Collins campaign scrambling as re-election strategy collapses: insiders

Systemic Error Podcast · Aug 11, 2026 · 2m

Collins Built a Race Around a Damaged Man. That Is Not Strategy. It Is Moral Evasion.The Lost ShieldPolitico’s report is simple enough: Susan Collins’ campaign had banked on Graham Platner as the convenient wreckage in the race, and his suspension after credible allegations of sexual misconduct and assault blows up that plan. The GOP calculation was not to persuade voters on Collins’ record. It was to bury her under a deliberately uglier opponent and hope the comparison did the work.Who Actually Held PowerThe real power in this story sat with Collins and the Republican operation around her…