Former Obama advisor tells divided Maine Democrats to 'get over your s---' and win the race

Read the original at Fox News ↗
Fox News · collected 2026-10-10 · by Alexander Hall

Quick Summary

Former Obama advisor Dan Pfeiffer recently discussed divisions within Maine's Democratic party regarding the U.S. Senate race against Senator Susan Collins on a podcast hosted by other former Obama aides. Pfeiffer urged Democrats to unify behind the current candidate Troy Jackson despite internal disagreements over previous controversies and candidate replacements. He suggested that sitting out the election due to dissatisfaction could harm their chances of securing a Democratic victory in Maine, echoing Obama's recent endorsement video encouraging voter participation.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Dan Pfeiffer, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, criticized divided Maine Democrats over their contentious U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Pfeiffer urged Democrats to "get over your s---" and unite despite internal conflicts. The party initially nominated Graham Platner, who was later replaced due to sexual assault allegations. His replacement, Troy Jackson, has also faced controversies but received an endorsement from Obama in a video urging voter participation. Pfeiffer noted that there are significant numbers of people in Maine who do not like Jackson, including some Democrats, indicating ongoing intra-party tensions.

Written for “Democrats Unity Call Maine” on 2026-10-10, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.45, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 4 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 69734: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-10

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
31
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
6%
2 of 31 hedged
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Correction & hedging signals
69.6
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-10 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Democrats Unity Call Maine
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Susan Collins Is the Living Worst different event · 95%
The Bulwark
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 13% hedged 3 of 23
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Senate race in Maine and do not describe the same specific incident.”
The Bulwark
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 9% hedged 1 of 11
“The articles discuss different aspects and times during the Senate race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson, rather than a single specific incident.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 19 📰 publisher trust 69
“Article A discusses Obama's broader involvement in the 2026 elections and his digital ad campaign, while Article B focuses on a specific warning from former aides of Obama to Maine Democrats regarding their Senate race.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss Obama's involvement in Troy Jackson's Senate race in Maine, Article A describes Obama's endorsement and fundraiser, while Article B discusses internal divisions within the Democratic party regarding the same candidacy.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same race but do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Alexander Hall
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The hosts discussed why Obama might have chosen that message.
🔮 In his actual review, he argued that the movie is so counterproductive in that it "will turn even the most hardcore Facebook hater into a true-blue Facebook believer — the film is just that magnificently, unbelievably, despicably bad."
🔮 " "‘The View’ needs a fake Republican who will constantly criticize actual Republicans, the president, and party donors, and she’s keeping the title because it’s her business plan to pull the Republican card meaninglessly," Marslender added.
🔮 CBS News' immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez asked Homan about deaths in ICE custody under the Trump administration, noting that this year could set a "new record high." "We looked at official ICE data, sir, and found that 57 people have died in the agency's custody so far under this administration," Montoya-Galvez said.
🔮 In the lyrics, Flowers sings about being on the open road while yearning for home, feeling a deep nostalgia for a bygone era, and encountering a roadside billboard that asks, "Where would I spend my eternity?"
🔮 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told podcaster Theo Von Thursday he found it "strange" to be called out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in late September.
🔮 Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker vowed Wednesday that he would push Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico to govern as a leftist rather than a moderate Democrat if Talarico was elected.
🔮 "It would appear that we have some upset little staffers that she is not — when she's under pressure — not nice to ‘em."
🔮 It wasn’t ‘Maybe we need to look at what we’re doing if it makes some crazy person do this.’
🔮 Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said Republicans are better at pushing positive and negative narratives than Democrats on Thursday and warned his party that its 2028 nominee will need that skill to win.
Also by Alexander Hall
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Alexander Hall →

Topics

Democratic Democrats Maine Republican Senate

Subjects

Democrats NORP · 10× Maine GPE · 7× Obama PERSON · 6× Democratic NORP · 4× Jackson PERSON · 4× Senate ORG · 4× Mills PERSON · 3× Troy Jackson PERSON · 3× Pfeiffer PERSON · 2× Republican NORP · 2×

Narrative

Pfeiffer offered his assessment of the feuds between Democrats, saying, "And, so I think a little whether there are people who supported Platner who didn't like Platner being gone or the process by which we got here, or people who were supporting Mills who don't like any of this and Mills and Jackson do not like each other.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-10
🔮 The hosts discussed why Obama might have chosen that message.

Claims (31 extracted, 2 hedged)

Former aides to President Barack Obama discussed divisions among Maine Democrats over the party's troubled U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, with one warning Democrats to "get over your s---." asserted
one → discuss → s---
Maine's Senate race has drawn national attention after Democrats replaced their initial candidate, Graham Platner, following sexual assault allegations against him. asserted
Democrats → draw → him
His replacement, Troy Jackson, has faced controversies of his own. asserted
replacement → face → own
Even so, Obama, the former boss of the "Pod Save America" hosts, recently released an endorsement video urging Maine voters not to sit out the election. asserted
Obama → release → election
The hosts discussed why Obama might have chosen that message. uncertain
Obama → discuss → message
Former Obama strategist Dan Pfeiffer told his co-hosts that "It is true, and we have — this has been sort of mysterious to both of us — that there are a significant number of people in Maine who seem not to like Troy Jackson, including some Democrats." "Yeah," former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau agreed. asserted
Favreau → tell → Democrats
"That’s my biggest worry." asserted
That → ’ → ?
Pfeiffer offered his assessment of the feuds between Democrats, saying, "And, so I think a little whether there are people who supported Platner who didn't like Platner being gone or the process by which we got here, or people who were supporting Mills who don't like any of this and Mills and Jackson do not like each other. asserted
Mills → offer → other
And as of like, two weeks ago, Mills had not endorsed Jackson and Jackson had not asked for the endorsement. asserted
Jackson → endorse → endorsement
" "Everyone get over your s--- and let's try to win this race," he added. asserted
he → get → race
"I think there is some sense or fear, maybe, that some of the people who are not enthusiastic about Jackson for some reason because of how this process played out may sit out and so just like ‘get in here, get in the fight,’" Pfeiffer said of Obama’s video. uncertain
Pfeiffer → think → video
"I don't know if that's a real concern or not, but if I was trying to find a reason why that line would be in there, that would be it." asserted
that → know → reason
"Yeah, I would say to all the Maine Democrats out there, I know it's been a rough one, but look to Michigan," Favreau said. asserted
Favreau → say → Michigan
"They had an extremely divisive primary, and you had Gretchen Whitmer, was out there with Abdul [El-Sayed] this week." asserted
you → have → Sayed
"Haley Stevens has been saying great things," he continued, noting Democrats in Michigan have been coming together after initially being divided. asserted
Democrats → say → Michigan
"And I really wish — I do think that Troy Jackson would probably benefit from more Maine Democrats and national Democrats kind of, you know, because, like, Maine is the kind of state that, again, it wants to go Democratic," Favreau added. asserted
Favreau → wish → state
"They want — those voters want a Democratic Senate. asserted
voters → want → Senate
That's what they're telling." asserted
they → tell → what
"Even The New York Times poll that showed Collins ahead, you had people most people wanting a Democratic Senate," he said. asserted
he → show → Senate
"So, like I feel like the Democrats there just have to be reminded that like this is our guy and this is our ticket to a Democratic Senate and not a Republican Senate." asserted
this → feel → Senate
Democratic strategist Julian Epstein told Fox News Digital, "Socialist revolutionaries all seem to be a little bit weird for one reason or another. asserted
revolutionaries → tell → reason
Marry this with the mainstreaming in the Democratic Party of this lust for the centralized, command and control economic decision-making and the further expansion of a welfare state that is completely broke and headed towards a kind of complete breakdown that mimics Europe's current dysfunction. asserted
that → marry → dysfunction
"The political and consultant class doesn't seem to care about these things," he continued. asserted
he → seem → things
"They always find a way to rationalize. asserted
They → find → way
If these revolutionary candidates don't win, it means less power and money for the left and its apparatchiks. asserted
it → win → left
It seems like it's just about power at any cost these days. asserted
it → seem → cost
The Beltway money barge has a strange way of warping the sensibilities." asserted
barge → have → sensibilities
Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, said the Obama administration alumni were coping. asserted
alumni → say → Institute
"The ‘Pod Save America’ bros are just struggling to cope," he told Fox News Digital. asserted
he → struggle → Digital
"Susan Collins is overperforming because Maine voters know she’s a sensible moderate who calls balls and strikes." asserted
who → overperforme → balls
"Collins has been an independent maverick throughout her career, and Maine voters appreciate that about her," he added. asserted
he → appreciate → her
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