Matthew

On a show earlier, I was asked whether I’d support Graham Platner. I said No. Not that I matter, but when I became a Democrat 11 months ago, I said the Dem tent must be big enough for Zohran Mamdani & Joe Walsh. And I still believe that. But there’s no tent big enough for me & Graham Platner. And I say that knowing most Dem voters disagree with me. But for me, Platner is a dishonest antisemite who’s lied about, and who’s never owned up to, not just his Nazi tattoo, but all the horrible things he’s said about Jews, Cops, rural whites, women, blacks, rape victims, gays, and so many more people & groups of people. Everyone (except Trump) is capable of changing, but Platner gives zero indication he has changed. I get that for most Dems it’s all about winning. I agree winning is important, but we all have our own personal red lines as well. If I lived in Maine, of course I wouldn’t vote for Susan Collins. But I wouldn’t vote for Platner either.

🚨 Hasan Piker and Chris Rabb Lay Out the DSA Playbook for Using the Democratic Ballot Line Against the Party This clip is a clean look at the socialist left’s bizarre frenemy relationship with the Democratic Party. Hasan opens by attacking Democrats directly. They “don’t love you,” “don’t care about you,” and “don’t care about your interests.” But he does not tell people to leave the party. He tells them the Democratic primary is the battlefield because it “determines the trajectory of the Democratic Party.” Then Chris Rabb picks up the thread. Rabb says he “identif[ies] as a democratic socialist,” but is “running as a Democrat because the system creates this narrowness.” In other words, the Democratic label is not the identity. It is the vehicle. Rabb makes that even clearer moments later. He says Democrats may share the same label “in this moment,” but “we are very different.” Then he tells voters, “You don’t have to love the Democratic Party to vote for me. I do not care because I’m not here for the party. I’m here for the people.” The result is a strange but increasingly effective hostile partnership. The DSA needs the Democratic ballot line because third-party politics is a dead end. The Democratic Party keeps absorbing candidates who openly reject it. And over time, that one-way arrangement lets the socialist left take more ground inside the party while still pretending to be outsiders. But what do Democrats actually get out of this arrangement?

Just got accepted for a junior position on the leveraged finance team at JP Morgan