Why rural Maine may back Democrat Graham Platner’s populism in the Senate campaign − but not his party

By: Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: November 13, 2025

Words: 1,453

Last Updated: 1 week, 4 days ago

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By Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies

Every few years, Democrats try to convince themselves they’ve found the one – a candidate who can finally speak fluent rural, who looks and sounds like the voters they’ve lost.

In 2024, that hope was pinned on Tim Walz, the flannel-wearing, “Midwestern nice” governor whose small-town roots were supposed to unlock the rural Midwest for a Harris–Walz victory.

It did not.

Now those …

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