The RCP podcast panel on Tuesday discussed a New York Times/Siena poll showing Maine Democrat Graham Platner narrowly leading Republican Sen. Susan Collins, and how the deciding factor in many 2026 Senate races will probably be how much it becomes a referendum on Donald Trump. They mention this piece from the Bangor Daily News pointing out that more than half of likely voters think Collins would support Trump too much: “3 Lessons From a Poll Showing a Close Platner-Collins Race” Tom Bevan argues Republican Senate candidates should remind voters that Trump will only be president for the next two years, while Carl Cannon counters that Democrats will be running against Trump long after he’s dead. “Platner shares the theory of the case that the Bangor Daily News laid out. In his acceptance speech of the nomination, he attacked Collins for allegedly getting rich in office. That isn’t true. But supporting the president, that was half true,” Cannon said. “The way that he has deflected this negative attention about his character is by talking about Trump.” “Basically, he hasn’t said it this way, but: You think my character’s bad, but Trump’s character is worse,” he added. “If this race becomes about Trump, it’s a problem for Collins,” Bevan said. “Trump’s at 40% in our RCP Average job approval rating.” “But one of the things, if I were running for Senate as a Republican, that I would continually point out is that it’s a six-year term. Trump’s only going to be in office for another two years. Two-thirds of what we’re talking about here is going to happen post-Trump. It’s not about Trump. It’s about me, my record versus my challenger’s record.” “People get so fixated on Trump, like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’ve got to fight Trump, fight Trump.’ Trump’s going to be out of the picture, and there’ll still be four years left on whoever wins this race,” Bevan said. “That’s a logical point, but I have this feeling Democrats will be running against Trump like 10 years after he’s dead,” Cannon quipped.
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