cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/38323356
Oct. 31, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET Michelle Goldberg
Andy O’Brien, a former Democratic state legislator and newspaper editor, told me that outsiders didn’t fully understand how radicalizing the second Trump presidency has been for ordinary Democrats. Even senior citizens, he said, were becoming “fire-breathing leftists. They’re just pissed off.”
These voters understood that Platner had made mistakes, but they saw him as a fighter. “Five years ago, he would have been dead in the water, I think,” said O’Brien, who now works with the labor movement. “But this is such an unprecedented time. I think a lot of people really believe that we need somebody who can effectively fight against fascism.”
Maine is an overwhelmingly white state, but it’s not just white guys who feel this way. “We’re sticking by him,” said Safiya Khalid, a Somali American activist and former member of the Lewiston City Council.
Unintelligent purity tests like what you do are why we on the left are divided and can’t win. We don’t need your mentality on our side. You are divisive and unhelpful. You might as well just turn MAGA, because you have the same negative effect as voting for trump. We really don’t need you.
If “don’t have fucking nazi tattoos” is an “unintelligent purity test” then… holy fucking shit we are cooked.
and
Yeah. The side with the totenkapfs on their chest isn’t my side. Which… is what you and many online leftists (as well as the DNC) are making abundantly clear to Women, People of Color, and our LGBTQIA+ “friends”.
And, just because I can’t resist
Actually, I think electing a nazi does a better job of supporting trump. Just saying.