Graham Platner

So by building that and by sticking to a very like cogent, constructive message,

of the kind of future we wanna build, the kind of policies that are gonna get us there, and a theory of power building that is also going to be necessary to get us there.

I think that's how we push through all this stuff.

And in my experience, like negative TV ads, I don't think they actually move the needle much in Maine.

In 2020, the Sarah Gideon race outspent the Collins race almost three to one.

They had some money left over.

They had some money left over.

An immense amount of money was spent on negative ads about Susan Collins.

It didn't do anything.

And honestly, living in the part of Maine I live in, which is rural eastern Maine, a lot of the negative ads about Sarah Gideon also didn't change anything.

It was really more about like a feeling on the ground.

People couldn't really connect with –

with the Democratic candidate, primarily because I think DC came in and ran the race like an old school DC race, which is not gonna win against Susan Collins.

And Collins was a known entity.

And at that point, people could still sort of frame her as this sort of moderate.

Roe had not yet been overturned, which is really important to remember.

And I think that that to me just shows that it's not really about the ads or even the money spent.

There's another – there's an X factor in there about connecting with people and about really being able to make people think that you are –

or not think, but letting people engage with you directly to show that you are like authentic.

And which is why I, I mean, we hold, we've held 40 town halls and we're going to hold 20 more before the primary.