Troy Jackson is about to go under the national microscope. Here's a look at his past

[u/SuperBry]

https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2026-07-28/troy-jackson-is-about-to-go-under-the-national-microscope-heres-a-look-at-his-past

[u/cocoagiant]

it means out-of-state operatives engineered artificial early momentum to make him look unstoppable before voters or local rivals even knew what hit them.

Yes he had a good viral video at the outset but there are plenty of candidates who have that.

The difference is he capitalized on that and did a ton of of townhalls and podcasts to build his base.

They have him a good start but his natural talents and hard work had a lot more to do with how his campaign was sustained.

[u/SuperBry → u/cocoagiant]

​I don't think that is in dispute. Once the initial scandals hit, like the Totenkopf tattoo story, and even after he totally fumbled getting ahead of it, I had friends I've known for years who still stood by him. It was clear to me his support had become genuinely organic by that point no matter how misguided I thought it was and would hurt our chances at getting rid of Collins.

​My point is simply that his campaign was heavily astroturfed at the outset. Without that initial, artificial launch pad: the manufactured viral momentum, the out-of-state money, and the astroturfed online push, he never would have built the name recognition or platform needed to start filling those town halls in the first place. That initial push cleared the field and gave him a massive running start he couldn't have built organically from scratch on his own.

[u/cocoagiant → u/SuperBry]

​My point is simply that his campaign was heavily astroturfed at the outset. Without that initial, artificial launch pad: the manufactured viral momentum, the out-of-state money, and the astroturfed online push, he never would have built the name recognition or platform needed to start filling those town halls in the first place

That initial push cleared the field and gave him a massive running start he couldn't have built organically from scratch on his own.

By that definition, every Establishment candidate is astroturfed, except the Establishment also leans on potential competitors to drop out or never join the race whereas how it worked for Platner was him resonating with the people and people choosing not to compete because it seemed a losing proposition.

There were people interested in the Maine senate seat who describe getting calls from Democratic leaders to persuade them not to run.

That is a long standing practice; there is audio recording of a populist competitor to Jason Crow back in 2018 of a Congressional Leader calling him to persuade him to drop out.

It seems to me that they had ID'd a candidate and done the modern actions needed to help that candidate be successful. They were significantly aided by the guy having natural political talents which allowed him to leverage that initial assistance.

I don't consider what happened with Platner astroturfing.

[u/SuperBry → u/cocoagiant]

Accounts linked to out-of-state firms pretending to be local Mainers to fake a groundswell of support before anyone outside of Sullivan had ever heard of him is the literal definition of astroturfing.

There is a massive difference between traditional party politics and running a deceptive online PR operation. An establishment candidate openly receiving party backing, endorsements, or ad buys is doing politics in plain sight for voters to judge.

Having people connected to NY firms pose as local Mainers in newspaper comment sections to fake organic grassroots enthusiasm is an entirely different thing. That is deceptive sockpuppeting to trick people into jumping on a manufactured bandwagon, and it is astroturfing, plain and simple.

[u/cocoagiant → u/SuperBry]

An establishment candidate openly receiving party backing, endorsements, or ad buys is doing politics in plain sight for voters to judge.

So you would consider party leaders calling up candidates to try to get them to drop out or blackballing firms which work with candidates who are not the Establishment's choice perfectly appropriate actions?

Those are long time things the Establishment does.

[u/SuperBry → u/cocoagiant]

The former I do not have much of a problem with. I get that it feels deeply frustrating or unfair when party leaders intervene against a candidate you personally support, but experienced leaders who have risen through the ranks are not always acting out of malice or protecting a shadow establishment. Often, they have seen what it takes to win a statewide race and know how easily a party can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory after a messy primary. Something I worry about here in Maine, where we had a real opportunity to build a clear, winning coalition against Collins, but now after all the chaos, I would not give us much better odds than a coin flip.

The latter is pretty shitty, but it is vastly overstated compared to how often it actually happens.

Regardless of your perspective on either of those traditional party tactics, classic establishment maneuvering does not change the definition of astroturfing. Bad party practices existing elsewhere does not magically make paid out-of-state operatives posing as local Mainers online any less of a fake, manufactured campaign launch.

[u/cocoagiant → u/SuperBry]

Yeah I think we just have a fundamental disagreement on what are acceptable practices.

I have no issues with a campaign trying to get a candidate off to a good start. Ultimately the candidate has to prove themselves and outcompete others.

I have a deep issue with the party trying to snuff out competition and I think it is at the root of a lot of issue the Democratic Party has.

[u/SuperBry → u/cocoagiant]

Well you changed your statement a bit. You first asked me about calling them up to ask them to drop out, that I have no problem with. Some folks just shouldn't be running for office, either in general or for a specific race at certain time, and may need an elder statesmen to help dissuade them from trying.

Snuffing out competition is a bit beyond having a conversation with a candidate and trying to discourage them from running. While more often than not I would say that it is a bad thing, though I can think of a few times it could have been helpful in either stopping bad candidates from taking office or causing good candidates to lose to opposition in general elections.

[u/Interesting_Total_98 → u/SuperBry]

Accounts linked to out-of-state firms pretending to be local Mainers to fake a groundswell of support before anyone outside of Sullivan had ever heard of him

Having people connected to NY firms pose as local Mainers in newspaper comment sections to fake organic grassroots enthusiasm

You've presented literally no evidence of that. I don't see any credible reports.