A lot of leftists I know became very disillusioned after Bernie Sanders' two losses in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries.

They felt like Sanders' failure showed that you can't beat the establishment, that the system is rigged, and that the Democratic Party is simply captured

by corporate-friendly centrists who will crush any effort to take the party in a different

direction. I've spoken with people who think there's no choice but to run third party campaigns,

and who have essentially given up on the Democrats.

But we have some new evidence that things may be changing.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton was incredibly powerful within the Democratic Party, quickly

lining up superdelegates that helped ensure her nomination would essentially be a coronation.

Here in 2026, though, the party establishment may finally be ripe for being overthrown.

Look at what has just happened in Maine, where insurgent left populist, Graham Platner,

has driven incumbent governor Janet Mills from the state's

Senate primary. Plattner, an oyster farmer and populist with the backing of labor groups and

Bernie Sanders, was up against a candidate handpicked for the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

But by the end, Platner's lead

in the polls and in fundraising was so great that Mills decided not to even go through with the

primary, since defeat was inevitable. The Platner victory is particularly striking,

given that Platner, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan

wars, unhesitatingly calls out Israel's genocide in Gaza and has called for cutting off

U.S. aid to Israel.

Not a single taxpayer dollar should be spent on arming and defending a country that commits a genocide.

I would absolutely support Senator Sanders bill to restrict military aid, but I'll be entirely

honest, looking down the road, this is a nation that right now is exterminating people.

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