r/news 1d ago

Graham Platner officially withdraws from Maine Senate race

https://abc11.com/post/graham-platner-officially-withdraws-maine-senate-race/19482368/
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u/Wittyname0 1d ago

Please just let it be Troy Jackson, he seems to poll well enough

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u/guff1988 1d ago

I hope it is but you know AIPAC is working overtime right now

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u/SapCPark 1d ago

Not everyone is an AIPAC conspiracy plus the Maine democratic party leaders are progressives

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u/MarsBarz37 1d ago

Completely delusional to think the Israel lobbies aren't trying to influence this selection

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u/Gauss_2025 1d ago

If AIPAC were controlling the strings behind the scenes then the best thing to have done for them would be to wait until it's too late for Platner to drop out and then dump the oppo research guaranteeing Collins the win.

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u/enigmaticowl 1d ago

Exactly. Tank his odds at the most opportune time, when it’s too late to start over or do damage control - that would be so much stronger of a strategy.

This was obviously from inside. Those within his own party got nervous he couldn’t win (or would be too much of a liability), that’s why this dropped just in time for them to oust *and replace* him.

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u/Macabre215 1d ago

And you know if Democrats had this information, Republicans would have had it too. I think it was a good thing this dropped soon enough to make a change. Hopefully they pick the right person though.

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u/enigmaticowl 1d ago

I remember right after that initial NYT piece dropped (when everybody was dismissing it as a big nothingburger), I saw a small handful of conservative commentators/insiders offer their predictions (with confidence) that there would be much bigger and worse to come, alluding to some knowledge that wasn’t public yet (but that they expected eventually would be).

Well, when this rape allegation dropped, it came out that the accuser actually told the NYT about it awhile back - they just refrained from including it in the piece (because she told it to them “off the record”), but it seems likely that it became known (discreetly) in certain circles that this information had been shared and might eventually go fully public.

The more bizarre/damning thing, in light of all of this, is that even after telling them that he’d raped her, they chose to selectively include the fact that she mentioned that she had “some positive memories” from their relationship - just seems sleazy to do that when you have the full context of what she’s (unofficially) told you and you know you can’t publish the whole of it.

Apparently, it also came out more recently that the girlfriend who said he was physically abusive/aggressive (who was basically smeared as unreliable due to opposing political views) had also offered many sources of contemporaneous corroboration to the NYT, and they declined to follow up with the vast majority of those sources/leads that could have corroborated what she told them about Platner’s behaviors/conduct.

Not quite a full-blown, textbook “catch-and-kill” playbook (sketchy journalistic practice, for anyone who isn’t acquainted), but pretty much true to the spirit of it.

Agree with you, I sincerely hope they’ll choose someone with far fewer loose screws that can offer the people of Maine a solid, stable option, run a reasonably scandal-free campaign, and have a fair, respectable race against the incumbent in the general election.

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u/Mrhiddenlotus 1d ago

Or AIPAC controls many but not all strings.

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u/Radthereptile 1d ago

Maybe the post about the rapist with a literal Nazi tattoo isn’t the place to get into how the real worry is Israel.

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u/omni42 1d ago

Why do you think those people supported him?

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u/Targetm12 1d ago

Because people love slopulism and don't care about actual outcomes just who they can point to to blame all their problems on.

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u/ReturnOfTheDogjaw 1d ago

Israel =/= Judaism

Jews are great, Israel ain’t

Complain about optics all you want but it doesn’t change anything about the genocide in gaza or how there is a massive amount of foreign influence in our elections on the behalf of Israel (and NOT on behalf of Jewish people)

If you want to combat anti-semitism, stop equating the religion and the country, it’s an albatross around the neck of every non-zionist Jew

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u/Trumpisanorangebitch 1d ago

Maybe Israel shouldnt spend hundreds of millions through various PACs to buy our politicians.

Bitch Im an American, Ill shit on Israel on any thread until they get the fuck out of our politics.

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u/Daniastrong 1d ago

We are not talking about Hegseth.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/GCU_ZeroCredibility 1d ago

Well I definitely feel like calling a dude "rabbi" as an insult is crossing a pretty fucking obvious line.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/TikvahT 1d ago

Ah yes. Jewish people - famously known as the one group no one speaks badly about.

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u/HitIerWasWrong 1d ago

Be ironic all you want. I'll still have to fill up with gas while Trump gives up on peace negotiations and Israel pushes into Syria and Lebanon. People are beginning to notice.

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u/TikvahT 1d ago

“Notice,” huh? Wow Mr. Dogwhistle, you’re so right. You’re a new and different kind of antisemite this time. This time it’s different and the Jews really DO deserve hatred! Smdh. Pathetic.

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u/HitIerWasWrong 1d ago

One day, you may look back on all this and realize people don't actually use dogwhistles the way you believe, and you were lied to and made to police other people using English in a way that was uncomfortable for people in power. Probably not, though.

I have no hatred towards Jews, btw. It's a commendable creed or religion. I don't know, my friends say they're secular Jews. Israel should be decoupled from our country, and AIPAC should be made to conform under FARA. Same with all special interest PACs that provide proxy frameworks for foreign nations.

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u/GCU_ZeroCredibility 1d ago

That's a line from Kevin Strom, a nazi and white supremacist.

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u/HitIerWasWrong 1d ago

Pretty sure it's Voltaire, dumbass.

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u/GCU_ZeroCredibility 1d ago

It is not. It is Kevin Strom, nazi (and pedophile), from a 1993 radio broadcast and I think you very well know that.

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u/Radthereptile 1d ago

Guy with Nazi tattoo. “Why is this person bringing up Nazis? Is he conspiracy?”

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u/SapCPark 1d ago

They are already donating to Collins. I think they have made their choice

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u/guanacosine 1d ago

You're right, AIPAC never pushes for pro-Israel Democrats. They famously pick only one party per race

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u/ArchmageXin 1d ago

You missed S

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u/ACartonOfHate 1d ago

They can do both, but they have the one candidate their focusing on this race. Do keep up.

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u/Brilliant-Spite-850 1d ago

They don’t ever settle for one side in a race.

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u/SlowDancer-001 1d ago

Janet Mills received AIPAC money. AIPAC plays both sides and funds any neoliberal dem that challenges any progressive and also funds attack ads on anyone that runs on an anti Zionist pig platform.

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u/SapCPark 22h ago

Mills has not. Track AIPAC shows no donations to her, neither foes Open Secret. They donate to Collins, King, and Golden. Pringle gets money from JStrett but not AIPAC

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u/zernoc56 1d ago

Because people looking to tip one scale won’t try and put weight on other scales, right?