Peter Hamby

Chief National Correspondent @PuckNews. Snap + CNN alum. Board @ShorensteinCtr. Hoya. RVA homer. How Twitter changed politics:

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

The news is out: I’m joining Puck

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

@AZBrianAnderson @FreeBeacon @nytimes @lyndseyfifield since you and literally no one else whining in my mentions are actually reading the article - the @FreeBeacon is named right there as leading the charge. Sorry pal.

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

Platner's endurance in the face of so many scandals showed that 1) the Bernie wing doesn't much care about the coalitional pressures of the larger Democratic Party 2) Maine voters are realllllllly white

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

New @PuckNews

The Graham Platner hostage crisis, how the press did its job when Dems got starstruck, and why Dems around the country are rolling their eyes at Platner's "arrogance and privilege" as he stubbornly hangs around

https://t.co/qdtbCWzHwE

[Nick Field @nick_field90]

This touches on something that isn't being discussed enough: The voter that will make or break Democrats' 2028 is not a white working-class voter but a Hispanic working-class voter
https://t.co/vWMDf7pHQw

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

@bdomenech why don't you read it, bruh. Free Beacon shoutout too

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

New @PuckNews

The Graham Platner hostage crisis, how the press did its job when Dems got starstruck, and why Dems around the country are rolling their eyes at Platner's "arrogance and privilege" as he stubbornly hangs around

https://t.co/qdtbCWzHwE

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

@maxwelltani in fairness, a lot of the early pivot to video content was just bad and poorly made. there was some good stuff!

[Puck @PuckNews]

"Anyone in the media space would look at this and say, 'That's not media. That's something else.'"

@DylanByers joins @PeterHamby to discuss why Versant's acquisition of a golf simulator company is about much more than golf.

Watch the full episode: https://t.co/2SXrIk0eKa

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

Matt misleadingly claims these donors are pulling the strings of the Maine Democratic Party

But the donations cited here ($10,000 each) were distributed to all 50 states via DNC's State Party Victory Fund

In other words, David Ellison doesn't have Charles Dingman on speed dial

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

Since lots of gossips are now gunning for me, I'm redoing this thread. It's clear something messed up happened in Platner's relationships, and he hasn't hidden that. But there's a big difference between 'normal people in bad relationships who hate each other' and 'crime.'

So let's be adults. This is a political attack.

Top Maine Democratic Party donors in recent years are Reid Hoffman, Haim Saban, and David Ellison. David Ellison! As in the Trump ally who fired Stephen Colbert and is taking over TikTok, CBS News, and CNN. These names should mean something. Saban may be the single most important AIPAC donor in the Democratic Party.

Another big donor to the Maine Democratic Party is the founder of Zynga, Marc Pincus, who said in 2024 that "an attack on Amazon is an attack on America." It goes beyond big tech and Wall Street. Crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s partner Nishad Singh at FTX gave $100k to the Maine Democratic Party in 2022.

The insiders running the party are the people funded through these streams of revenue, they are the ones dealing with the donors and currying favor with them. And while I will not speak out of school, the Maine Democratic establishment simply cannot be trusted and that is well-known.

Platner may be a fatally weakened candidate, that is for others to decide. It's a wave year in a blue state, but I get that Susan Collins is a strong incumbent. Winning this Senate seat matters, so I get why people might see value in ditching him. I generally think that polls and electoral guesses are mechanisms to get ordinary voters to focus on anything but policy. It's a disciplining mechanism, since no one can tell the future. But it's not crazy to see Platner as a poor candidate.

Let's be clear, the goal of pushing Platner aside is to destroy the agenda on which he was elected, which is about taming oligarchy and reorienting us from endless war. That is why the Maine Democrats aren't saying 'let's respect Platner voters and transition to someone else,' they are taking a sanctimonious 'he gets NO say in ANYTHING.' Those are not the actions of people who want to win a Senate seat, those are the actions of nasty insiders claiming factional power for themselves.

If Platner steps down, he will be characterized as a deviant, and that's just how it'll be forever. True or not. And everyone will be tarred as supportive of immoral behavior. It doesn't matter if you are a liberal, centrist, young, old, whatever. People are saying the Bulwark, a centrist outlet started by ex-Republicans who were skeptical of Platner, are tarred by this. Punchbowl is reporting that Senate progressives will never have credibility going forward. The ploy here is obvious.

That is, even though the actual immoral behavior at issue here is the genocide in Gaza, the corruption of DOGE and Musk, and the neoliberal turn in American politics for 40 years that has destroyed our faith in society and each other.

Platner has been consistent about his platform, and there's no reason to assume that will change. 70% of Maine Democrats picked him as their candidate, and he has the right to represent their views. So he should stay in the race or, if he feels he cannot win, leave on terms that will ensure his platform, and not that of Maine Dem Party oligarch donors, is the one on the ballot in November. The Maine Dem establishment cannot be trusted.

And frankly, this kind of ugly scenario is how power works. They make ordinary people pick among ugly scenarios, and then they make it seem like the obvious path is the one that accords more power and wealth to oligarchs. And if you don't choose that one, you're a bad person who deserves approbation and scorn. That's why I had to delete the original thread and rewrite it, because endless numbers of reporter gossips - who don't report on government policy - are using this extremely obvious ratfucking to try and destroy people like me telling you the truth.

[Igor Bobic @igorbobic]

"Unfortunately, Graham Platner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like."

[Paul Kane @pkcapitol]

" ... nearly every participant—including Trump supporters—expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s direction, using words such as “frustrated,” 'anxious,' and 'angry.' Not a single voter described feeling 'happy' or 'proud' ..."
These journal surveys are super revealaing

[Ian Krietzberg @IKrietzberg]

New: Had a very interesting conversation with @AbdulElSayed on his new AI plan and the ways in which AI is seeping into his campaign.

You can read it here: https://t.co/dzHvioYp3D

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

@danpfeiffer Kenner League is the only rival

[Puck @PuckNews]

"None of these things that have come out have come from the Republican oppo book about Graham Platner."

@LACaldwellDC joins @PeterHamby to offer some insight into why Republicans don't want Graham Platner to drop out.

Watch the full episode: https://t.co/fqc7vkuCCf

[Lawrence O'Donnell @Lawrence]

If you have to write one of these today, this is how you do it.

[Matthew Belloni @MattBelloni]

Amazon gave away ARTIFICIAL, with indie distributor Neon agreeing to spend $15M to market and release the scathing Sam Altman movie. Details on the strategy ⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/MR6FK6A99U

[Liz Goodwin @lizcgoodwin]

Bernie calls for Platner to step aside in a statement:
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

[Jonathan Chait @jonathanchait]

Why consultants shouldn't just meet a random guy and decide he can be a Senator because he sounds good https://t.co/MlBqXXPcxM

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

A prescient — and appropriately skeptical — convo about Graham Platner with @abbyliv817 from June 5

“There are more stories to come” ⬇️

https://t.co/sVvnVKTqzp @PuckNews

[Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin]

Energetic candidate with red flags elevated by national progressives against an establishment primary opponent

[Andy Francess @AndyFrancess]

“This is the best US team of all-time”

In 2002 the US beat Portugal in the group stage, eliminated rival Mexico in the Round of 16 and had Germany on the ropes in the quarterfinal. If not for Kahn and the screwjob missed handball, they’re in the semis.