| It has been a decade since an Iraq War vote has played a central role in a political campaign. But in the Maine Senate race, Sen. Susan Collins (R), the incumbent who voted to authorize the war more than two decades ago, is likely to face Graham Platner (D), who served three tours in Iraq. Along with our colleague Liz Goodwin, we wrote about this dynamic between the longtime Senate incumbent and upstart liberal challenger over the weekend. What is particularly interesting is how Platner’s three combat tours in Iraq have also become the candidate’s key defense as he weathers allegations that he sent sexually explicit text messages to women while married and had volatile relationships with women. He told his supporters at the rally he went through a period of “darkness” when he returned from war and was battling untreated PTSD and feels that his past has been “weaponized” against him. Platner will be on the ballot today, where he is the heavy favorite to be the Democrats’ Senate nominee in Maine — despite the controversies surrounding him. We quoted one person in our piece that we wanted to dig in deeper on: Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D). Twenty years ago, Lamont himself was the liberal challenger of a longtime incumbent — and his biggest disagreement with Sen. Joe Lieberman was the incumbent’s vote to authorize the war. “With this war in Iran, I feel like I’ve seen this movie before,” Lamont told us, referring to this administration’s ongoing conflict with Iran. “Politicians have short memories.” In a 2006 debate, Lamont said: “President Bush rushed us into this war — he told us it would be easy, we’d be welcomed as liberators. ... And Senator Lieberman cheered on the president every step of the way when we should have been asking the tough questions.” Lamont would go on to win his primary against Lieberman, a victory that was seen as an indictment of the Iraq War and a harbinger for the way the war would become a political albatross for Democrats and Republicans alike. Lieberman went on to run and win in the general election as an independent. There are some echoes of these politics in Maine, where Platner is invoking his service as a key differentiator from Collins. “When running against someone like me who has lived the material consequences of her bad decisions,” Platner told us, “I don’t really think she knows what to do with that.” Collins defended her Iraq War vote in a statement to The Post, saying lawmakers were acting in the aftermath of the “greatest terrorist attack in our history.” For Lamont, there is a bit of redux in this moment. Platner told us that his service had informed his jump into politics, while Lamont cast his opposition to the war in similar terms. “It was absolutely central. That’s why I stood up,” Lamont said of the role the Iraq War played in his 2006 race. Lamont has watched since that race how Iraq War politics played a central role in key campaigns. In 2008, then Sen. Barack Obama used the war as a cudgel against then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) in the primary and then Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) in the general election. And in 2016, Donald Trump lambasted Clinton during the general election for Iraq, pledging to be an anti-war president despite later starting this conflict with Iran. “I thought Donald Trump had learned that lesson,” Lamont said. “He was the one who said, ‘No more of these forever wars.’ ... I hear these echoes all over again.” And Lamont said he thinks Platner’s focus on this issue is smart politics, even if that particular war ended over a decade ago. “I salute Graham Platner. I think he has a lot of credibility. He was over there. He was putting his life on the line,” Lamont said. “And now looking back on it, he realizes leadership probably led him astray. And are we better off in Afghanistan? Are we better off in Iraq for that war 20 years ago? I don’t think so.” And because of that, Lamont argued, this will certainly not be the last time that an upstart politician will use a war vote against an incumbent. “What did we learn from our experience in Iraq 20 years ago?” Lamont asked. “The president paid a lot of lip service to having learned the mistakes of that Iraq war, but here we are again.” Read our full report on how Maine is bringing Iraq War politics back here. Our picks - Trump formally nominates Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, from Jeremy Roebuck.
- In Trump’s second term, fewer seats for women at the table, from Maegan Vazquez and Eric Lau.
- This World Cup will be bigger, longer, hotter. Will it be better, from Thomas Floyd.
- Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers is struck down, from Lauren Kaori Gurley and Maria Sacchetti.
- After Mormon lawmakers object, Pentagon revises Christian religious categories, from Michelle Boorstein and Sammy Westfall.
What we’re watching Outside of Maine, several other states also have their primaries today: Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina. The Palmetto state is particularly interesting. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster is term-limited after serving for a decade, and a host of high-profile Republicans are running to succeed him. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is running with the endorsement of President Donald Trump, and today’s race will be a closely watched test of Trump’s endorsement power. Trump has so far had a mixed bag of success with his endorsed candidates — for some, the president’s blessing has led to major victories against well-funded opponents, including in the Texas and Louisiana Senate races. But other races have shown his support is not a fail-safe, notably with the Trump-backed Rep. Randy Feenstra losing in the Iowa primary for governor to Zach Lahn. The other candidates are also well known in the state and beyond. Evette is up against Reps. Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Wilson’s father is Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina). Mace is frequently in the national spotlight for her eccentric style on Capitol Hill and her vocal support for releasing the Justice Department’s records on Jeffrey Epstein. She was one of the few House Republicans to join Democrats early in forcing a vote on making the files public. Mace still advertises a past endorsement from Trump as part of her gubernatorial campaign, even though the endorsement is from a past House run. McMaster is also backing Evette. Down ballot, Sen. Lindsey Graham is running for his fifth six-year term in office. He is leading in most public polls by comfortable margins and has Trump’s support. “Lindsey has been a wonderful friend, and has always been there when I needed him,” Trump posted on Truth Social, citing Graham’s work as chair of the Budget Committee. But he is also one of the most ardent supporters of the war in Iran — an unpopular conflict with the broader electorate, particularly as it leads to market disruptions and goes against Trump’s campaign promise of staying out of extended wars overseas. In your local paper Los Angeles Times: You have heard of a professional actor. But what about a professional reality TV star? “Embracing unscripted TV fame (and fandoms), ‘The Traitors’ has become one of the central platforms for a very 21st-century form of celebrity: the professional reality star,” the paper writes. USA Today: The College World Series is set, with eight teams headed to Omaha for what is often referred to as one of the most fun events in sports. The teams are: West Virginia, Troy, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma. Rogue Valley (Oregon) Times: How bad is the drought out West? A local authority in Oregon’s Klamath Basin is asking farmers not to irrigate their fields — and paying them for saving water. Send a reply We are gearing up for the World Cup in this newsletter — and Dan will be heading out to California for a few matches. So we wanted to ask you: Who are you rooting for in this World Cup? Do you have ties to another country that impacts your fandom? Or please tell us why you pull for that random team you always seem to love? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica and @matthewichoi. | 
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