Shut Up About Graham Platner and Start Elevating Good Candidates

Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offThere are 435 house seats and 35 senate seats up for election. All of these races have primaries. Sometimes these primaries have multiple candidates. But to listen to the grifter media, you’d think the only race currently going on in the US is happening in Maine.Both big media and independent journalists are clutching their pearls over Graham Platner. The one fact that they conveniently overlook is that if they’d done their job a year ago, they might have published these stories in time to elevate a good candidate. Now they’re committed to hand-wringing over Platner to cover up their complicity and to trick you into supporting their worthless publications.Fool me twice, shame on you.Unlike these other “journalists,” I actually was interviewing primary challengers a year ago. My first interview was with Laura Benjamin who was running for Wisconsin 3. It’s a seat currently occupied by Derrick Van Orden. Benjamin eventually ended her campaign, and I’ve gone on to interview Emily Berge five times. She is a wonderful candidate. She deserves all the press that Platner doesn’t. Start supporting the publications that do the right thing and talk about the right people.I was one of the first people on Substack to interview Francesca Hong. She’s an excellent, Mamdani style candidate who is currently the frontrunner for Wisconsin governor. She could use the support of Substack journalists too. Every word wasted on Platner takes us farther from the society that would be well within our reach if people would just wake up.A few weeks ago, I interviewed Ericka Kopp for VA-01 and Melat Kiros. These two brilliant women made my heart soar. If you watch even five minutes of that interview, you’ll see a realistic and achievable vision for a prosperous and humanitarian future. At the end, Melat gives some thoughts on appealing to MAGA that is probably the most insightful assessment I’ve heard since this whole nightmare began.But again, the grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.For almost a year, I’ve been screaming into the void. I’ve been interviewing every single candidate that reaches out to me. I’ve been doing a lot of work with Citizens' Impeachment. They’ve put together a community of around 150 candidates that are working on a plan to restore our country when they win their elections.But grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.And don’t think that the journalists of Substack can claim ignorance. I’ve been appealing to them for years. I’ve reached out dozens of times to millionaire funded publications pleading with them to pay attention to these candidates.They haven’t so much as shared or cross posted my big list of interviews:They have unlimited time to write article after article about Graham Platner, but they don’t have time to hit restack?At some point, we have to recognize that the majority of our precious “independent” media personalities are a bunch of phonies. They aren’t really out there on the front lines working to educate the population. Instead, they’re just chasing “open rates” and grabbing liberal money.They know that hysteria about Graham Platner will get them paid, and they’re indifferent about the fact that journalists have the power to get a new generation of quality candidates elected.It’s up to readers to hold publications to that standard. Stop submitting to MAGA conditioning.It’s ridiculous that so called “activists” won’t so much as restack any of the articles I produce. This frustrated me for a long time until I realized that I expected these big publications to be something they’re not.The change needed to defeat authoritarianism happens in every individual heart. We have to put aside our competitive indoctrination, and find our commitment to helping each other.I’ve always aspired to model that. I don’t hesitate to promote the work of good journalists. I do my best to platform writers who are out there giving visibility to quality people. I’ve found that I get a lot more support from writers with small platforms than the “post and ghost” representatives of old school celebrity journalism.Are you honestly trying to tell me that these “brilliant” writers who were fired from major publications can’t see the value of elevating good politicians?They’re grifters.They don’t really care about fighting authoritarianism or reforming our government, there out there making a buck.Now, to be clear, I don’t have any problem with people who have written a few notes or articles about Graham Platner. There are people out there who have assisted me with interviewing independent candidates who have strong opinions on Platner. You’re allowed to express your opinions. My issue is when massive platforms with massive reach pull out their hair about Platner and completely disregard all the brilliant people who are running.Every time they write about Platner, they miss an opportunity to elevate somebody better. That’s an abdication of their responsibility.Over the last few days, I’ve felt a shift. I’m seeing a lot more pressure directed at major media personalities that aren’t doing the work. This article is an excellent example. The reality is that even so-called “left-wing” journalism often follows the MAGA model. Their engine is hysteria, rage, and reaction rather than any productive strategy. They operate on division. They create drama and anger.Take a second to scroll through the supporters of some of those big money publications capitalism has indoctrinated you to admire. Check and see how many of their supporters are nameless profiles without a picture who only sponsor one publication. It’s suspicious.At some point, readers have to be more discerning about being turned into a product. These publications that spend all their time spewing rage content about Platner are only there to distract you from learning about good candidates like Francesca Hong, Emily Berge, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, or any of the dozens of other candidates I’ve interviewed.Notice that all the ones I’ve mentioned are women.Now, stop and ask yourself why you’re supporting major publications that refuse to platform women?It’s time to stop allowing yourself to be the unwitting tool of the tech bro robber barons. They know that our minds have largely been captured by toxic scrolling algorithms. They want to continue to command your attention so you feel powerless and you never realize how easy it would be to win back our country.Graham Platner doesn’t deserve this level of media attention. The second a publication dedicates an article to him, you should revoke your support.Be deliberate in the information you consume. Get out there and learn about the valiant women and men of integrity who are actually fighting hard to save our country. Stop giving all your money and time to the grifters.To date I’ve interviewed 28 excellent candidates (imagine if all the big publications did that):Abel Chavez, Chris Bennett, Joel Lava, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, Andrew Rice, Joseph Perez-Caputo, Robert People for Congress, John Liccione, Nick Alex for Congress GA, Joey Ruz, Elldwnia English, Alex Rikleen, Whalen for Congress, Shelby Campbell, Doug Chapin for Congress, Erik Terwey, Melissa Bird, Brittany Jones, Liza Hameline, Ericka Kopp for VA-01, Salaam Bhatti, Robert Tracinski, Ace Parsi, Emily Berge, Ginger Murray, Chris Armstrong for Congress, Francesca Hong Also check out Citizens' Impeachment What you can doRestack my big list of candidate interviews. Restack each interview individually. If one of those candidates is in your district, go and volunteer. Also, pressure big publications to platform them. I want to see 10,000 shares on that big list. Do you want to save democracy or not?There’s no reason to be clutching our pearls over Platner all the time. Let’s demand that publications platform good people, and if they don’t you should take back your time. Demand better!. Stop supporting publications that do NOTHING and support those doing the work (LIKE ME):We’ve got to join together and support decent people. We have to elevate each other. We don’t need a commitment to the grift, we need an active, cooperative resistance!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe