Only in the same sense as Trump was. Both claimed to be Democrats. Both are known to be liars.
Right, which becomes a lot more likely due to the nightmare @ZosterSandstorm describes, due to having a literal Nazi running as a Democrat.
Again: We really needed to win the Maine senate race. That was a very good reason for the Democrat in the race to stay in the race. But she didn’t, and so we have now lost that race, because there isn’t a Democrat in the race any more.
Who should have run against Platner but did not?
Usually the answer would be – one of Maine’s two House members. But one of them, Jared Golden, is AFAIK the most conservative House Democrat, and so could not win a statewide Democratic primary. The other, Chellie Pingree, is, at 71, not that much younger than Mills and maybe too progressive to win statewide in November. And maybe Schumer or Jeffries did ask her. That would be private. The public information is that Pingree didn’t want to run for Senate.
There’s a maybe Democrat and a fascist. There’s a non zero chance Platner will be a reliable Democratic vote. There’s no chance Collins will. So there’s still a difference.
Your guessing how maybe he might possibly vote for a Supreme Court nominee. Hypothetically. We know for a fact how Collins will vote. Those are the choices.
Personally I don’t think the guy is nearly smart enough to pull off the deception some think he’s perpetrating.
To me, this is the bottom line.
Or any of the members of the state legislature. Or any of the other statewide offices-- I don’t know precisely what Maine has, but there’s usually a lieutenant governor, a secretary of state, and an attorney general, or so. Or the mayor of any of the state’s larger cities. All told, there are around a hundred possibilities.
Why do you assume it’s possible that Platner might change parties, but not that Collins might? Both claim to be friendly to the left.
You’re right; he’s not smart enough. That’s why we all know that he’s a Nazi. This isn’t some super-secret thing: He literally wore his identification on his skin.
Collins has never claimed to be “friendly to the left” that I’m aware of. But more than that, she’s had a million chances to show us who she is. It’s much, much too late. She’s a MAGA Trumper who tries to pretend she’s not. At best, she’s a feckless fool afraid to truly push back on MAGA.
Maybe Platner will turn out to be a fascist too. But it’s very possible, IMO, that he’s just a fool with no business being a Senator, who has made a dozen very dumb choices about tattoos, interviews, etc., who nonetheless now has sincerely progressive views. A non-zero possibility that he’ll vote like a Democrat. That possibility is still a million times better than the reality of Collins, and the worst case scenario for Platner is no worse than the present day with Collins.
Regardless, it’s too late to worry about the nominee. The nomination is settled – it’s Platner. It sucks, but I’m hoping for the best.
I don’t envy being the next Democratic candidate for senator from Pennsylvania in the post-Trump era, running against John Suitandtie, a normal businessman with Mitt Romney’s politics, having to explain that Democrats are the brand of “he’s not a sincere Nazi, he’s just so stupid that he keeps accidentally being a Nazi” at every campaign stop. The great reversal of who is the Sane Party can come at any moment once Donnie Smallhands is off the scene and Platner types are really driving it hard in the wrong direction.
Fortunately the level of support for normal bisinessmen with Mitt Romney’s politics ais at approximately zero.
I’m not convinced that many voters judge a local candidate by looking at weird extremist candidates in other states.
My fear is that he’ll attempt to enact Nazi policies. My hope is that he’ll decide to be a party player and mostly just vote the party line. Honestly, I’m glad I’m not in Maine and don’t need to decide for real which of those two is worse. It’s certainly a sad choice heading into the general election. It reminds me of when the Louisiana gubernatorial campaign had the memorable campaign slogan: Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard
We get it. You haven’t been subtle about it.
If he doesn’t doesn’t vote like a Democratic senator he would absolutely be pulling off an elaborate deception. He’s currently saying the right things as a candidate for the party. If pulls off the mask as a MAGA white nationalist and starts voting the opposite of what he’s saying now it would need a level of guile I don’t see. But yeah, a tattoo.
He’s smart enough to build a liberal persona to fool the voters in Maine and maintain it for months but he’s also dumb enough to not cover up the tattoo earlier. I don’t see it.
He’s not the ideal choice but voting MAGA is the least ideal choice. If he’s the difference between having 48 or 49 senators then sure shitcan him. Vote for Collins or Mickey Mouse or NotA. If he’s the difference between 50 and 51 then it’s no choice.
The slogan I keep remembering from that campaign is the one that went “Vote for the crook. It’s important.”
And the reason it was important was because the crook’s opponent was a Nazi.
I’m glad I don’t live in Maine, and so don’t have to decide who to vote against. This is a screwed up mess. Control of the Senate may be at stake and even though a barely-held Senate can do very little, the party with the majority can to a large extent control what comes to the floor. Including, notoriously, SCOTUS nominations.
I doubt the junior senator from a state with 4 electoral votes is going to be in any position to implement some mustache-twirling grand agenda.
As if Mitt Romney could ever survive a Republican primary (outside of Utah, at least) these days.
“He’s not a Nazi, he’s just too stupid to know when he’s endorsing Nazi ideas, and anyway he won’t have any power to do anything if he’s elected so what does it matter, you might as well vote for him.” It’s MAY and we’re already on that message? This guy is going to end up as ground beef once the actual Republican campaign against him starts, which hasn’t even happened at all yet.
More hilarious certainty! I love the certain. Certainty is so much fun in politics!
So you’re proposing what alternative, exactly?
Like 2016 (and perhaps 2024 as well), I think many are underestimating the “fuck the system with a rusty crowbar” voters. Platner is a “fuck the system” candidate. Tons and tons of voters are really, really angry at the conventional parties, corporations, institutions, etc. – basically the normal power structure of America.
I don’t know if Platner will win, but if he does I think it will be as much because of these voters as any other factor.
It does seem that simple. I understand the reaction to Platner, but the realpolitik reality is that he’s what we’ve got and Collins is the alternative. We can speculate how Platner might be a false flagger (I doubt it), but we know how Collins will vote.
His “liberal message” is all anti “elitist bankers”. Which is standard Nazi code for the Jews.
Now, there could be a candidate who says that, and actually means literal bankers (of all religions). But when a candidate with a Nazi tattoo uses Nazi code-words, well…
And yes, Susan Collins sucks pretty hard. And it sucks that we (or at least, the voters of Maine) now have to choose between her and Platner. But he’s still a literal Nazi.