A Trump midterm WIPEOUT could include a Senate flip, polls show

[0:00] New polling out this week from Emerson College shows voters favor Democratic candidates for [0:04] Congress over Republicans by a 10-point margin. And it's increasingly feeling like Democrats may [0:09] have a chance to not just take back the House, but the Senate as well. A year ago, the idea of [0:14] Democrats, this is what I was talking to Chris about, taking back the Senate, it was kind of a [0:17] pipe dream. But look at this. And a whole lot has happened over the last year. In Texas, a recent [0:24] YouGov poll shows Democratic Senate candidate James Tallarico polling eight points ahead of [0:28] his potential opponent, Ken Paxton, seven points ahead of his other potential opponent, John [0:33] Cornyn. In Ohio, a state Trump won in all three of the last presidential elections by pretty good [0:38] margins. A recent poll shows Democrats share at Brown within the margin of error against Republican [0:44] Senator John Husted. And in deep red Alaska, another recent poll shows Democrat Mary Patola a full six [0:51] points ahead of Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. If the Senate map is anywhere near that competitive [0:57] this November, Republicans are in serious trouble. And it's very clear that the grassroots energy in this [1:04] election is on the Democratic side. Today, we got big news out of the state of Maine, where Maine [1:09] Governor Janet Mills announced that she was dropping out of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. She [1:14] essentially conceded early defeat to her primary opponent, Graham Plattner, an oysterman who just a year [1:20] ago had virtually no statewide name recognition, but who has galvanized Maine's electorate with a populist [1:26] agenda focused on economic issues and taking on what he calls the billionaire economy. Now, [1:32] viewers of the show will be familiar with Graham Plattner. He's joined us here on this show during [1:36] the campaign. And since then, Plattner has caught fire in Maine, leading in poll after poll against [1:42] both his Democratic opponents and Susan Collins. He's built strong support across the state despite a [1:48] series of resurfaced controversies from his past, many of which I asked him about when they first came to [1:53] light, including a tattoo he got during his time in the armed services with Nazi connotations, which [1:58] he only recently covered up, and a series of old offensive Reddit posts, all of which he's since [2:03] apologized for. He's also weathered some more recent controversies, including a recent appearance on the [2:08] podcast of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist. But none of it was a secret. The Democratic voters of [2:15] Maine knew about it all. People came in droves to his rallies, to his events. And today, Graham Plattner is [2:22] focusing on the support he's earned from the people of Maine as he effectively declares victory against [2:26] his biggest primary opponent. [2:28] We got some big news today. I want to thank everybody else, everyone who's volunteered, [2:36] everyone who's donated, the artists who have made art for this, the musicians who have written songs, [2:41] the teacher that has donated 20 bucks, the fisherman who's had conversations down at the boat launch, [2:48] the nurse who has gone out and knocked on doors. The win we get today, it comes because of you. [2:54] It comes because of the work that you've done, that you've put into this. It comes from the fact [3:01] that you guys believe in this kind of politics, and that we're going to pull this thing off, [3:10] and we're going to make this happen. And we're going to show the rest of the country that this [3:14] is the politics of the future, and that working people can organize, and they can win. [3:22] Joining me now for his first national interview since becoming the likely Democratic nominee for [3:26] Maine Senate is Graham Plattner. I just have to say, I mean, just a few months ago, [3:31] just to put in terms here, and I was just talking with Chris about this, you were essentially unknown [3:36] to the public. I mean, I'm sure you knew your neighbors, you knew your friends, but not across [3:40] the state of Maine. Since then, you've built a huge base of support, well-weathering controversy [3:46] after controversy. And today, Maine's establishment-backed popular two-term governor, [3:51] Janet Mills, conceded defeat to you in Maine's Democratic Senate primary, a primary that's not [3:56] happening tomorrow. How did we get here? I mean, honestly, I think that the people of Maine [4:06] have just recognized that we need to do politics fundamentally differently. [4:10] And our pitch is that politics is something that's supposed to be accessible to working folks. [4:17] It's supposed to be representative of working people, and it's supposed to show up and have [4:22] policies that are going to improve their lives materially. And to do that, we need to get [4:28] people organized. We need to get people engaged. And that's really been the whole focus of this [4:33] campaign. I mean, in many ways, this is an organizing project first. And that's what we've put [4:38] our energy into. That's the message. That's how we've engaged with people. I mean, I go all over the [4:43] state. And we've held 63 town halls at this point. I do three to six public events a day. I talk to [4:49] every Mainer I can come across. And I'm accessible. People can ask me questions about anything, [4:54] and I'm happy to answer them. And it's that kind of politics that I think a lot of people in Maine [4:59] and a lot of people across this country have, in many ways, been waiting for. I know I certainly [5:04] have, which is why we're running it this way. The general election essentially starts today, [5:11] starts tomorrow. Maybe you gave yourself a moment today. The primary, even though the primary is still, [5:16] of course, happening in June, you're running against an incumbent that no one has been able [5:20] to unseat for decades. A lot of people have tried. Republicans are ready to absolutely pummel [5:27] you with attack ads on many of the same topics we've discussed before, you've been answering to [5:32] in your state. What's your plan here to confront that, to address it, to defeat it? [5:41] Well, there's no question that the Republican Party knows [5:43] that Susan Collins is weaker than she's ever been. They know that this is the kind of politics [5:48] that's going to win. And that's also why they've already committed $42 million [5:52] to ads against us in this race. Just this week, there was a $2 million ad buy from Republican [6:00] Super PAC that had been contributed to by 12 billionaires, including the CEO of Palantir and [6:07] Blackstone and, ironically, a private equity group that had shuttered some of the mills here in [6:13] Maine and Jay and Bucksport. They're coming after us with money, which is why we need money. [6:19] I'll be entirely honest. If folks are watching at home, we need donations so we can fight back [6:24] and, frankly, win this thing. So if you have the ability, please go to grantforsenate.com and [6:29] contribute, sign up to volunteer. We're going to beat Susan Collins in November. There's no question [6:34] about it. But to do it, we're going to need all the help we can get. And any road to a Democratic [6:38] Senate goes through the state of Maine. And we know the Republican Party is coming for us. [6:44] We've known it since the beginning. And we're going to continue, in many ways, just doing what [6:48] we're doing. Because as we build this thing, as we continue to go around Maine, as we continue to [6:54] mobilize the people of Maine and organize them and show them that politics is theirs, that's how [7:01] we're going to get through all of it. At the end of the day, when you go out and talk to the people [7:05] of Maine, answer their questions directly, when you're accessible to them as a human being, [7:10] when they see negative TV ads, everybody knows what those looks like. Everybody knows what they sound [7:15] like. We've seen them. We've heard them. This is not the kind of politics that Mainers really [7:19] want anymore. They want something that's a lot more real. And that's exactly what we're doing. [7:25] As they pummel you, you're going to have to run in contrast to Susan Collins. What is your biggest [7:32] argument against Susan Collins? Because you're going to have to run negative ads against her. [7:36] And I'm sure there are going to be outside groups that do that. So what's going to be the biggest [7:40] attack you have against her? Well, one, I mean, Susan Collins has been in power for 30 years. [7:46] And in those 30 years, life has gotten harder for working Mainers. We have watched hospitals [7:51] shutter. We have watched schools close. We have watched housing become unaffordable across the [7:56] state. We're watching young people leave Maine because if they can find a house, they can never [8:01] afford to buy it. The price of goods and services continue to go through the roof. I mean, you guys [8:06] just had a segment about the price of gas. It's going up here too. People are feeling it. And we're all [8:12] feeling it as we look at a political system that has for a long time been representing the interests [8:19] of those that donate the most money to establishment candidates. And you really can't find a better [8:24] example of an establishment candidate that has used their position to improve their lot in life, [8:31] often to the detriment of their constituents, than Susan Collins. You know, Susan Collins, [8:37] she does not use her power, power that she often likes to brag about, being the chair of [8:42] appropriations. That didn't slow down the fact that the Republicans passed the big, beautiful bill [8:47] last spring. That cut Medicaid and Medicare funding here in the state of Maine just so they could [8:52] justify tax cuts for corporations. She also has historically been very supportive of sending [8:58] America into more stupid foreign wars. And this war in Iran, which nobody thinks is a good idea, [9:04] we have had, she failed in five votes, five war powers resolutions to actually show up for the [9:11] American people and end this thing. And only just recently has changed her tune. The people of Maine [9:16] want someone who's consistent. They want someone who clearly has politics, clearly believes in what [9:23] they're doing. Susan Collins moves back and forth depending on what she and her advisors think are the [9:30] best ways that she can try to trick all of us into thinking she's a moderate. And in the age of Donald [9:34] Trump, when you always show up to vote for Trump when it counts and are never there when we need you [9:41] to show up for the American people, the people of Maine are sick and tired of that. You mentioned that [9:47] she only recently changed her tune. She tweeted today that she was going to consider or be open to [9:53] supporting the world powers resolution. She's voted against that several times in the past. [9:57] How central, I mean, you yourself are a veteran you served, how central to this race is your [10:03] opposition to the war, the contrast with her? And do you think she's trying to close that? And if so, [10:08] what are you gonna do about it? I mean, to me, this is not like a political matter per se. This is a [10:15] personal matter. Susan Collins, and frankly, many other people like her, sent me to fight in Iraq. [10:21] It was a deeply stupid war that looking back on, I think we can all agree was a waste of everyone's time. [10:26] I had to take part in an immense amount of violence because establishment politicians [10:31] like her do not care about the actual cost of war. They simply see war as a game. They see it as [10:38] something that they get to do to make themselves feel tough. We need to end that kind of politics. [10:43] We need to end that kind of relationship with war in our political system. She is, I think, [10:49] very much trying to change her tune. But at this point, I mean, she's been consistent about this [10:54] stuff for years. She's not going to. We're going to keep pointing out that every chance that she's [10:59] had, she has not actually showed up to try to reign in a rogue executive as it starts illegal foreign [11:05] wars that the American people have to bear the brunt of, whether it's by sending our sons and [11:10] daughters off to fight and die or because it's destroying the economy and we are now watching the [11:14] price of everything go through the roof. That's hers. She owns that. She and the establishment [11:22] politicians and the Republican Party that have kept this stuff going, that have not been able to reign [11:26] in the Trump administration, that is their responsibility. This is the world that they [11:30] have built. And at this point, any attempt for her to change messaging on it, it's going to fall flat [11:35] because her actual behavior just recently shows that this is not a thing she truly cares about.