Maine’s U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be a defining battle not just for the state but for the direction of national politics, and at the center of it is a Democratic challenger whose rhetoric is already sending shockwaves across the political spectrum.
Graham Platner (D), a Marine veteran and former security contractor turned oyster farmer, has launched his campaign with a combination of left-wing populism and personal attacks.
In a friendly if not gushing GQ profile published Thursday, Platner was glamorized as a new model of Democratic candidate, but the very first sentence overshadowed the flattering profile: “Susan Collins killed my friends,” Platner is quoted as saying.
Later in the article, Platner explains that Maine’s senior senator is responsible for the deaths of American veterans because of her vote in favor of the Iraq War following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The GQ writer appears not to have asked the obvious follow up question about what that assessment means for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) and former President Joe Biden (D), two Iraq War proponents who presumably received Platner’s support when he voted against Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Neither was it mentioned that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is said to have been heavily recruiting Gov. Janet Mills to enter the Democratic primary, also voted for the same Iraq War resolution.
The hyperbolic rhetoric will reflect a sharp distinction between Platner and Gov. Mills if reports on Thursday that she is planning to enter the Democratic primary next week prove accurate.
Although Mills has never shied away from partisan talking points or bitter fighting with Republican rivals, her relationship with Collins has been more collegial. Mills might have some fighting words for Republican President Donald Trump, but one could scarcely imagine her accusing Collins of murder.
