Maine gives Democrats one of their best chances to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, perhaps the most moderate Republican in the Senate, this fall, and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has become their very useful pain in their arse.
Platner, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer from Sullivan, leads the June 9 Democratic primary field and is positioned to face Collins in November if he wins.
Democrats need four net gains to reclaim the Senate majority. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met with Platner in Washington this week, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has kept its support in place.
It’s an object lesson where standards loosen up when 51 seats start glowing on the horizon. From Fox News’s Morgan Phillips.
Prominent Democrats who once argued misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh warranted investigation and public scrutiny are taking a different approach after abuse allegations surfaced against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Multiple former girlfriends of Platner, who is running to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, described troubling conduct to The New York Times, with one former girlfriend accusing him of physical aggression during their relationship.
Platner has denied the allegations and called them politically motivated.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of Platner’s highest-profile supporters, declined to comment on the allegations, while Sen. Chris Coons said to CNN on Thursday he was extending Platner “a measure of grace” while adding, “I think it’s important that anyone who is a candidate to serve in the Senate, or who serves in the Senate, be held accountable for their conduct.”
The response marks a contrast from prior years, when many of the same Democratic lawmakers argued allegations against Republican figures, including Kavanaugh and President Donald Trump, warranted public scrutiny, investigation and accountability.
According to the New York Times report, former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield alleged that Platner regularly grabbed her by the shoulders, sometimes hard enough to leave marks, and on one occasion yanked her from a taxi by her wrist. Fifield also alleged that during an argument, Platner twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door shut so she could not leave.
Platner brings plenty of baggage into the final stretch. Lyndsey Fifield, a conservative activist who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, said he repeatedly grabbed her hard enough to leave marks, also saying he twisted her arm and held her inside a room during an argument. From the Associated Press.
Lyndsey Fifield told The New York Times that Platner, a Democrat, never hit or punched her, but the incidents left her shaken and afraid. Fifield, a conservative activist, told the Times she dated Platner for about two years, starting in 2013 when he was a student at George Washington University following his military service.
Her claims were published as part of a Times report on Platner’s relationships with previous girlfriends, some of whom viewed him positively and others who described him as sometimes insulting, volatile or unfaithful.
Another woman, Jenny Racicot, who said she dated Platner on and off between 2019 and 2021, also told The Times about behavior that upset her. She said Platner once came to her house drunk in 2021 after she asked him not to come over. Racicot, a Maine Democrat, said his behavior was “reckless” and “unsettling.”
Unsurprisingly, Platner denies the abuse claims and calls the accusations politically driven, tying parts of his past conduct to untreated PTSD and alcohol abuse after military service.
I’m in no way discounting how PTSD will make life for our soldiers and Marines much harder. But this yahoo is hiding behind it, using it as an excuse for his abhorrent behavior. He openly rooted for a combat soldier to get shot and killed and criticized the Taliban for their poor marksmanship.
The man is a true SOB with delusions of grandeur.
The old troubles didn’t arrive alone; Platner faced questions over explicit messages sent to women soon after his 2023 wedding to Amy Gertner. His campaign said Gertner knew about the messages at the time, and the couple sought counseling.
Platner also came under fire for his skull tattoo that represents Nazi death camps, which he later covered up, claiming he didn’t understand the symbol’s meaning when he got it.
Voters can decide how much grace they want to extend. Democrats, however, don’t give a rip; they appear more interested in math.
The party response has been a little festival of throat cleaning. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) didn’t exactly charge the hill to condemn Platner. Old Spartacus himself, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), said campaigns would answer questions and left it there. Pocahontas, in other words, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), quite literally the man who has been warning of the coming oligarchy in the U.S. since 1996, each walked away when reporters asked if they still stood by Platner.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) showed more backbone than most and said she wouldn’t defend anyone with that kind of history.
Imagine stumbling into Washington and finding one Democrat who remembered shame still has a pulse.
Democratic strategist and living skeleton James Carville skipped the delicate routine and endorsed Platner, comparing the choice to the United States joining forces with Joseph Stalin during World War II. From Fox News.
Carville praised Platner for his military service, contrasting it with other politicians, saying, “He’s f***ed up, he’s been shot at, he’s a veteran, he’s a little bit weird, he’s an oysterman.”
“Then his opponent, I can hardly say her name without the utter contempt dripping, Susan Collins, whose spine reminds me of a blueberry jelly from Maine,” he said. “Maybe we need a combat veteran right on that Senate floor who is f***ed up.”
“If you believe, as I do, that the country is in imminent peril — I mean imminent peril — who is most likely to slow this criminal in charge? Susan ‘Blueberry Jelly’ Collins, or five degrees off dead center Graham Platner?” Carville asked. “I think it’s Graham Platner.”
“And you know if Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill could work with Joseph Stalin — who, by the way, well, I’ll tell you this, he was a bad guy, a really bad guy, alright — then I can overlook a tattoo,” Carville added.
Give Carville credit for candor; he didn’t pretend Platner was clean; he didn’t wrap ambition in scented paper; he just said the quiet part out loud enough for the back row: if Platner helps beat Collins, Democrats can swallow the rest and call it strategy.
Schumer’s problem is confusion; he knows what Platner brings to the table, so do the senators ducking hallway questions, same with the campaign professionals hoping every question can be shoved past primary day.
Democrats are treating Platner like a plunger they grabbed because their path to the majority is clogged. The welfare of the country can wait behind power, the next vote count, and whatever speech gets written after November.
Maine voters will settle the primary soon enough. For now, the pattern is plain: Democrats who lecture America about character, decency, and accountability have carved out a special exception for Graham Platner.
They don’t need him spotless; they need him useful; if he helps deliver the Senate majority, the speeches can be rewritten, the questions can be buried, and the lectures can resume right after Election Day.
Convenient, isn’t it?
Democrats keep telling America they’re the party of decency, then they look at Graham Platner and suddenly remember how badly they want the Senate. If you want conservative coverage that calls out the double standard without apology, join the PJ Media VIP family today. Use promo code FIGHT and get 60% off your subscription here.
