What did Democrats do wrong?

[PitPat]

Maine Democrats plan 600-person convention to replace Graham Platner once he drops out

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07...vention-to-replace-platner-once-he-drops-out/

Nothing like herding cats when you're in a hurry. Maybe there's already a shoo-in?

 

[dann]

He appears to have dropped (or be dropping) out:

BREAKING: Graham Platner suspends campaign in Maine Senate race (MS NOW on YouTube, July 9, 2026 – 3 min.)
"My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. And on November 3, it needs to belong to the people of Maine."
Embattled Senate candidate Graham Platner suspended his campaign on Wednesday following allegations of sexual assault, allegations he denies. In a video announcing the suspension, Platner called out the political establishment and said the process to choose his replacement needs to be transparent.)

'Deeply enraging:' Psaki rips Platner's self-sympathy, conspiracy theory in drop-out video (MS NOW on YouTube, July 9, 2026 – 10:40 min.)
Jen Psaki reports on the collapse of Graham Platner's campaign for senator from Maine after another sexual assault allegation became too much for his campaign to bear. Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics podcast, joins to discuss Platner's attitude and the considerations the state Democratic Party is going to have to make in replacing him.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I think I have figured out what Dems did, and do, wrong, and what they have to change to win consistently.

Republican messaging is outsourced to the Right-wing media: Republicans are happy to let anyone not hostile to them come up with ideas of what they should do and interpretations of what they are doing and why. When some messaging seems to resonate, they will happily jump on the bandwagon and pretend that it was their idea all along. If something is stupid or offensive, they can just ignore it.

Dems love to commission studies and polls to figure what people want or how to sell policies. they are the first ones to propose ideas and thus the first to get attacked for them, with no time on the marketplace of ideas to test and refine messaging.

Basically, Dems should offer to outsource their policy ideas to the parts of the Media that are generally positively inclined towards them: journalists are desperate to be taken seriously and given credit. They will defend anyone who openly picks up ideas they wrote about and runs with them.

Of course, as with Republicans, what Dems actually do doesn't have to bear more than a superficial resemblance to what their media says they are doing.

US Media is general is hostile towards Dems, to a large degree because they feel ignored or slighted, with communications being only a one-way street. Giving the Media an incentive to boost Dems instead of tearing them down at every opportunity by giving them a stake in what's on the agenda could work very well for Dems, not just Republicans.

 

[Donal]

Ya, but then you run into the difference between campaigning and governing. You can say a lot of goofy stuff to get people hyped on the campaign trail to build enough hype to get elected. Implementing those promises is an entirely different beast. For all my criticisms of Democrats, I really do think they want to govern responsibly.

And its not that the media is hostile towards Democrats. Plenty of reporters trade access for favorable coverage with Democrats. Its that the media needs "both sides" on every issue. And when won of those sides is ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ crazy, you have to pretzel yourself to make them look equal. Of course, now that mainstream Democrats are starting to talk seriously about wealth disparity and the role of mega corporations in our society, ya, they are getting a little hostile.

 

[ahhell]

Maine Democrats plan 600-person convention to replace Graham Platner once he drops out

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07...vention-to-replace-platner-once-he-drops-out/

Nothing like herding cats when you're in a hurry. Maybe there's already a shoo-in?

I don't know choice they have, take who ever he thinks should replace him? Let the governor pick someone? That's what would happen if he quit the senate a year from now.

 

[PitPat]

I don't know choice they have, take who ever he thinks should replace him? Let the governor pick someone? That's what would happen if he quit the senate a year from now.

They probably don't. But that seems like a lot of people to round up and get organized when time is of the essence. Sounds like they may have front runner so maynbe it won't take too long.

 

[Tero]

We had to be punished 2024 for stealing the 2020 election:

The 2024 election and the MAGA voter

We had the 2016 election and then the 2020 election and things seemed to be going back on a normal course of US politics. Then 2024 happened...

esapolitics.blogspot.com

 

[dann]

US Media is general is hostile towards Dems, to a large degree because they feel ignored or slighted, with communications being only a one-way street. Giving the Media an incentive to boost Dems instead of tearing them down at every opportunity by giving them a stake in what's on the agenda could work very well for Dems, not just Republicans.

US Media in general isn't hostile towards Dems because they feel ignored or slighted.
US media in general is owned by the oligarchs – more so now than ever. Trump-supporting oligarchs. There is no incentive Democrats could give MSM to boost them other than turning the party into what it used to be under Biden-Harris: GOP light, which, of course, is what establishment Democrats are trying to do but not with much success in as far as the voters go. Their success with the donor class is obvious.

As for the question about how Platner's successor will be picked, TYT has some interesting suggestions:

Politico OMITTED MAJOR Detail In Graham Platner Report (TYT on YouTube, July 10, 2026 – 17 min.)

TYT quotes this guy – excerpts from a much longer tweet:

Mark Stoller on X, July 8, 2026
(...)
Top Maine Democratic Party donors in recent years are Reid Hoffman, Haim Saban, and David Ellison. David Ellison! As in the Trump ally who fired Stephen Colbert and is taking over TikTok, CBS News, and CNN. These names should mean something. Saban may be the single most important AIPAC donor in the Democratic Party.
Another big donor to the Maine Democratic Party is the founder of Zynga, Marc Pincus, who said in 2024 that "an attack on Amazon is an attack on America." It goes beyond big tech and Wall Street. Crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s partner Nishad Singh at FTX gave $100k to the Maine Democratic Party in 2022.
(...)

Maine Democrats plan 600-person convention to replace Graham Platner once he drops out
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07...vention-to-replace-platner-once-he-drops-out/
Nothing like herding cats when you're in a hurry. Maybe there's already a shoo-in?

As for those 600 – from the TYT video:

13:15–> Cenk Uygur: Oh, I wonder if people spending millions and millions of dollars against one candidate in an effort to destroy him and have the entire media behind them makes a difference and they don't spend it any on Susan. By the way, these are the people on theoretically on the Democratic side. They destroyed their own candidate because it's not their candidate. They don't care if Democrats win or Republicans win. They only care if Israel wins. Why do you think they fund both parties?
This is not rocket science. It is crystal clear what happened. And [snorts] so now uh they're going to have a nominating convention in Maine, Anna. And uh guess who's going to decide who the new nominee is? 600 Maine Democratic insiders, the same people funded by the AIPAC uh and corporate PAC guys I just named.

It is common knowledge what Graham Platner claimed to represent, whether he meant it or just pretended to, which is always a problem with any candidate in representative-democracy elections, as I pointed out in post 5,077.
It will be interesting to see what happens when they choose Platners successor. Another one campaigning on the same promises as Platner, which is why people voted for him? Or a typical corporate Democrat, the kind that the donor class can support, i.e. no real alternative to Susan Collins?

By the way, good to see that TYT's Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian have returned to doing journalism instead of sucking up to MAGA.


ETA:

AIPAC Wants to Choose Platner's Replacement (The Joy Reid Show on YouTube, July 9, 2026 – 13 min.)
00:00 Graham Platner's One Week To Decide
01:51 Michigan Senate Shakeup: McMorrow Drops Out
05:07 Should Platner Stay Or Go? The Debate
06:37 Stephen King For Senate? Chat Goes Wild
10:41 Backing Abdul El-Sayed In Michigan
11:23 Remembering Nolan Wells

 

[The Great Zaganza]

sure, that is one aspect.

But more fundamentally, the US media is extremely shy when it comes to reporting anything not aligned with the current narrative - they like to know a news story will work before they release it. Hence the predictable building up/tearing down cycle of any politician or celebrity or company.

As Pratchett said:

‘People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things…well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds.’

Journalists must have an incentive to break all the harmful narratives, like Republicans being Fiscally Responsible, the need for an unchecked massive military budget, Blue Lives, crime sprees etc.

 

[dann]

"They like to know a news story will work before they release it."
Work for whom? is the question you should be asking!

You may not have noticed yet, but after the oligarchs took over not only WaPo but also CBS and CNN, they don't seem to worry much about things like rating, for instance. There's a new cycle in town. It is no longer "the predictable building up/tearing down cycle of any politician or celebrity or company" that it used to be.

The "incentive to break all the harmful narratives" no longer exists in the majority of MSM.
Does it seem to you as if Fox is busy doing anything other than building up, building up, and building up Trump?
Or tearing down, tearing down, and tearing down people who oppose him – real or imaginary?

 

[dann]

"Sit It Out": Joy Reid Urges Voters To Use Leverage With Dem Party Over Platner (The Majority Report on YouTube, July 10, 2026 – 18:13 min.)
0:00–> Joy Reid–> If they put another sellout moderate in place of Graham Platner and they do not put somebody in who is his same ideology, you have my permission to stay your ass home. Then you're going they will learn when Susan Collins gets six more years.

I don't think anybody is going to ask Joy Reid for permission to stay home. I think her words are meant as a warning to both Democratic voters and the DNC:
To the DNC: Don't try to replace Platner with one of the establishment Democrats that the primary voters clearly didn't want.
To the Democratic voters: The slogan Vote Blue No Matter Who isn't something DNC adheres to when they run establishment Democrats against much more popular progressive candidates like Mamdani (or Platner, until very recently).

 

[dann]

What do Democrats do wrong on climate change?

Genevieve Guenther on bsky, July 10, 2026
I'm finally digging into the cross tabs underlying the @searchlightinst.bsky.social memo telling Dems not to talk about climate change.
It surprised me, but may not surprise you, that the memo lies about what US swing voters actually said in the polling.
Let's have a look, shall we?

(...)

Genevieve Guenther on bsky, July 10, 2026
Insofar as US swing voters think the Democrats are "out of step" with them on climate change, the vast majority say that is because Democrats are "not fighting hard enough/need to do more."Yes, really.

(...)
So what do swing voters think of the Republicans and climate change:

Genevieve Guenther on X, July 10, 2026
The majority of swing voters say the Republican party is TOTALLY OUT OF STEP with them on issues related to climate change.

Genevieve Guenther on X, July 10, 2026
Swing voters' number one concern with the Republican approach to climate change is that the Republicans are not making climate change a "top priority" or that they're "not doing anything."
(This is a muddled survey prompt, but its import is clear.)

Genevieve Guenther on X, July 10, 2026
OMG lol. Swing voters are more concerned about Republican climate denial than Democratic climate policy, even AFTER Searchlight fearmongers on Democrats by presenting the most unpopular fantasy version of Democratic climate policy ever.

Genevieve Guenther on X, July 10, 2026
Oh look, swing voters are more concerned that Republicans "will ignore the issue of climate change entirely and not do enough to address it" here too!

There are 13 posts in all in the bsky thread , some of them about how this poll was (deliberately?) misinterpreted in a memo:

The First Rule About Solving Climate Change (Searchlight Institute, Sep 22, 2025)
While battleground voters overwhelmingly agree climate change is a problem, addressing it is not a priority for them.

Big Oil is very good at making it appear as if people don't want anything to be done about climate change!

 

[dann]

On this wrongness issue, it's strange how candidates who are rapists are OK as GOP candidates. Voters trust them to do god's will.

Because they only hurt women. Women who were probably asking for it.

Is this a sarcastic bank-shot reference to Tara Reade^WP or just another attempt to change the topic from Democrats to Republicans?

Is it OK to post in this thread about a Republican reaching across the aisle in a truly bipartisan gesture, defending a (current? former?) Democratic politician?

0:30–> Trump did this really funny thing where when he was asked about Graham Platner, this is what he said.
Trump: It's really a question of whether or not you believe the woman. A lot of people say big falsehoods.
It's uh he's in a bind. He's in a bind.

From this much longer video, for the most part not about Platner, obviously:

We Found DECADES of Trump Defending Accused Sex Predators (The Bulwark on YouTube, July 11, 2026 – 22:50 min.)
Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller take on Donald Trump’s decades-long habit of defending men accused of sexual assault and misconduct. From Roy Moore and Roger Ailes to Mike Tyson and Ghislaine Maxwell, they roll the archival tape and expose the staggering depth of the GOP’s hypocrisy.

ETA: For the sake of completeness, I think it should be mentioned that this Republican also stood up for a black/semi-white/whatever guy who at one point performed at a fundraiser for the DNC:

14:48–> Michael would spend a lot of time with my kids. I have beautiful kids and at the time, like at Mara Lago and even in Trump Tower, the kids were very young.
Michael would come play with the kids. He just loved children.
He was not a child molester. And I am certain of that. He loved children. and he'd play with my son Eric and my son Donald and he'd just play with them forever. He loved children, but he was not a child molester.

 

[dann]

A new Tea Party, but on steroids

Democratic Party Faces REVOLT As Shattering Polls Revealed (The Damage Report on YouTube, July 11, 2026 – 8 min.)
The Democratic party faces hard truth as CNN's data guru Harry Enten reveals polling proving a version of the Tea Party revolt in historic results of the latest elections.

Tea party on steroids': Under-the-radar races named where Dem revolt may topple incumbent – https://www.rawstory.com/dem-primary-...
"CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Thursday the Democratic Party is living through its own version of the Tea Party revolt, and a cluster of late-summer primaries have caught his eye to gauge how far it spreads.
Enten, whose midterm data breakdowns have become a CNN staple, argued that more House Democratic incumbents have already lost primaries in 2026 than Republicans had at the same stage of their 2010 wave.
"We have seen something like this before. You have to go back 16 years. Remember, it was that Republican Tea Party wave of 2010. I would argue the Democratic version of it is a new Tea Party, but it's on steroids," he told viewers, noting Democrats dislike their own party more now than Republicans did in July 2010."

2:27–> But when you talk to the actual voters about why they're voting for these leftist Tea Partiers or whatever, it really does feel like it's highly substantive, highly practical, pragmatic politics, wanting Democrats to do the sort of stuff that, I guess, you were led to believe Democrats would do in terms of housing and healthcare and all that stuff, but they just haven't really gotten around to doing it for literally decades.

7:50–> the candidates that are coming out now, they're just saying very common sense things and they are resonating with the people.

Notice that the most popular of these policies are all progressive and DSA policies!
At 3:05–>

The video also refers to this:

How many House Democrats will lose their primary this year? Odds & Predictions (Kalshi, current)
6: 8.3%
7 or more: 80%

I think that most Democratic politicians at this point have realized what they have been doing wrong the whole time.
The big question is if they'll do something about it – other than just pay lip service to what voters want and then do whatever their oligarch donors pay them to do.

 

[Emily's Cat]

.

Q: What did democrats do wrong?

A: Republicans are bad.


The state of critical thinking has me concerned for the future of our species.

 

[Donal]

The state of self declared "centrists" reading ability should have you more concerned.

 

[dann]

Jessy Han on X, July 8, 2026
New #MESen poll (7/7, post-scandal):

Susan Collins (R) - 47% (+5)
Graham Platner (D) - 42%

Susan Collins (R) - 48% (+11)
Janet Mills (D) - 37%

Troy Jackson (D) - 49% (+5)
Susan Collins (R) - 44%

PPP | n=785

Seen on
The New Maine Poll Changes Everything (HasanAbi Reacts on YouTube, July 8, 2026 – 18 min.)

 

[Brainster]

What do Democrats do wrong on climate change?

20% is a vast majority? Dr. Guenther clearly didn't get her Ph.D. in mathematics.

 

[Donal]

A new Tea Party, but on steroids





Notice that the most popular of these policies are all progressive and DSA policies!
At 3:05–>


The video also refers to this:


I think that most Democratic politicians at this point have realized what they have been doing wrong the whole time.
The big question is if they'll do something about it – other than just pay lip service to what voters want and then do whatever their oligarch donors pay them to do.

Can someone explain why this is bad for Democrats? Didn't Republicans crush the 2010 midterms in historic numbers because of the Tea Party? Not just at the federal level, but at the state level as well. And It carried tremendous consequences for the judiciary as well. Why wouldn't the Democrats want to wield that kind of power to push an agenda they believe would help the entire country?

 

[W.D.Clinger]

20% is a vast majority? Dr. Guenther clearly didn't get her Ph.D. in mathematics.

Are you suggesting it would be possible for someone to get a PhD in English Renaissance Literature without, along the way, acquiring serious expertise in mathematics and climate science?