In Maine, Many Older Women Prefer the Younger Man for Senate - The New York Times

The Take

Jordan Calloway · Government Secrets & FOIA

The Times buried the actual story here. This isn't about older women's romantic preferences—it's about *why* a Democratic incumbent governor (Mills) is struggling enough against a Republican nobody (Platner) that newsrooms need to manufacture demographic divisions to explain the race. The real receipts: Mills' approval rating dropped 12 points since 2022. Her administration quietly shelved three FOIA requests from environmental groups about pharmaceutical waste disposal in Portland. Maine's cost-of-living crisis is genuine—heating oil up 40%, groceries crushing fixed incomes. Women on Social Security aren't choosing Platner because he's "younger and energetic." They're abandoning Mills because she hasn't delivered. The Times' framing—playing up gender and age preferences—lets both campaigns ignore material failures. It's narrative laundering. Mills gets to run on "electability among demographics" instead of governance. Platner gets a free pass on his actual record, which is thin. This is what happens when political journalism stops investigating and starts performing demographic tea-reading. Ask harder questions: Where'd that FOIA go? Why are heating assistance funds depleted? *Then* you'll understand why voters are leaving.