Political Views From the Heartland

: Jamie Stiehm on Jul 15, 2026

Madison, Wisconsin -- This is my hometown, where it's consoling to be in a sane state in high summer.

Since Maine Democrats fell for the oysterman hook, line and sinker, they deserve what they get in November. Choosing Graham Platner's rocky record over a seasoned woman governor, Janet Mills -- who could have defeated Sen. Susan Collins in a cakewalk -- shows that we still have long way to go, baby.

Platner looked like MAGA lite to me -- as a survivor of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. No friend to women, clearly, from his secret life. And a Nazi tattoo too!

An Aesop's political fable: Don't let groupthink and mass media hysteria take you there, to worship a false god, a "white working-class" guy who has no place in a Senate race. Witness his graceless exit. In addition to his racism and misogyny, Platner worked for the mercenary group Blackwater -- private soldiers and weapons for hire.

Ugh.

So many friends (and foes) deserted core principles because they want Collins gone. Good luck with that. We should all "remember the Maine" lesson in future contests. We're better than that and won't do anything to win.

That brings me to Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) sudden death at home in Washington, D.C. He was 71. Knowing the Senate as well as I do, I didn't know he had "the Calhoun desk," now shrouded in black with white roses.

Do you know dour Sen. John Calhoun of South Carolina created the legal doctrine for slavery and secession for the Southern states? He did so long before Abraham Lincoln came to town as president-elect. Calhoun armed the South with justifications for preserving slavery, our "peculiar institution."

After Calhoun's death, his reasons lived on and became a burning issue: the demand to expand slavery, not just save it in place. South Carolina seceded first in the conflict that broke out and became the Civil War in 1861.

So, even though he was dead, Calhoun played a central role as a catalyst in breaking the nation apart and forming the Confederacy.

Forgive me, but why honor Calhoun's memory? He was on the wrong side of the bloodiest argument in American history. Graham clearly cherished the lineage from Calhoun, whose hateful, glowering face hangs in a Senate hall.

Graham relished being in the thick of things, since the '90s, and made a name attacking former President Bill Clinton for his peccadillos. But President Donald Trump could count on his golfing partner for support on almost anything, in his flat Southern accent.

Graham's best years were spent following the late Sen. John McCain around like Sancho Panza. Recently opening the way for sanctions on Russia counts to his credit. He returned from Ukraine the day before he died.

And Graham made a difference in political theater. Senators didn't enjoy crossing his temper tantrums, most of all on Trump's delicate Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of drunken sexual misconduct.

Collins clinched Kavanaugh's confirmation, which might have been a fatal flaw, as he opposes reproductive rights. But "anti-elite" Democrats squandered that chance by creating a fictional candidate in Platner. Good move! Sometimes elites are elites and party elders for a reason.

The view from here is clear. Two years after former President Joe Biden's debate debacle, which handed the 2024 election to Trump, Democratic governors are the key to White House victory in 2028.

The bench is impressively deep -- from Illinois, Land of Lincoln, to California and Kentucky. I've heard Govs. Andy Beshear (Ky.) and JB Pritzker (Ill.) address full houses at the Center for American Progress, in full command of facts but also harnessing the emotions of sore Democrats cut out of the political picture.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is not just a pretty face. I can see him campaigning to reach the presidential party ticket one way or another.

The disrespect Trump shows for governors, senators and representatives across the aisle is epic. His hegemony must be stopped this November, or else the cynics might be right: We're in a "rolling coup." The Senate, for now, is the Democrats' last best hope.

Looking further down the road, a disarming Southern Democratic governor could cure what ails us. Remember, it's been done before.

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The author may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

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