Hi, y’all. Welcome back to The Opposition. Before we get into today’s edition, I wanted to give a refresher of what this space is all about. This newsletter is not an expression of my preferred politics. I spend my days talking to officials and strategists across the left’s ideological spectrum to bring you some of the best-sourced journalism out there on the inner workings of the Democratic party. Which means sometimes you’re going to read things that you don’t want to hear. But that’s the thing about good journalism—it’s not sugarcoated or watered down; it’s honest. So if you want to better understand how the Democratic party operates and fights Trumpism, if you’re curious about how the party reaches voters who might not have your same priors, and if you’re open to having your assumptions tested—then I think you’ll get a lot out of this newsletter. To unlock today’s full edition, please consider becoming a Bulwark+ member. You’ll not only get access to our locked content—so you won’t miss any of our coverage of the primaries, the midterms, and beyond—but you’ll get the satisfaction that comes with supporting independent journalism. –Lauren The Platner Blame GameAngry Dems say the Mainer is not ready for primetime and accuse consultants of skimping on vetting.THE CONTINUOUS WAVE of public controversy surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has given way to a private wave of recriminations over how the party’s marquee Senate race ended up in such a tenuous place. And within the fractious and competitive world of Democratic operatives and consulting firms, it is the Philadelphia-based ad firm chiefly behind Platner’s rise that has taken it most on the chin. Fight Agency is a new shop that has had a fairly remarkable run of success. Launched in 2025 by alums of the campaigns of Jon Fetterman, Ruben Gallego, and Bernie Sanders, the group quickly set the pace for the rest of the party in re-engaging the Trump-curious voters it lost in 2024. Its formula was fairly obvious: elevate more nontraditional, outside-the-box candidates with a working-class and anti-establishment appeal. And it scored arguably one of the most significant wins over the past year, when it helped a previously unknown New York state assemblyman named Zohran Mamdani to Gracie Mansion. Platner seemed poised to be Fight Agency’s next triumph. And he may very well prove to be. But since October, he has repeatedly been accused of not being forthright about various episodes in his past, both troubling and embarrassing. There have been stories about Platner’s years-old Reddit comments, his Totenkopf tattoo, and whether—as the son of a Dartmouth-educated lawyer and the recipient of a private education—he was inflating his “working-class” background. Late last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner’s wife had discovered him sexting with other women in the spring of 2025. And last week the New York Times published a report about how some of Platner’s ex-girlfriends found him to be demeaning to women and, in at least one instance, physically threatening. Platner has denied that last item. And he has continued to insist that he was unaware of the meaning of his tattoo. He has stressed that much of the controversy stems from a period in his life when he was struggling with PTSD following tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, overcoming a drinking problem and social isolation. And he has argued, more generally, that Maine voters are simply not as interested in or obsessed with dredging up the skeletons from his past as the national press corps is. But the problem remains that he previously insisted there were no more skeletons. And there clearly were, leading to one of two conclusions: ... Join The Bulwark to unlock the rest.Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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