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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social

This story has it all: aquaculture, Black Flag, Bernie Sanders, Star Trek as policy, John Hodgman, male tears, and a candidate citing Luthen’s monologue from Andor.

Meet Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman trying to crack the senate. @grahamformaine.bsky.social

newrepublic.com/article/1996...

Graham Platner’s campaign launch has been a sudden sensation. But what he’s building now is rooted in the work of a lifetime.

The Political Awakening of the Oyster Farmer Gunning for Susan Collins

Graham Platner’s campaign launch has been a sudden sensation. But what he’s building now is rooted in the work of a lifetime.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social

I spent two days with Platner and, as you’ll read, was as impressed by his theory of power as I was by his policies. I think it’s FAR more important than the “how do you talk to Trump voters” question.

Platner draws a distinction between the Trump voters who might still be convinced to rise up against the real elites, and the Trump enablers who've grown rich and powerful by backing him. "I'm not going to go down to Washington, have some conversations in a back room with somebody, and convince them that being a corrupt corporate scumbag is bad," he says at the house party. It is his third campaign event ever and has about 50 people in attendance. To him, persuasion is a dead end if the people you're trying to sway have already torched the rulebook. Power, as he sees it, is the ability to ignore the referee and keep scoring. His goal isn't to negotiate-it's to demonstrate what a candidate backed by a real movement can do. "It's not about getting me elected. It's not about getting anybody elected in many ways. It's about using all of this as a mechanism of building working class power.”

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  3. rawlawdog.bsky.social profile picture

    RawLawDog @rawlawdog.bsky.social

    Ignore the referees and keep scoring. Yes. Akin to the idea that you continue to deliver body blows to your political opponents when you have them on the ropes. Felt like Democrats were never good enough at that.

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  4. anamariecox.bsky.social profile picture

    Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social

    People are misreading him when they say he’s going to appeal Trump voters by avoiding “culture war” issues. He just doesn’t want to debate them because, to him, there’s no debate.

    Reportedly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is wooing Maine Governor Janet Mills to run for the nomination. At 77, a win against Collins would make her the oldest senate freshman in history. (Platner is 40.) Platner's campaign only becomes an insurgency against Susan Collins if he first survives the Democratic establishment. His pointed critiques of party inaction have already set the tone. His candidacy isn't just about beating Republicans, it's about forcing Democrats to do more than fundraise off of their failures. "I've not gotten a single phone call from anybody in the Democratic Party outside of the state of Maine. Nobody's followed up with me from D.C. Nobody's reached out. Nothing," he says. "Which I take as a Nothing, compliment."Perhaps he should let those calls go to voicemail. Platner sees no reason to fear spooking a Trump voter on issues the Democratic consultant class has deemed to be politically radioactive. "I stand right in the fucking way of anyone who's going to try to come after the freedoms of the LGBTQIA+ community," he wrote in a Reddit AMA. On X, he put it baldly: "There is a genocide happening in Palestine." Don't run away from what you believe, he says. Plant the flag and move on. "Talk about health care affordability, about housing affordability, about basic material issues," he says. "Be who you are and stick to it and don't get dragged into the nonsense.Before I'd pulled out my notebook, Platner and I talked about our favorite science fiction franchises. Platner told me that Star Trek's optimism had inspired his earliest interest in policy. "This brings us back to Star Trek," he says to wrap up his philosophy on culture war issues. "You have to solve scarcity. I believe that if you solve scarcity issues, no one gives a fuck about these other things."
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  8. esitrot.bsky.social profile picture

    Esso @esitrot.bsky.social

    Platner would do well to listen to Gavin Newsom as we grab former dem Admin teams and feds that have all been fired by Trump regime and devise a means to shut the federal economic engine down and force elections. You're not going to get them without force. Not going to happen.

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  10. saltybeth.bsky.social profile picture

    Beth Campbell @saltybeth.bsky.social

    He’s absolutely stinkin right about working class MAGA versus elite MAGA. If he can pry workers away from billionaire interests, we get our country back.

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