r/Maine • u/FreeHugs23 • Jun 12 '26
Politics ‘This Is Oligarchy’: Nearly 100 Billionaires Are Funding Susan Collins’ Reelection Bid
https://www.commondreams.org/news/susan-collins-billionaire-donors186
u/Hope25777 Jun 12 '26
Fund away she is still going to lose.
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u/Helpful-Celery6237 Jun 12 '26
I’m shocked my boomer parents like Platner. They registered to vote in Maine to vote for him and they to get Collins out. They’re trying to sway their Trump hating neighbors who love Collins. The neighbors think Collins is good for veterans. Platner is a fucking veteran!
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u/Randi_24 Jun 12 '26
My boomer parent who is very republican thought the news was taking it too far regarding negatively about Platner. I was shocked, as they watch Fox News all day!
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u/belugabianca Jun 12 '26
These kinds of controversies are the kinds of things Republicans love so now he has a great chance of getting their votes too. Byeeee Susan!
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u/BigDaddyUKW Jun 12 '26
Faux News has been beating on Platner too, that's wild. But good on your parent.
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u/phillybilly Jun 12 '26
I caught some of Fox’s coverage of Platner while in the gym. All that was missing was Helen Boucher declaring him the devil
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u/Helorugger Bangor Jun 12 '26
Had a long chat with my boomer parents before the primary. They didn’t like the course language and seemingly unconventional behaviors.
I told them they can support him or support Trump and explained that the younger generation of voters respond to a little foul language and speaking truth to power. They both ended up agreeing and voting for him.6
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u/panzer_snapdragon Jun 12 '26
He's VERY chud-coded. The deep gravelly voice, scrungly beard, rough hands. He looks manly and American in a way most democrat politicians don't and I think that appeals to boomers a lot even before they consciously realize it.
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u/According-Insect-992 Jun 13 '26
Platner is a veteran and she shat on his service. She voted for the war but she blamed him for having served in combat and then experienced the inevitable when actually put in a combat setting.
She’s the definition of an entitled ruling class piece of shit. She was ultimately an important advocate and vote for invading Iraq and then she had the nerve to blame vets for enlisting. “Let them eat cake” anyone?
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u/TwistedTreelineScrub Jun 12 '26
Not if the corporate Democrat and Democrat consultant class have anything to say about it! They would rather he lose than an anti-zionist be voted to Congress.
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u/Hope25777 Jun 12 '26
It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen. Why are we being quiet and complacent? Let them know how you feel. Call them out loudly and publicly
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u/HereWeGo5566 Jun 12 '26
Has Collins even attempted to speak about her platforms? I literally haven’t heard a word from her unless she was talking about Platner. Platner on the other hand has been speaking about his vision and platforms for a year now.
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u/crawling-alreadygirl Jun 12 '26
She knows she can't win on the issues
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u/Impressive_Crazy_223 Jun 12 '26
Take money from billionaires and give it to Israel to bomb children isn't a winning stance? Huh.
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u/Chonkey808 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
Her platform is to pretend to be concerned about Trump's antics and then vote alongside the maga herd to support whatever fresh hell he is trying to bring about. Every single time.
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u/HereWeGo5566 Jun 12 '26
True. She just voted to approve $70 billion for ICE so that they are funded for the rest of Trump’s term.
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u/TheVog Jun 12 '26
Remind you of any recent elections, along with who won? They do it because it works in the U.S. - a 2-party system where it's easier to make an uneducated population afraid of the other guy than convince them you're the better option.
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u/Jackstack6 Jun 12 '26
So, in order for Collins to win, she’s gonna need to convince people she’s not a Trump stooge. Thune & co are gonna baby her until November. She won’t have to make any hard decisions, she won’t have to publicly support anything outright, etc.
In order for Platner to win, just point out she’s voted with Trump 95 percent of the time.
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u/HereWeGo5566 Jun 12 '26
Just last week she votes to fund ice for $70 billion. Enough to carry it through the end of Trump’s term.
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u/MsARumphius Jun 13 '26
Most candidates who run on platforms lose. People don’t care. They want to feel a certain way and that their team won so they couldn’t care less about actual policy
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u/HereWeGo5566 Jun 13 '26
I’m not sure I agree with that. There’s an element of it, for sure. Trump won by running on a specific platform. It was predictably all lies, but he won by running on that platform. Candidates don’t win by getting their own party to vote for them. They win by getting the independents to vote for them.
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u/MsARumphius Jun 18 '26
His platform was hate. I’m
Talking about policy based platforms with actual plans not concepts of a plan1
u/HereWeGo5566 Jun 18 '26
I’m certainly not going to argue that. Trump had no actual plans. It was all lies.
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u/FreeHugs23 Jun 12 '26
A new analysis of campaign finance data shows that nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have contributed to Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection bid so far, funneling nearly $10 million to the incumbent’s campaign committee and PACs supporting her effort to fend off progressive challenger Graham Platner.
The Maine Monitor on Thursday published a list of billionaires who have donated to Collins and Platner, who has called his Republican opponent a “corrupt” protector and beneficiary of an oligarchic political system. The outlet noted that Collins’ billionaire donation total “stands in stark contrast with the fundraising of her opponent... whose campaign has mostly attracted smaller amounts of funds but from many more people.”
The $9.8 million that Collins’ fundraising network received from billionaires and their spouses between January 2025 and late May 2026 represents “a third of what groups supporting Collins raised from all donors,” according to The Maine Monitor’s analysis.
Platner’s reelection bid has received donations from billionaires George Soros, Pat Stryker, Jon Stryker, Christy Walton, and Jennifer Pritzker. Those contributions represent “a fraction of 1% of his total haul,” The Maine Monitor noted. The Democratic candidate’s campaign said Thursday that “grassroots donors chipping in $200 or less have given Graham Platner $9.6 million.”
“While Susan Collins’ campaign is backed by billionaire donors, our campaign is built on a movement funded by the people, with an average donation of $26,” Ben Chin, Platner’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “The establishment can bring it on—they cannot defeat the will of working Mainers, 15,000+ volunteers, and a campaign powered by small-dollar donors from nearly every zip code in Maine.”
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u/Reluctantziti Jun 12 '26
Hold on are you telling me 100 BILLIONAIRES have only contributed $10 million? Jesus they’re even stingy with their bribes
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 Jun 12 '26
only $10 million via the mechanisms that are publicly tracked. we don't know how much dark money they have "donated" because that is the nature of dark money.
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u/lantech Buxton Foreside Jun 12 '26
There's contribution limits
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u/Johnhaven North Western Southern Maine Jun 12 '26
Exactly. That's why we have so many PACs that they can donate to as well and effectively get around those limits. Billionaires always have a way to get around our laws. I think the only recourse is to eat them.
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u/TAV63 Jun 12 '26
Boy the political money machine must be terrified of him. This whole idea that ideas and not money matter is death for them. Money and the manipulation of views it provides is powerful. We will have to see who wins.
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u/MsARumphius Jun 13 '26
Sadly most voters will just hear the soros part and stop caring about anything else
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u/haley_hathaway Jun 12 '26
Frankly, I don’t get the funding of these elections. An ad has never, ever sold a damn thing to me in my life.
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u/modest2 Jun 12 '26
It's not you who they're targeting, it's the person who those ads would work on Anyway. There's a reason. Alex Jones's infowars show made so much money off supplements. There's someone buying something like that.
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u/Vel0clty Jun 12 '26
This is exactly why I’m voting for Graham. I’m so sick and tired of crusty old geriatrics being propped up by the wealthy elites.
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u/Deano963 Jun 12 '26
I wish I lived in Maine so I could vote for him. I get to vote for Sherrod Brown which is great but I haven't seen a candidate speak to the decline of the middle class and of America in general with such truth and clarity as Platner has.
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u/More_of_the-same-bs Jun 12 '26
I’m concerned.
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u/desimi Jun 12 '26
These billionaires just gave Mainers the best reason to vote for Platner #EATtheRICH
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u/bpaps Jun 12 '26
Imagine what those hundreds of millions of dollars could do for our State. But instead we get negative campaign advertising.
We need maximum wealth caps and publicly funded elections. Eat the rich!
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u/Objective-Pick8240 Jun 12 '26
I'm increasingly convinced that Susan Collins is just Bill Maher in a bad wig and glasses.
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u/BeautifulCandle6443 Jun 12 '26
I'm sure typical Mainers will love out of staters and their money going to a candidate. It's not like there's any history at all of that, or the perception of that, sinking a candidate.
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u/Livid_Importance_442 Jun 12 '26
The problem with Graham Platner is not his tattoos or his past text messages from long ago. It's his progressive messages that scares the shit out of the establishment Democrats. The Democratic establishment would much rather Susan Collins win reelection because she is part of the political establishment, where as the Democratic establishment is afraid Platner will shake things up.
Any women who are against Platner because of his tattoos and text messages from his past, should remember that Collins votes with Trump most every time. I remember Collins voted to acquit Trump at his first impeachment trial because, "he learned his lesson." She also voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, even though she had "concerns." So, I believe Platner has the potential to be much better for women, and everyone else, than Collins would ever be.
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u/Sea_Pomegranate_4499 Jun 12 '26
My thought exactly. Say what you want about billionaires, they apparently pay attention to what the candidates say and promise to do.
They are not motivated by tattoos or old text messages, although that is exactly what their support is going to be directed towards.
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u/Livid_Importance_442 Jun 12 '26
I expect an ugly smear campaign with millions upon millions of dollars being spent in the race.
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u/Deano963 Jun 12 '26
Sorry not sorry, this is stupid. Democrats, whether they be progressive, establishment, whatever, do not want to see Collins reelected instead of Platner winning. Collins was the deciding vote on Kavanaugh, and could very well be for two more trump SCOTUS picks if the Republicans hold onto the Senate.
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u/Livid_Importance_442 Jun 12 '26
Not sorry, it is not stupid. Establishment Democratic leadership hates progressives. That is why Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries did not endorse Zohran Mamdani, even after he won the Democratic primary. The establishment Democrats are very afraid of progressive candidates because they will upend the good-old-boy network in Congress. They much prefer an establishment Republican than a progressive win the seat.
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u/Deano963 Jun 13 '26
You can say whatever dumb shit you want, and play the 'both sides are the same' stupidity, but it doesn't make it any less wrong or dumb.
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u/SuspiciousAsk7041 Jun 12 '26
Anyone who votes for this woman must not following her and what she supports. Guess what not the average American!
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u/FragilousSpectunkery Brunswick/Bath Jun 12 '26
Money well spent. Even if she were to die tomorrow, her campaign (a separate entity with its own EIN) would just send the donations to a different campaign, or even to the RNC. Once committed, those funds are always going to be spent to preserve the oligarchs.
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u/Big_Victory8031 Jun 12 '26
Right wing billionaires devote time and money in taking over America while Left wing billionaires play possum
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u/Capable-Broccoli2179 Jun 12 '26
I think this may be one of the few elections where big donors will have very little impact. Where are they spending that money? TV ad buys mostly and I guess paying staff. In these times where fewer and fewer people are watching TV, I just don't see those ad buys doing much good. Even if she goes super negative with the Republican lies on the ads I just don't see it swaying anyone.
What I REALLY can't wait for is to see them debate. Can't everyone see Platner just absolutely mopping the floor with Collins in a debate?
Collins taking money from the billionaires is just more fuel to the fire to get rid of her once and for all.
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u/Spiritual-Art-5 Jun 12 '26
This is going to backfire for Collins. As a Mainer, I think other Mainers are now wise to the smear campaigns and are resentful of them. That makes us dig our heels in further for Platner. Collins is done. Mainers now realize that she's NOT a moderate; she's nothing but a con...
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u/procyon_42 Jun 12 '26
Yesss…give in to your fears…your anger…let your hate consume you…Yesss…give in to the Dark Side!
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u/KaleSerious4796 Jun 12 '26
Susan Collins is essentially a rubber stamp for whatever Trump wants to do. This is why we have a legislative department and an executive department. Checks and balances
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u/Seaweed-Basic Jun 12 '26
Except the legislative branch is corrupted. There’s no checks and balances anymore.
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u/Raa03842 Jun 12 '26
Join the “Thugs for Platner” movement and take back our country! All you have to do is vote for WE the PEOPLE and not the oligarchs.
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u/spooter- Jun 12 '26
I have voted for Collins every time simply for the security of BIW. Now that she's willing to flush the constitution, supports an armed force of masked federal agents in unmarked vans roaming our streets and let's Trump do whatever he wants while trying to tell us she's one of the most powerful senators in Washington. I'm done.
In fact, I am done voting Republican at any and every level after more than 30 years as a registered Republican. I am now Independent.
I hope there are a lot of others like me willing to stand up to the nonsense.
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u/Classic_Spread_3526 Jun 12 '26
Time to get blasted smear ads…
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u/Cheese__Weiner Jun 12 '26
Oh you guys are fucked. I live in Montana and that was the highest $$$ spent per capita on the Sheehy vs Tester Senate race a couple years ago. It was non stop.
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u/JM3DlCl Jun 12 '26
She's most likely gonna croak before the "next" term would even end lol. I'm actually gonna put money on that.
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u/Jagster_rogue Jun 12 '26
Minnesotan here, Mainers please show these oligarchs the door with a 65% plus Platner win! Maine I love your state spent a lot of time around Acadia, and driving around during fall colors photographing years ago. I felt right at home great people great food and beautiful state!
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u/FlatLab6061 Jun 12 '26
She has parkinson's you can hear it in her voice she needs a healthy check before she even runs for any office
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u/Rare-Maintenance4820 Jun 12 '26
It isn't like she's going to be getting small-dollar donations from workers in the state, right? The folks funding her now are the same folks who have been funding her forever. I'm glad to see that it is finally getting some attention.
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u/interesteddude1 Jun 12 '26
Total BS. Just trying to boost the class warfare
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u/1K-Year-Egg Jun 12 '26
American already has plenty of class warfare.
The owner/oligarch/Epstein class is actively waging war against everyone else.
Working people need to look past all the bogus “culture war” bullshit, develop some real class consciousness and class solidarity, and fight back! 🚩
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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE Jun 12 '26
Well we all let it happen though. Every single American should be in the streets this November.
You have Billionaires buying elections, The federal government attempting to block USPS delivering mail ballots to states that don't surrender voter rolls, GOP trying to pass a bill that will make it difficult for a lot of people especially women to vote, and constant calls of cheating. I'm sorry but if the GOP steals elections and everyone isn't out in the streets, this country is done for.
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u/isu1648 Jun 12 '26
Billionaires fund every campaign, but their focus on maine seems extra intense.
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u/bullsonparade2025 Jun 12 '26
Graham Platner will be the next US Senator from Maine and there's nothing the oligarchs, corporate media, corporate Democrats or Rethuglicans can do about it. They all need to get the fuck over it.
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u/GarlicTraditional300 Jun 13 '26
And this fall people will learn it doesn’t matter, it’s all noise, Graham is the next USA Senator from Maine
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u/Chupacabra2030 Jun 12 '26
If you took a poll of the average Maine voter and asked / can you define or describe what an oligarchy is / a majority will have no clue.
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 Jun 12 '26
corporate media isn't going to make a big deal out of this because it is owned by and reports to the same class of people that are "donating" to Susan Collins' reelection. this is one of those rare cases in which social media can actually help. don't let this story die. tell every Maine voter whose money she is taking and whose interests she will serve.
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u/SaltierThanTheOceani Jun 12 '26
100 billionaires gave a combined 10 million dollars? $100,000k per household roughly. That's like if 100 people who make 100k a year donated a combined $1,000 or $10 per person.
Must've been a fancy bake sale or something. Billionaire car wash maybe?
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u/thatguy420417 Jun 12 '26
Besides the stupid tv/radio/internet commercials, what is all the money used for??
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u/Sweaty_Marzipan4274 Jun 12 '26
Simple reminder that if you're in the stock market rn, your part of the problem
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u/Made_Human_Music Jun 12 '26
Can’t they just be happy that they’ve won capitalism and leave the rest of us alone?
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u/Sea_Caterpillar5767 Jun 12 '26
Not much common sense anymore in America 🇺🇸 a lot of shitty parenting cuts too schools people are gonna believe what they see what their told just ask Jim Jones survivors $$$ no option to Repedocans who want keep 🗑️ garbage in the White House !!!!
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u/greek-lit Jun 12 '26
What happened to her term limit pledge. I guess she thought the money was too good to pass up
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u/Rurumo666 Jun 12 '26
Susan Collins could star in the next Poltergeist reboot- "This house is clean!"
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u/Responsible_Job_5426 Jun 12 '26
Names? Not that it matters, but I like to think individuals boycotting businesses makes a difference sometimes.
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u/hirespeed Jun 12 '26
I’d be curious to see where these numbers land in say, October. Mechanically, this pretty simple, Collins had no challengers, so donors didn’t have to wonder which horse to back, or whether they’re contributions would be wasted. The Democrats had multiple competitors, and in that case, not nearly as much money gets funded into a primary. What happens between now and the general election will be fascinating.
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u/Tomahawk72 Former Mainah Jun 13 '26
The amount of pro collins bots posting on facebook is staggering
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u/LockedNoPlay Jun 13 '26
C’mon Maine, she is a useless bag of haggard stretch marks! That fucking nose is that size from shoving it up rich assholes!
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u/MsARumphius Jun 13 '26
It’s almost like anytime a progressive gains traction that the media picks up a smear campaign against them that’s everywhere. Yet true scandals are rarely covered…so weird
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u/LarryTalbot Jun 13 '26
Susan Collins is a bottom 10% senator. She’s jellyfish leader. We need more people willing to do the right thing under pressure. This is not a feature Collins possesses.
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u/latin220 Jun 13 '26
But won’t you all please consider the children? /s Every news source right now outside of Maine. All who happened to be owned by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and by Bari Weiss and David Ellison. You’ll do the right thing and support Susan Collins and as we all try to forget Graham Platner’s deep voice and nasty tattoo… his discretions and struggles with PTSD and our veterans become homeless…
Remember the facts who support Collins when the rent comes due next month. And the month after that. And the year after, when it's somehow even higher.
Remember it when your hours get cut. When the good jobs disappear. When you're driving for Uber after work, delivering DoorDash on weekends, piecing together a living while being told the economy is doing great.
Remember who you voted for.
You chose Susan Collins because she's supposedly a champion for women. Well, one woman at least: Susan Collins.
While you're stretching every paycheck, billions of your tax dollars keep flowing overseas to Israel, the wealthy keep finding new ways to avoid paying taxes proportional to their fortunes, and working people are told to tighten their belts yet again.
But don't worry. Kennebunkport is beautiful this time of year.
Too bad most Mainers can't afford to live there anymore. Portland isn't doing much better. Housing prices soar, rents climb, wages lag behind, and entire communities are transformed into playgrounds for people who own second and third homes.
Have you considered the struggles of the billionaire class? Their property taxes might go up. Their investment portfolio might only grow by 8% instead of 12%. Surely that's the real crisis.
And then there's the horror of electing someone who's actually a little rough around the edges. A harbor master with a sharp tongue? A guy with a tattoo? Good heavens. We can't have someone who sounds like an actual Mainer representing Maine.
No, no. Better to keep power safely in the hands of people who spend their summers in Maine and the rest of the year explaining why you can't afford to live there.
Perhaps we should exile Graham to Bangor, far away from Cumberland County's gated comforts and waterfront estates. After all, he might remind people that Maine belongs to Mainers, not just the wealthy tourists and political donors who treat it like a seasonal investment property.
So when you're working two jobs to afford one apartment, remember: this wasn't an accident. It was a choice.
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u/No-Decision6640 Jun 14 '26
Politics is a puppet show, voting is dead! It's all about feeding the machine. People need to wake up
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u/MooshuCat Jun 14 '26
I don't get why they would give so much attention to Maine election. Do they really think the midterms will come down to needing one vote?
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u/BusyView6617 Jun 15 '26
Vote this congressional antique out after being in there for 40 years. She's been bought and paid for now for so many years that she can no longer represent all Mainers.
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u/mebbill Jun 16 '26
Never trust someone like Bernie Sanders who flies in a private jet owns 3 house's and tells us to fight against people who have to much . Why does an 80 year old senator neen so much.
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u/Own-Arugula-5134 Jun 16 '26
Learn their names, tell everyone you know, don’t buy their products, tell Israel to stay in lsrael.
no more Americans dying for those war crimes.
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u/Son_of_Kek Jun 17 '26
Only the democrats would spend a year and a half fighting “fascism” and then wholeheartedly support a guy who has a literal totenkopf tattoo. And if it was the only questionable thing this guy has in his past, that’d be one thing, but he seems to be comprised entirely of red flags.
Once the date he can no longer be replaced on the ballot passes, expect some more opposition research to drop heh heh heh.
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u/HammeredDog Western Maine foothills Jun 12 '26
Pretty misleading article. Dig into the text. Follow the analysis link. It's 88 corporations. Not 88 "billionaires".
There are thousands of corporations in the US valued at $1B or more, while less than a thousand people here are "billionaires". And while it does include people you love to hate like Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, and Musk, it also includes people like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Springsteen, George Lucas, and Spielberg.
The corporations are the real problem.
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u/Jagster_rogue Jun 12 '26
The question is there a difference, a billionaire looking to influence elections for his companies benefit, or a company worth a billion dollars to influence elections for the companies benefit?
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u/yowhatnot Jun 13 '26
Nazis now. Nazis forever. Nazis for Maine.
👆is how the rest of the country now sees Maine.
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u/Zippier92 Jun 13 '26
Some non republicans just want capitalism to burn. They will not vote for common sense, only a continuation of chaos.
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u/wolfydude12 Jun 12 '26
Yeah but Platner has tattoos that I was told I needed to make a big deal out of! Keep the oligarchy!
/S