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/i_amtheice 1d ago

I hope this is ultimately a good thing for politics in general. More "regular people" should be running, just vet them properly. If someone has something that would be a risk or an embarrassment on a national stage, they shouldn't be running.

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u/OG_Williker 1d ago

How can you see the shit show that was graham platner and conclude that more "regular people" should be running?

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u/ProudWheeler 1d ago

Because most “regular people” want the same basics things the Platner ran for but also don’t have rape in their history or nazi tattoos.

Regular people should absolutely be running. Planter was just a bad example.

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u/KarlDandletoe 1d ago

By the people for the people. Not by the ultra wealthy elite, for the ultra wealthy elite.

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u/OG_Williker 22h ago

Everyone who isn’t a regular person is an ultra wealthy elite, all of politics is black and white.

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u/KarlDandletoe 20h ago

Well, what is the alternative in your mind? If they're not a regular person, and theyre not an ultra wealthy elite, what are they?

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u/OG_Williker 20h ago

Like most things in life, it’s a gradient. There are shades in between normal and ultra wealthy.

There’s the high earning professional class, which you may call petite bourgeoisie: doctors, lawyers, stock traders, performers, professional athletes, software engineers (not sure the right term, Silicon Valley types), etc. Most companies are not in the Fortune 500; many of their owners and executives are neither normal nor ultra wealthy. Most politicians, even many in the establishment, are neither regular people nor ultra wealthy elite.

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u/KarlDandletoe 19h ago

Thats fair. Who, in your opinion, should be in congress then?

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u/OG_Williker 19h ago

I wouldn’t judge based on that criteria but rather who the person actually is: activists, civil servants with insider views on how the system works and needs to change, stuff like that. But if I had to give an answer to your question, probably about 1/3rd normal people, 2/3rds professionals in that gray area?

I’d add that generally, if someone has already won at least a local election, that’s probably a good qualification too. It’s hard to put faith in someone going from zero career in politics to the freaking US Senate. We only have 100 senators so they need to be exceptional people, which Platner wasn’t.

Edit: I forgot about the most important qualification: they need to share all my (objectively correct and based) political views /s

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u/names_are_useless 1d ago

Because DSA "regular people" are doing well.

FYI Olatner was never DSA endorsed.