Platner is the Democrats’ Albatross

A couple months ago, I gave Maine Senator Susan Collins less than a 20 percent chance of being reelected. That was before Maine Democrats engaged in political malfeasance – kicking a golden opportunity into the gutter. Today, I put the odds slightly in Collins’ favor.

I based my reevaluation on several factors. Collins has a track record of pulling victory out of the jaws of defeat.

While current polls show Collins behind, tradition plays in her favor. In past elections, she was trailing only to pull out victories by comfortable margins. In 2020, Collins was reelected by a seven point margin even as Democrats salivated over a possible victory based on pre-election polling.

The major change in Collins’ prospects in what happened in the Democrat primary – and who emerged from the fiasco.

When he entered the race, Graham Platner came across as a fresh face – blue jeans wearing, military veteran oyster farmer. The sort of salt-of-the-earth candidate you would expect in Maine. But he was by far not the likely winner in the primary. But rather one of those fringe candidates who rarely break out of single digit support. That was because his chief opponent was Maine’s popular Governor Janet Mills. She was he preemptive candidate.

Inexplicably, Mills dropped out of the race even after Platner’s image began to crumble. She claimed lack of funding. That was a remarkable excuse. We are to believe that an incumbent governor could not out raise an increasingly controversial fringe candidate. Does not make sense. But it is what it is.

In withdrawing and literally handing the nomination to Platner, Mills did a great disservice to the people of Maine – especially Democrat voters. She did a great disservice to the national Democratic Party that was seeing Maine as the path to control of the Senate.

Platner’s devolution started with his more radical left-wing positions. Despite the conservative or moderate imagery, he was supporting such things as Medicare for All, free college tuition, a wealth tax on the rich, and other progressive priorities aligned with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He has also expressed support for ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court.

Then there were his intemperate remarks – especially wishing a wounded military hero had been killed. And that Nazi SS Totenkopf he proudly wore on his chest for 18 years – covering it only after it was raised as an issue in the campaign. At one point, Platner incredibly claimed he was not familiar with the image’s meaning. He just thought it was a cool graphic. That claim was later proven to be a lie.

When asked if there was any more baggage from his past, he assured voters that there was not. That also proved to be a lie.

Then came the sex – the iconic political scandal. There were instances of adultery, naked photos delivered to an untold number of women and even accusations of sexual intimidation and harassment. Several women claimed Platner got “rough” especially when drinking — which he did a lot of in the not so distant past.

Under the weight of the evidence and testimony, Platner abandoned the denial approach and claimed that he is no longer the man he was for so many years. He had a reformation that came coincidentally at the time he started running for the Senate. He attributes his conversion to the pastoral life of an oyster farmer in Maine and ongoing therapy. Therapy? Does that not suggest ongoing issues?

Those older than Internet may recall Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton. He was chosen by South Dakota Senator George McGovern to be his vice presidential running mate in 1972. The mere fact that Egleton had had mental counselling in the past was enough to force him off the ticket. (My, how times have changed.) More recently, we saw Minnesota Senator Al Franken get boot out of office for a sophomoric joke picture with a napping woman.

Platner attributes his past misspent life to undiagnosed PTSD. The current therapy suggests that Platner does not feel entirely cured of his demons but at least has confined them.

We can all recall individuals who have “turned their lives around” – and we properly support and celebrate that. One of the ways they stay healthy is by avoiding temptation. In Platner’s case, he is taking his propensity for lies and sexual misconduct into an arena where temptations abound. Washington has corrupted such individuals as California Congressman Eric Swalwell – and he had no known history of mental issues or sexual misconduct.

Then there are the issues. Mills did not only hand the nomination to a very flawed and controversial candidate, but one with extreme left wing views.

Platner stands on the fault line that divides the Democratic Party today. In terms of issues, he is a product of the party’s increasingly powerful radical left-wing – driving away those in the less extreme more traditional wing.

So, there ‘tis.