Speaking to a crowd of over 6,500 in Portland, Maine, on Labor Day, Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner offered his assessment of the American political system.
“We do not live in a system that is broken,” said Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer and combat veteran who aims to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. “We live in a system that is functioning exactly as it is intended.”
A fight is what the Democratic faithful want, and it’s clear they’re not seeing it.
Platner was appearing alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as part of the latter’s “Fight Oligarchy” tour. And Platner’s impassioned denunciation of the status quo — fighting the powers that be and appealing to working Americans — was right out of the Sanders playbook. But beyond that influence, Platner represents a new pugilistic approach to Democratic politics that is being driven by the base’s anger over President Donald Trump’s policies and the party establishment’s response.
A fight is what the Democratic faithful want, and it’s clear they’re not seeing it. The party’s popularity is at historic lows, even as only 0.4% of Democrats, according to a new Gallup poll, are satisfied with the direction of the country (76% of Republicans say they are). Some more established Democrats, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have embraced the opportunity to offer voters a fighter, both trolling the president on social media and resisting his deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. A July poll found the governor’s approval rating among Californians jumped 18 percentage points from a month earlier — from 38% to 56% — after the clash with Trump over the deployments.
Solely fighting isn’t enough. That Newsom’s approval was below 40% in a very blue state should concern Democrats who believe the governor offers a strong path forward for the party. Democrats are divided and facing a reckoning on a number of issues foreign and domestic. It’s no coincidence that Platner got one of the biggest ovations of the night when he said, “Our taxpayer dollars can build schools and hospitals in America, not bombs to destroy them in Gaza.” Tying resistance to Trump to a winning message with appeal and progressive politics will go further than simply presenting voters with a rerun of “Orange Man bad” messaging (even though, to be clear, Orange Man is, indeed, bad).
The Senate primary in Maine looks like the next test of old guard vs. new for Democrats. Despite being a political novice, Platner raised over $1 million in the first nine days. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reportedly is working behind the scenes to get 77-year-old Gov. Janet Mills to enter the race.
Whether Mills enters or not, in the long run this is a struggle the old guard is likely to lose. Platner isn’t alone in combining the new blood of a younger cohort with a more combative, forceful message that positions Democratic values as the path for the party. Already, candidates like Democratic New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani have seen success by presenting voters with unapologetically progressive policies and full-throated rejections of Trump. Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a possible candidate for the Senate in 2026, has worked on bridging the gap between the state’s Christians and liberal politics. Whether Gov. Janet Mills enters or not, in the long run this is a struggle the old guard is likely to lose. Other relative newcomers who aim to leverage resistance against Republicans into political success, like Illinois’s 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, are leaning into their anti-Trump bona fides. “Donald Trump said that some people in the U.S. want him to be a dictator,” Abughazaleh, who is running for the open seat in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, posted last week. “I’m running for Congress to stop that from happening.” In Florida, Elijah Manley, another 26-year-old who is running to unseat Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, has made pushing back against Gov. Ron DeSantis a key part of his message. DeSantis wants “a new Jim Crow” in the state, Manley told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in August in a representative slam at the Republican governor. Combining a forceful fightback against Trump and the GOP with progressive policies may not be what Democratic leaders like Schumer want to see for the party’s direction, but, as the success of Mamdani, Platner and others shows, this approach has appeal. For fresh-faced politicians like these, it’s an easy sell. And voters agree — but will the party adapt to the times?
Eoin Higgins
Eoin Higgins is a writer based in New England. His book, "Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left," is available now. 
