MAINE CHARACTER ENERGY

Graham Platner’s implosion in the Maine Senate race left Democrats with an amiable, soft-spoken logger. Can voters handle this kind of seismic vibe shift… with control of the Senate on the line?

• On paper, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson isn’t all that different from Graham Platner, the charismatic and once-promising oysterman whose campaign collapsed in a series of messy scandals. They’re both staunch progressives who have spent their lives in Maine. They’re gruff, deep-voiced men who dislike the Democratic establishment. And they both tout themselves as defenders of the working class.

• But Jackson’s vibe is… very different. Jackson lacks the media-savvy, glad-handing progressive icon mojo that his predecessor had in buckets, before his fall from grace. In an interview with the What A Day podcast today, Jackson spoke softly and answered questions without using pre-packaged slogans. A fifth-generation logger from northern Maine, Jackson spoke with a thick-as-lumber Canadian-ish accent, pronouncing “about” as “aboat” dozens of times. He gives off intense normal guy energy… the kind of normal guy who just woke up to find himself one of Democrats’ best chances to defeat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and regain control of the Senate. Because that’s basically what happened.

• Jackson admits that some voters take issue with his style, as Republicans spend astronomical amounts of money to defeat him.

• At a recent meeting with voters, some asked why he isn’t attacking Collins more aggressively: “People [wanted] to know why I wasn’t going harder on Senator Collins,” Jackson told Crooked’s Jane Coaston.

• Collins, however, hasn’t exactly been holding back: “She’s running around with Elon Musk, spending all kinds of money going after me personally and going after my family personally,” Jackson added.

Jackson actually has a good shot at beating Collins, according to polling.

• Platner supporters appear to have swiftly migrated over to Jackson’s side. Four recent polls show the logger up by as much as 8 points against Collins.

• The GOP is sweating. Republican groups have already spent $30 million more than Democrats on attacking Jackson, according to recent data. Senate Republicans’ campaign arm pledged to dole out more than $42 million against him. Musk’s super PAC also plans to dump money into the race to support Collins.

• “Troy Jackson is like Graham Platner, but worse,” the narrator warns in one ad backed by Senate Republicans, which has racked up millions of views on YouTube.

• Collins, meanwhile, has spent the past few months trying to convince voters that she’s willing to stand up to the Trump administration (seriously, believe me this time, guys!), advocating for ICE agents to wear body cameras after a deadly shooting in the state and voting to reign in the president’s war on Iran. Asked if she believes Trump is unfit for office, Collins told Politico that she wanted Nikki Haley to win the presidency.

Jackson hopes voters don’t buy her schtick. “On one hand, she acts like she’s the most powerful U.S. senator in the country. On the other hand, she acts like, well, nothing I could do,” he said. “That is absolutely crap.”

WHAT ELSE? 👀

Iran accused the U.S. of committing a war crime after an airstrike that Iranian officials said killed four people at a wedding. A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said the military is “looking into” the incident. Iran responded to the alleged wedding attack by targeting American allies in Gulf countries today.

Chevron announced plans to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years to double its production in the country, after the Trump administration struck a deal to develop the country’s untapped oil fields. Trump recently said that ExxonMobil and other oil companies might also head to Venezuela.

Apple Maps changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” following Trump’s executive order. Boo!!! Reminder: Americans overwhelmingly dislike this move, by a factor of 7-to-1. If you need a non-Trumpy alternative, check out MapQuest.

The FBI directed undercover agents to monitor former Rep. Eric Swalwell before seizing his electronics at an airport last month, according to the Atlantic. Agents posed as passengers in an attempt to uncover his passcodes; subjects of this type of surveillance are “usually suspected terrorists or potential hijackers, not politicians,” the outlet writes.

Thousands of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln docked in Thailand today after spending a harrowing 286 days at sea. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through,” one military veteran, who greeted the sailors, told the Wall Street Journal. “Even being deployed in Iraq isn’t as bad as being deployed on a ship. And we were being bombed every day.”

Is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy… okay? His wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, said on a podcast that her hubby got the job only “because that was all that’s left.” The cabinet secretary also decided it was necessary to share his thoughts on Sydney Sweeney this week: “God made us a certain way to appreciate and want to mate with a woman.”

The U.S. Mint officially launched a $1 coin with Trump’s face on it. When I clicked on the website this morning, I was directed to a “virtual waiting room” because of “extraordinary traffic.” I don’t believe for one second that people are lining up to buy a 100-coin bag of $1 pieces for $154.50.

LIGHT AT THE END… ☀️

Top American doctors banded together today to urge Americans to get their flu and Covid vaccines, in an attempt to combat confusion caused by the Trump administration. Who are you gonna trust: a group of experienced, nonpartisan doctors, or the guy whose brain was eaten by a worm?

The New York Times is out with a fresh profile on Still Counting, the new podcast from the FiveThirtyEight team that’s coming to Crooked Media. The hosts want the show to be a nonpartisan source of polling analysis: “There is a market for people who think politics is important, are intellectually interested in it and think it’s high stakes, but don’t want things filtered through a partisan lens,” co-host Nate Silver told the Times. “That’s one of our markets.” Subscribe to the Still Counting Youtube channel now!

Canadians have been flummoxed by an island in western Canada that seemingly appeared out of nowhere last month… then disappeared… then reappeared again. This isn’t some large-scale magic trick: Experts believe elevated lake levels caused part of the shoreline to float away, creating the island. This is just like that classic (bizarre) Donovan song, except instead of a mountain it’s an island!

An extended reality David Bowie film that includes hundreds of new images of the music icon recently premiered at an Italian festival. This thing sounds wild: The Guardian described it as “an immersive spatial-sound documentary” that’s viewed across eight screens, with 84 hidden speakers playing Bowie’s songs.

Scores of ferret owners gathered at the largest annual ferret show over the weekend in Ohio. There were many prizes to be won, including one for the fattest ferret, which was awarded to a six-pound, four-ounce albino fella named Ralphie. “Raising a ferret is like raising a 2-year-old or a teenager,” said one woman, who owns 85 ferrets. “The only difference is it’s legal to lock ferrets in a cage.” I guess I never thought of it like that….