The Charm of Platner
I wish I could offer a mea culpa but Graham Platner never appealed to me. I couldn't even watch his much ballyhooed announcement video all the way through. What I saw drove me to eye rolls.
What became clear immediately was there was a loud contingent of people who were very excited about Graham Platner. They constitute a left-leaning media ecosystem that is willing itself into existence as the media heavyweights of the past drift into obsolescence. Familiar names like Pod Saves America, Jon Stewart, The Bulwark, Ryan Grim, Ezra Klein, Matt Ygglesias, Brian Beutler, Medhi Hassan and Zeteo, Jonathan Katz, and the like. In this interregnum where the Democrats don't have a standard bearer they collectively hold more sway than the DNC or DCCC. Platner to them clearly was more than a candidate, he was a crusade. A vision of the future of the party where unapologetic machismo excused away any need to cater to the various factions that constitute the Democrats.
The more I learned about Platner the less I liked. Before long I actively loathed the man. The controversies are familiar now (in chronological order): Nazi tattoo; Blackwater Mercenary; nepo baby fail son; abusive partner... This was everything I rallied against in my twenties repackaged as the savior of the Democrats. Why did it seem I was one of the few who saw this?
Yet the thought leaders on the "Left" lined up to praise him all the same.
What's most galling to me in this debacle is that Maine is destined to be a tough election. Sarah Gideon amassed an impressive war chest in her race against Collins and despite favorable polling Collins whupped her by double digits. Going against Collins in Maine should be seen as just as difficult as getting a Democrat elected in Texas. Yet the commentariat behind Platner assumed his male-ness made him a shoe-in.
If I were to rank likely Democratic Senate pickups this cycle it would looks like:
- Alaska
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Texas
- Maine
- Iowa
In Alaska, North Carolina, and Ohio the Democratic candidate has won statewide office previously. Yet, the same crew that pushed Platner so enthusiastically hardly mentions Mary Pelota or Sherrod Brown at all.
This same cadre were some of the most vocal about Biden dropping out of the 2024 election. That was shitty political instincts then and time has done little to show any virtue in their reasoning.
So in the wreckage of another candidacy propped up by the commentariat we're only left to question their motives. These people cast themselves as thought leaders and straight talkers, but their instincts just seem to be to pull the Democratic Party into the ditch. They've been scouting for Platners for years now and helped foist John Fetterman and Ruben Gallego onto the Senate. These actions have not dramatically reshaped the Democrats nor improved their electoral standings. They stand out as malcontents, sullen, and working against the better angels of the party in a time where cohesion is paramount.
