Whether Graham Platner wins his Senate race in Maine this fall will come down to whether he can win over moderate voters.
That’s the prevailing wisdom among Democrats watching the battleground contest, one of a handful of Senate races this cycle where candidates from both parties will be courting the most moderate voters within their party. Many of them say Platner will have a particularly fraught path to winning over those voters, given his political baggage and progressive proposals.
“We feel like we’re being asked to compromise on our own standards to vote for a compromised candidate, so that person can then do battle with a supremely compromised president,” said a Democratic strategist in Maine not working on the race. “That’s the moral dilemma that unenrolled and moderate Democrats are wrestling with right now.”