Maine Democrats Pick Graham Platner, Scandals and All, to Take On Susan Collins

But, boy, if this isn’t a potential self-own, I don’t know what is. 

In my conversations around Washington, the mood among Democrats is something close to a hostage situation. In a crucial race, they feel handcuffed to an untested candidate, one who they wish would step aside for the good of the party. The mood is different in Maine, where my colleague Julia Terruso found Democrats far more unfazed by the latest Platner revelations, including accusations from an ex-girlfriend that he was physically threatening.

Nevertheless, Platner is now the nominee, which means Maine is about to engage in an expensive experiment to answer several thorny questions: What are voters willing to overlook? How much weight does incumbency carry? Will voters fed up with Donald Trump give Susan Collins points for having held him at arms length, or punish her for so often backing his agenda?

When I was on the ground in Georgia heading into that early-summer primary in 2022, I spoke to voters all over the state expressing reservations about Walker. So, too, did party bosses, who saw the incumbent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, as beatable. Primary Day brought with it dread for Republicans. And it’s all happening again, neatly flipped