Abortion Is Legal in Maine - Democrats Are Running on Brett Kavanaugh Anyway
The column questions whether Platner can win over independents amid controversies and polling that points to a close race.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYRedState is an identifiable outlet with an attributed author, but this is explicitly opinion content from a conservative publication, not a neutral original-news report. The article uses polling and attributed claims but offers a sharply partisan interpretation.
- Source type — The page is labeled opinion, a strong reason to treat it as commentary rather than independent straight reporting.
- Editorial standards — The text gives limited sourcing and does not present a systematic account of competing views.
- Author attribution — The article names an author, Ben Smith.
- Transparency — It identifies some polling sources and attributes the Collins campaign’s response, though underlying polling details are not supplied.
The column attributes polling claims and includes Collins’s campaign response, but relies heavily on interpretation, offers little detail about the polls, and does not include a response from Platner to the allegations discussed.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The column acknowledges Democrats’ intended argument and discusses abortion access, but its overall case is strongly favorable to Collins and critical of Platner, with little counterargument or response from the Democratic side.
- Counterarguments presented — The rationale for Democrats’ strategy is described mainly through polling, without a developed case for why voters might find it persuasive.
- Loaded language — The article uses dismissive and evaluative phrases about Democrats and Platner.
- Source diversity — It includes a Collins campaign statement and polling references but no direct response from Platner.
- Opinion vs reporting — The piece is an opinion column and advances a clear argument about the race.
The column strongly favors Collins and attacks Democrats’ strategy and Platner, using openly dismissive language and emphasizing controversies around the Democratic candidate.
- Language tone — Phrases such as “how little else they have going for them” and “complete dumpster fire” convey a strongly partisan tone.
- Framing — The article frames Democrats’ use of abortion as a failing tactic and repeatedly contrasts it with problems facing Platner.
- Source selection — It quotes Collins’s campaign and cites polling and commentary that support its argument, without a response from Platner.
A conservative opinion column says Democrats plan to make Susan Collins’s 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh a central issue in Maine’s Senate race. It argues that the strategy may be undermined by allegations and campaign controversies involving Graham Platner, while citing polling that suggests a close race.
The column says Graham Platner and national Democrats intend to focus on Susan Collins’s vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, arguing that it helped lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It notes that abortion remains legal in Maine and quotes Collins’s campaign dismissing the effort as a recycled attack. The author argues the issue could prompt scrutiny of Platner as well, citing allegations he has denied and criticizing his claim that Collins voted to send him to Iraq.
The author points to a Senate Majority PAC poll that found abortion attacks on Collins were a strong issue with registered Democrats, and to a Platner campaign poll showing him ahead 49 to 45. Citing Nate Silver’s observation about internal polls and Collins’s past election performance, the column characterizes the race as effectively a toss-up and questions whether Democrats’ strategy can win over Maine voters.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSED
No good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Platner in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Platner’s record.
People in this story
SWIPE →Democratic Senate candidate discussed in the column’s analysis of the Maine race
Maine senator and Republican candidate discussed as the target of Democrats’ planned campaign message
Collins's version of this story ↗Part of a bigger story
4 OUTLETSThe Maine Senate race is centered in this coverage on Susan Collins’s 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, as Graham Platner challenges her. Left-leaning outlets frame the vote as a defining referendum in the race. Center outlets cover the vote alongside allegations about Platner, which he denies. Right-leaning outlets portray Democrats’ focus on the vote as a strategy that could backfire by shifting attention to allegations and controversies involving Platner.
- ARTICLES
- 4
- OUTLETS
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- AVG CRED
- 54
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