAGA MAGA: loyalty to the movement overriding disqualifying conduct. A short-term seat gained that way isn't free. Some might say that's a price worth paying to help stop MAGA in 2028, and that's at least a coherent argument, but I don't think it's a good trade. (If you've read a number of my posts recently, I fear a left version of the MAGA movement has started - it's very weak, but it's there).
No. We can never know, but I do not believe this at all. Biden should have stayed the hell out of the process of his replacement.
If you don't believe that kamala the black sitting VP would've won the primary then you're not as smart as I thought you were. Biden had a 80%+ approval rating throughout 2024 with democratic voters. Social media is not real life sorry to break it to you. Kamala would've won any primary by flying colors.
I absolutely 100% do not believe that she would have won the primary by flying colors (it wouldn't necessarily be a mini-primary, but whatever). I am that stupid of a person! As evidence: look at how often I share social media content around here.
Where in that sentence did I call you stupid? Can you point it out? What does social media have anything to do with anything
You are spot on -- she would not have won. She's a horrible candidate and low IQ. She's been riding that DEI wave for her whole career -- and rose through the ranks by getting...ahem... close with Willie Brown. She's a bad candidate -- period. Inauthentic, awkward with crowds, and unaccomplished. GOOD DAY
While we are "what iffing", if Biden had announced in early 2023 that he was just a transitional figure, and he was not running again, would Kamala won a full primary against multiple top candidates?
You are talking about Trump. She is not horrible and has an amazing IQ relative to him. Anyhow, this debate is for non-MAGA, you bug out.
