I want the Democrats to take control of the Senate so I hope Platner wins. But if he does, I will feel that Maine has elected a man with a low character. And that will not be good long term for our politics or our country.
Tribalism is still tribalism no matter how you dress it up. I would never support him no matter which party he was from. Nothing will get better if we expect so little from our parties. Republicans deserve to lose so I must vote for someone I don’t like and don’t want to see in office because the other side is worse. Of course republicans tell themselves the same story and down we go.
I live in Sullivan where almost everyone has a Platner sign on their lawn. I don’t. I think he has some good ideas but some really questionable thoughts and actions. His “support” for LGBTQ issues and people is colored by his lack of comment or “knowledge” about extreme prejudice against LGBTQ students in our school district. He is also totally lacking in political experience. He may win, it’s good that he’s progressive and populist, but I don’t feel great about him.
Agree. I don’t want to vote for a cheater, regardless of his political ideology.
because his personal ideology seems to be “I’ll do what I want even if it hurts my wife, I’ll try to hide my bad actions, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll go to therapy, make my wife take the blame for leaking it, and then whine and judge others for judging me.”
Ugh. Not attractive in any way, and we’ve got too many of these types in government already.
As a Maine voter who doesn’t want any more children to lose their health insurance under Susan Collins, I wish people on the Internet would stop insisting on trashing Graham Platner.
i think what troubles me is that this piece, and so much of the discourse around him, just feels so so so far from the reality of working Mainers and our experience under Susan Collins. it feels like folks feel comfortable sharing hot takes like he’s a celebrity. the point of Amy’s video: we cannot afford to live in our own state anymore even working our asses off. people are going hungry and buried in medical debt because of Susan Collins’ policies. when it comes down to it, this race comes down to two candidates. Which candidate does contributing to this discourse help? do you even care who wins? i feel like it’s another case of leftists tearing down other people on leftists instead of looking at the real powerful people pulling the strings (curiously not a word in your piece about how this “scandal” came about).
Something I didn't write that I wish I had is that I obviously think he is still the better choice over Susan Collins. When there is a binary choice, you choose harm reduction. But I'm so frustrated with egotistical male behavior amongst our politicians and I want better from this specific section of my party.
I’m sure!!!! And I know it hits different when it's your state, and especially a state like Maine that has a very specific culture and is struggling. I love and respect Mainers and can’t wait to come back this summer ❤️
I live in Sullivan, Platner’s home town. Almost everyone has Platner signs in their lawn. I don’t. Too many questions, too many slippery “facts” and “answers.”
I don’t see this conversation being at all productive because it still comes down to him or Susan Collins. If you’d rather support the Trump supporter than Platner than you’ve lost the plot.
I would still vote for him, and we can do better than this and should not act like it’s not a big deal. At what point do we take this stuff seriously? When it gets as bad as Eric Swalwell?
Well you seem to think it’s a bigger deal than Platner’s own wife does. So unless you can provide any of it was non-consensual, then I don’t care (at all).
Yesterday I was all in for Platner, today I’m wondering, Is he Fetterman redux, just with different, deeply serious character issues that going to the Senate will exacerbate, not fix? OTOH, dear God, please not another six years of Collins.
I have to say this sounds like when the DNC leadershit got rid of Al Franken. And they simply ADORE John F. Kennedy. The man who had multiple extra-marital affairs and banged celebrities and staffers while in office. The Puritan class of priviliged Ivy Leaguers truly love democracy but only when you vote for their candidate. They rigged it for Hillary and then blew it. They yelled at people who said Biden was toast and then blew it. And they kept their jobs! If they are so pure, let them take down the Kennedy name from that center along with tRump’s. It’s the No Hypocrite Zone! Do it or resign.
Men - especially majority men - are the only people given the 'benefit of the doubt'. And they factor that in to their actions. The worst thing we can do as a nation is continue down this path of 'wishful thinking', or 'motivated reasoning'. Deeds not words. All we've seen from Platner is questionable judgment. He absolutely cannot point to anything that shows he is worthy of the office. Can we just stop.
Can we stop with the worship/putting on a pedestal of candidates and politicians? They are humans with plenty of flaws. Probably more flaws than most because it takes a certain type of ego to even want to go into politics. Everything from the insane cult of Trump to the liberals with the purity tests. We don’t need to personally like these people. We just need to agree with how they are going to vote on our laws. That’s it. Also, isn’t it possible that good people can do bad things sometimes? On the spectrum of bad behavior for a politician, this is far from the worst. It is a personal matter between he and his wife. Stop expecting these people to be the second coming of Christ and you ll be just fine.
Yes there are but Platners flaws don’t necessarily fall into that category. The only person he owes an explanation to about his infidelity is his wife.
I think there is a time where that is true, but sexting a dozen women less than a year into your marriage is at least possibly indicative of a larger character flaw.
This is the quote that bothers me: “But if voters accept this as inevitable, it will continue to be.” Because what is the other option for voters? I also feel like this is, once again, a double standard. The lectures about voting for someone you’re not 100% behind are many. Why is that not applied for Platner? And this wasn’t in the article, but all these comparisons to Fetterman are mystifying and fall flat in terms of reasons to discount him.
I can't believe the cluelessness of that comment from the Pod Save America guy. If a senator has a low view of women, to the point where he does not even feel like he needs to treat the women he is closest to with courtesy and respect, YES I would expect that to affect me (?!?).
It's certainly not a good look. But I also don't like the High Priests of the National Media zooming in on his personal baggage--at the expense of covering where he stands on Issues X, Y and Z. So Mainers will decide. My own take on Platner stuff is on my Substack
The real life story of #Platner is marred with the scars that life deals to every single one of us. We learn, we repent, accept responsibility and we move on as better americans. We are redeemed. To beleive there aren't candidates who come flawless with all that life is about, isn't true. At a time when Trump has been forgiven by some americans for the unforgivable without as much as an inkling of repentance allows the space for a candidate for #Maine US #Senate that rises for your #vote to parilticipate in a government #ForThePeopleByThePeople #WeThePeople will continue to make our government a more perfect union.
I am not a Mainer. I still feel compelled to comment:
It is true that if Platner can’t come clean on his scandals, than there is a concern he cannot be trusted to make decisions. This would be all the more easier if the woman he is running against didn’t enable a man and a party exhibiting the very same behaviors we dislike in Platner. The toxic masculinity, the racist immigration policies, firing well-qualified women who dedicated their lives to a military career. The list is long. So if there was a sane GOP? Sure, I wouldn’t vote for him.
I likely would vote for Platner over Collins. If Collins displayed a modicum of independence, maybe. But she has disappointed me over and over. So I would really pick the devil I do not know.
I got a Ron Johnson to contend with in my state so sure we gotta take care of our own house—er Senate.
But what if he can and will do good things for the country? Isn't that actually more important than his private sex life? Our country is in deep trouble.
By the standard you advance, neither JFK or FDR should have been president. Is that really an arguable position?
I don't want to belabor this, but what if Maine’s Senate seat made a huge difference in some deeply important issue, like universal healthcare or yet another war, or insert issue of your choice? Is voting for a senator who follows Trump (Mills) or a novice senator in her late 70s really a saner choice?
I want the Democrats to take control of the Senate so I hope Platner wins. But if he does, I will feel that Maine has elected a man with a low character. And that will not be good long term for our politics or our country.
1000% agree.
Tribalism is still tribalism no matter how you dress it up. I would never support him no matter which party he was from. Nothing will get better if we expect so little from our parties. Republicans deserve to lose so I must vote for someone I don’t like and don’t want to see in office because the other side is worse. Of course republicans tell themselves the same story and down we go.
I live in Sullivan where almost everyone has a Platner sign on their lawn. I don’t. I think he has some good ideas but some really questionable thoughts and actions. His “support” for LGBTQ issues and people is colored by his lack of comment or “knowledge” about extreme prejudice against LGBTQ students in our school district. He is also totally lacking in political experience. He may win, it’s good that he’s progressive and populist, but I don’t feel great about him.
I’m not in Maine so observing from afar. But I feel the same way.
Agree. I don’t want to vote for a cheater, regardless of his political ideology.
because his personal ideology seems to be “I’ll do what I want even if it hurts my wife, I’ll try to hide my bad actions, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll go to therapy, make my wife take the blame for leaking it, and then whine and judge others for judging me.”
Ugh. Not attractive in any way, and we’ve got too many of these types in government already.
I’ll take the worst cheater over the nicest fascist ANY DAY!
As a Maine voter who doesn’t want any more children to lose their health insurance under Susan Collins, I wish people on the Internet would stop insisting on trashing Graham Platner.
I don’t think it’s trashing him to have a good faith discussion about what kind of person we want someone to be who holds national office.
i think what troubles me is that this piece, and so much of the discourse around him, just feels so so so far from the reality of working Mainers and our experience under Susan Collins. it feels like folks feel comfortable sharing hot takes like he’s a celebrity. the point of Amy’s video: we cannot afford to live in our own state anymore even working our asses off. people are going hungry and buried in medical debt because of Susan Collins’ policies. when it comes down to it, this race comes down to two candidates. Which candidate does contributing to this discourse help? do you even care who wins? i feel like it’s another case of leftists tearing down other people on leftists instead of looking at the real powerful people pulling the strings (curiously not a word in your piece about how this “scandal” came about).
hang on my mistake — i missed the paragraph where you mentioned the way the scandal came about.
Something I didn't write that I wish I had is that I obviously think he is still the better choice over Susan Collins. When there is a binary choice, you choose harm reduction. But I'm so frustrated with egotistical male behavior amongst our politicians and I want better from this specific section of my party.
that’s fair, and i understand. thanks for being civil; i’m sorry i came in hot. this election is a nerve wracking one.
I’m sure!!!! And I know it hits different when it's your state, and especially a state like Maine that has a very specific culture and is struggling. I love and respect Mainers and can’t wait to come back this summer ❤️
I live in Sullivan, Platner’s home town. Almost everyone has Platner signs in their lawn. I don’t. Too many questions, too many slippery “facts” and “answers.”
Why did you pist three times?
I didn't "pist" - the site glitched
I don’t see this conversation being at all productive because it still comes down to him or Susan Collins. If you’d rather support the Trump supporter than Platner than you’ve lost the plot.
I would still vote for him, and we can do better than this and should not act like it’s not a big deal. At what point do we take this stuff seriously? When it gets as bad as Eric Swalwell?
Well you seem to think it’s a bigger deal than Platner’s own wife does. So unless you can provide any of it was non-consensual, then I don’t care (at all).
you have no idea how much of a big deal it is to her, but she also communicated that it was a very painful experience.
Yesterday I was all in for Platner, today I’m wondering, Is he Fetterman redux, just with different, deeply serious character issues that going to the Senate will exacerbate, not fix? OTOH, dear God, please not another six years of Collins.
Dude has Fetterman 2.0 written all over him
Let's say Platner sucks.
Let's concede the point a priori.
He's still the best candidate in the race.
If there were a candidate in the race that had all of Platner's upside without any of the baggage, of course, people should choose that candidate.
But there isn't one.
I despise Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, but if they're the best candidate in the race... well... darn.
I guess what I'm saying is, what is the "action item" here?
Apart from, "it'd be nice if better candidates ran for the democrats" I don't know what anyone is meant to do, in your opinion.
I also groaned when i heard about the sexting revelations. (Seriously can’t men keep it in their pants? 🥒) AND I also see shades of gray (not 50😏).
Susan Collins is a proven dreadful awful wishy washy loser who consistently sides with Actual Sexual Predators. That’s blatant dark dark dark gray.
Graham Weiner is an unknown with some serious splotches of gray.
I’d vote for the splotches over the proven loser.
🤍🩶🖤
I have to say this sounds like when the DNC leadershit got rid of Al Franken. And they simply ADORE John F. Kennedy. The man who had multiple extra-marital affairs and banged celebrities and staffers while in office. The Puritan class of priviliged Ivy Leaguers truly love democracy but only when you vote for their candidate. They rigged it for Hillary and then blew it. They yelled at people who said Biden was toast and then blew it. And they kept their jobs! If they are so pure, let them take down the Kennedy name from that center along with tRump’s. It’s the No Hypocrite Zone! Do it or resign.
Men - especially majority men - are the only people given the 'benefit of the doubt'. And they factor that in to their actions. The worst thing we can do as a nation is continue down this path of 'wishful thinking', or 'motivated reasoning'. Deeds not words. All we've seen from Platner is questionable judgment. He absolutely cannot point to anything that shows he is worthy of the office. Can we just stop.
Can we stop with the worship/putting on a pedestal of candidates and politicians? They are humans with plenty of flaws. Probably more flaws than most because it takes a certain type of ego to even want to go into politics. Everything from the insane cult of Trump to the liberals with the purity tests. We don’t need to personally like these people. We just need to agree with how they are going to vote on our laws. That’s it. Also, isn’t it possible that good people can do bad things sometimes? On the spectrum of bad behavior for a politician, this is far from the worst. It is a personal matter between he and his wife. Stop expecting these people to be the second coming of Christ and you ll be just fine.
There are also certain flaws that make people less fit for leadership.
What is that larger character flaw then? Does it mean he’s not going to push for Medicare for all or to end the war in Gaza?
Yes there are but Platners flaws don’t necessarily fall into that category. The only person he owes an explanation to about his infidelity is his wife.
I think there is a time where that is true, but sexting a dozen women less than a year into your marriage is at least possibly indicative of a larger character flaw.
This is the quote that bothers me: “But if voters accept this as inevitable, it will continue to be.” Because what is the other option for voters? I also feel like this is, once again, a double standard. The lectures about voting for someone you’re not 100% behind are many. Why is that not applied for Platner? And this wasn’t in the article, but all these comparisons to Fetterman are mystifying and fall flat in terms of reasons to discount him.
I can't believe the cluelessness of that comment from the Pod Save America guy. If a senator has a low view of women, to the point where he does not even feel like he needs to treat the women he is closest to with courtesy and respect, YES I would expect that to affect me (?!?).
It's certainly not a good look. But I also don't like the High Priests of the National Media zooming in on his personal baggage--at the expense of covering where he stands on Issues X, Y and Z. So Mainers will decide. My own take on Platner stuff is on my Substack
The real life story of #Platner is marred with the scars that life deals to every single one of us. We learn, we repent, accept responsibility and we move on as better americans. We are redeemed. To beleive there aren't candidates who come flawless with all that life is about, isn't true. At a time when Trump has been forgiven by some americans for the unforgivable without as much as an inkling of repentance allows the space for a candidate for #Maine US #Senate that rises for your #vote to parilticipate in a government #ForThePeopleByThePeople #WeThePeople will continue to make our government a more perfect union.
I am not a Mainer. I still feel compelled to comment:
It is true that if Platner can’t come clean on his scandals, than there is a concern he cannot be trusted to make decisions. This would be all the more easier if the woman he is running against didn’t enable a man and a party exhibiting the very same behaviors we dislike in Platner. The toxic masculinity, the racist immigration policies, firing well-qualified women who dedicated their lives to a military career. The list is long. So if there was a sane GOP? Sure, I wouldn’t vote for him.
I likely would vote for Platner over Collins. If Collins displayed a modicum of independence, maybe. But she has disappointed me over and over. So I would really pick the devil I do not know.
I got a Ron Johnson to contend with in my state so sure we gotta take care of our own house—er Senate.
But what if he can and will do good things for the country? Isn't that actually more important than his private sex life? Our country is in deep trouble.
By the standard you advance, neither JFK or FDR should have been president. Is that really an arguable position?
you sound like the people who justified Trump- and i don’t think that turned out very well!
I can't stand Trump and never voted for him.
I don't want to belabor this, but what if Maine’s Senate seat made a huge difference in some deeply important issue, like universal healthcare or yet another war, or insert issue of your choice? Is voting for a senator who follows Trump (Mills) or a novice senator in her late 70s really a saner choice?
Or Clinton. Or Trump (ick) Too much testosterone