Disclosure

If you have been paying any attention at all, you will know that information keeps coming out about Graham Platner that should be damaging, but various people keep insisting that it should not be held against him.

These are the same people who insist that there is no other choice for Maine Dems, which I don't think is quite true, as was the subject of yesterday's post.

Also interesting to me, though, is information that is coming out about the people pushing Platner.

There are three notable ones that I want to mention.

One is that Annie Wu, who has been pushing Platner, is actually paid by him.

Wu styles herself as a political consultant, so that isn't too surprising. It might not even be disqualifying, except it hadn't been disclosed.

I can't find an article that isn't really snarky, including one that keeps changing Platner's first name (I think it is humor that I don't get, but I don't know), but there does seem to be an admission, kind of:

https://x.com/neeratanden/status/2059812308574953551 

I am using a link where Neera Tanden quotes Wu's tweet, because I kind of don't trust Wu not to delete. 

Anyway, Wu's explanation is that she is paid by too many people to list them all. With the amount of publicity that this particular campaign is getting, it seems like the one that most needs mentioning.

Two related things that amuse me (in a cynical way)...

Wu's reference to "un-bought" progressives while celebrating Piker:

https://x.com/Annie_Wu_22/status/2060804790708240388 

The other is this series of tweets about Mainers being tired of out of state people telling them how to vote. Wu is based in Pennsylvania and Morris Katz seems to be from New York. As veterans of campaigns for Fetterman and Bernie Sanders, those locations make sense. If they are good at what they do, it may even make sense for Platner to hire them, but they are still from out of state.

Speaking of the Fetterman campaign, one of the other fun things was Sarah Longwell's claim that she was a Conor Lamb supporter all along:

https://x.com/SarahLongwell25/status/2060735929652748377 

That was not true. There were old posts that I can't find now (maybe deleted). 

If people are realizing now that pushing Fetterman makes their judgment questionable... they are not showing any lessons learned; just pretending it didn't happen.

Speaking of "real Mainers" leads us to the third thing, Genevieve McDonald, former Maine House member and women's fishing advocate, who worked on Platner's campaign, but then stopped. 

Hey, Morris Katz comes up in this story too!

https://www.aol.com/news/top-graham-platner-adviser-threatened-152058479.html 

When contacted about information that the Wall Street Journal already had, McDonald confirmed. Katz contacted her threatening that if she did not retract, it would be spun as her betraying Platner's wife.

That is how they have spun it, and it is spreading that way. It does not appear to be true, though it does show that this group is skilled at staying on message.

https://x.com/ok_post_guy/status/2061533850636018120 

As it says, McDonald has now gone on record with the New York Times. 

Maybe I am naive to think that truth matters, but is it possible that lying, not vetting candidates thoroughly, and not caring about experience might have some bad results?