Inside the Battle for Maine

Playbook: “Most of D.C. spent last night refreshing its social media feeds in expectation of a major update from Platner. Instead we got a different kind of bombshell video, courtesy of Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party. She said local party officials are working ‘around the clock’ to draw up a new selection process — but that Platner’s team is trying ‘to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.'”

“What we’re watching now is the messy endgame, a high-octane version of the same power struggle that has dominated Democratic primaries through this cycle and long before. The disparate wings of the party each hope to secure what looks like a soon-to-be-vacant Senate candidacy. And Platner isn’t giving up his influence.”

“The first battle (as always) is over the process — how to select a new candidate ahead of a deadline now less than three weeks away. Discussions behind the scenes have clearly been heated, and Murphy-Anderson’s decision to go public last night was the nuclear option.”