NPR’s A Martinez speaks with Democratic strategist Maria Cardona about what choices Democrats face amid allegations surrounding Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For analysis on the situation in the Maine Senate race, we turn to Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Maria, does Platner’s delay in announcing a decision hurt the party’s chances of defeating Susan Collins?
MARIA CARDONA: Well, it certainly doesn’t help because the party’s going to need as much time as possible to focus on a new candidate, to give that candidate as much help as possible to get their campaign off the ground, to start communicating the message of how important it is for Democrats to beat Susan Collins. So time is of the essence here, and time is running out. So Graham Platner and his team had better focus on – if it’s true what they say, that the most important thing here is to beat Susan Collins, then he has got to get out as soon as possible.
MARTÍNEZ: His background is not exactly secret, or at least a lot of the things in his background aren’t secret. What does it say about the Democratic Party’s vetting process?
CARDONA: Well, it certainly says that his team whiffed because one of the most important things that you have got to do as a campaign is opposition research, not just on your – on the person that you are running against, not just on your opponent, but on yourself. You have got to understand what it is in your background that could be brought forth, that could be used against you, that could come up and have this be the end of your campaign, which is exactly what happened to Graham Platner.
And so to me, it has been political malpractice. As somebody who has been in this business for decades, you have to understand the importance of what it is that your opponents can use against you and what it is in your background that can come out to harm you in your campaign. And so to move forward, you have got to know what it is that you are not just running against for your opponent, but what it is that they can use against you. And so to not have done that, I think, is a huge mistake.
MARTÍNEZ: Tuesday, on the show “The View,” co-host Sunny Hostin said that she would have plugged her nose and would’ve voted for him anyway if she was a Maine resident, despite all of the allegations – the new allegations against him. Why do you think, Maria, this has become a bit of a moral litmus test for Democrats?
CARDONA: Because we cannot be the party who pretends to run against a Republican Party who currently has a four-time convicted felon and a civically adjudicated rapist in the White House and have our hair on fire because of it and then have somebody in our party who has got these kinds of allegations against them. We can’t be the party who is running against a party who has not been open and forthcoming about the Epstein files and run against a party who has been OK with people who have done so much harm against women and then have a candidate who has this kind of allegations against them.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you think generally…
CARDONA: We have got to be the party who is standing up against that.
MARTÍNEZ: But do you think generally Democrats right now would agree with Sunny Hostin more than disagree?
CARDONA: I don’t. I don’t think they would agree with her. I think there are so many people – I mean, you are already seeing it with the folks who have been with Graham Platner, with all of the Democrats who have been supporting his campaign up until now. When this came out, this is the redline. They have said, this is too much. And they have completely and quickly been saying that they now have withdrawn their support of him, withdrawn their endorsements. And we’ve got to move on. This is not something that the Democratic Party should be supporting by any means.
MARTÍNEZ: If the Democratic Party can move on in Maine and Platner does indeed suspend his campaign, the party will choose a replacement. How does the Democratic Party then avoid the kind of blowback that Vice President Kamala Harris faced when she went to a general election vote for a candidate that was not chosen by voters?
CARDONA: Well, I think that you have to try to focus on what that person – whoever the person ends up being – what they can bring to Maine voters. And if it is somebody who has been in office before, like Troy Jackson, and if it is somebody who has in some way, shape or form been vetted by the public, I think that is going to give us a better chance. And then that way, the campaign can focus on the message of the importance of beating Susan Collins, the message of the importance of trying to bring Medicare for all and workers’ rights and affordability and healthcare and all of the things that Graham Platner supposedly was standing for. That can be the message for this new person, this new campaign to focus on and then, hopefully in the end, be able to beat Susan Collins.
MARTÍNEZ: That is Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Thanks.
CARDONA: Thank you so much.
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