The Maine Primary Is Not Over.
Many in the media, as well as Platner himself, will tell you that it is- with Mills’ withdrawal, Platner is the nominee (or “presumptive nominee”).
But there is still a primary in six weeks, and Maine voters still have a right to vote in it- and an alternative to vote for, if your consciences cannot stomach voting for an ex-Blackwater mercenary who proudly wore a Nazi tattoo until he ran for office.
His name is David Costello, and like Platner he supports universal health care- the article notes he backs Medicare For All, as well as universal child care, a higher federal minimum wage, and federal support for “first-time homebuyers and renters.” On economic policy, he has a solid progressive platform.
Unlike Platner, he does not have a Nazi tattoo, has decades of experience in government (including as Maryland’s deputy secretary of the Environment), and is from an actual working class background. Platner’s parents were a lawyer and a restaurant owner, and his grandfather a famous architect. Costello’s mother, per the article, was a union organizer.
Costello also worked with USAid (the organization who’s defunding by Tr*mp is projected to kill 14 million people worldwide by the end of the decade).
He’s not well-known (and Platner has tried to make sure it stays that way, by acting as though the race is over and pulling out of all primary debates). But there is still a primary, and as Costello notes, whoever is the nominee will have no trouble garnering national support against Collins, given Democrats’ desperation to unseat her.
You do not have to vote for Platner. Nor is it a choice between voting for Platner and staying home. There are other options. If you choose to vote for Platner, its because you prefer an ex-mercenary Reddit troll with a Nazi tattoo, over someone who supports progressive policies and is none of those things.
In any case, Maine voters deserve an actual choice, not to have Platner coast to a coronation.
(via glasspalacesstoneshop)
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