They’re effective when we don’t put criminals in charge.

The DNC has no real power to tell state parties what to do in a situation like this. In point of fact, their members are largely chosen by the state parties.

Link is not broken for me. The redirect picks up a gift token which makes access free for people with JavaScript enabled

If Schumer made all the decisions somehow, we would have had Mills and not Platner. He may well apply pressure. But the decision is literally not his to make

It’s the Maine state Democratic Party which holds the power here, not them

There are at least three Democrats who poll well enough to stand a chance. I do not claim any insight into who will be chosen

That’s what happens when you depend on voters who have values

He has to actually withdraw though. If Platner stays in the race, he’s the Democrat on the ballot

Per the NYT

Graham Platner can be replaced as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine if he withdraws from the race by next Monday, and state law would then give the state Democratic Party until July 27 to name a replacement.

It’s possible to replace him if he drops out of the race in the next few days. I suspect a decent replacement would stand a better chance at winning the election.

It’s not just the press. A ton of people who previously endorsed him have rescinded their endorsement. And Democrats have a few days to replace him on the ticket if he bows out of the race now.

The standard for electing somebody who does not yet hold power should rightly be a different one from that needed to send someone to prison.

Failing to replace him at this point is a recipe for a Collins win.

The US military has long given all new recruits a whole lot of vaccines. Mostly because it keeps them alive, and because it takes away the incentive for potential adversaries to do things like release smallpox again. The politically-appointed leadership has long had the discretion to choose which vaccines. So he took away a requirement for a flu vaccine, even though the flu has a long history of killing more soldiers than combat.

Combine that with a whole lot of antivax propaganda kicking around, and a large fraction of soldiers didn’t get this vaccine.

Bribes

Quite literally