Who's to Blame for Graham Platner

(Sophie Park for The New York Times)

My thoughts on Graham Platner are basically the same as Professor David Schraub. Yes, Platner was obviously terrible and the first red flag was his Nazi tattoo. Which is partly why many were attracted to him. Yes, he's being a selfish fool by trying to demand concessions for dropping out after being revealed as a rapist. Which is what someone picked by anti-establishment leftists would do.

But I want to emphasize that a lot of you, especially allies from Our Revolution, Indivisible, Pod Save America, and other progressives are pretending that y'all weren't zealously pushing this man on the Dems from day one!

Platner wasn't the fault of the Democratic establishment. He wasn't the pick of Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries or the DNC. Their support was tepid and reticent, even after he became the presumptive nominee.

No, this was the fault of the anti-establishment crowd who (like with Fetterman) completely failed to listen to those with actual expertise and experience. It's the fault of leftist antizionists who are so blinded with (justifiable) rage abut Israel that they refused to listen to American Jews that were warning them from the jump. It's the fault of Bernie Bros and Co. who claim to support women until they have to confront the misogynists in their own movement.

This was the fault of people who spend more time attacking Democrats than they do standing up to Republicans, who blame liberals more for Trump than they hold conservatives accountable for his takeover of the country.

Because Platner never would've gotten this far without you. He never would've become a national icon of progressive populism. His oyster farm financially supported by his rich parents would never have been burnished into working class credentials. His time in the military, including a stint at Abu Ghraib, wouldn't have been turned into a shibboleth of Democrats failing to support masculinity and men. His Nazi tattoo and bigoted Reddit posts and history of domestic violence and affairs with other women woudn't have been papered over as iconoclastic growth.

And y'all know exactly who you are! Some of you are even my friends to this day. It was *you* who were attacking the character of anyone and everyone that even minimally questioned whether Platner was a good candidate. You put ten toes down against those of us who pointed out the many problems with him, as a person, as a candidate, and as a campaigner. But noooo! Any concern was dismissed as weak-kneed betrayal. Every criticism slandered as centrist, moderate, might-as-well-be-a-Republican fascism.

And now look at you: left holding the bag for a Nazi rapist astroturfing demagogue. You're ridiculous and embarassing. I can understand why you wanna suddenly pretend you were never leading the bandwagon. But I can't forget that you absolutely did and ran over anyone standing by the sidelines.
Worse, each time this happens, you lose more and more credibility for real progressive and leftist change in this country. Because for every Mamdani that you ride the coattails on, you've already tried to impose a dozen Platners and Chevaliers on us. You reveal how shallow your values are and how fairweather your sense of justice is.

I don't know what happens next for Mainers in this senate race, let alone the future of the senate itself in the 2026 midterms. The stakes couldn't be higher and the people who failed us are the very ones refusing to learn a goddamn thing from it. I can only hope that the voters, at least, finally do.

Take note and take care.