I read Duane's piece on Graham Platner this morning, and he makes a good case for why Graham Platner's campaign should be on its last legs.
It should be. In fact, once the Nazi tattoo story came out, the Democrats should have dropped him like a hot potato. Or, perhaps, as Pinochet dealt with communists, out of a helicopter.
But Platner had been groomed by the left and actually didn't emerge out of the blue as the myth has it. There was a massive pre-campaign to normalize him, emanating from, surprisingly, the Obama camp. David Axelrod's protege, Morris Katz, is Platner's consultant, and he laid the groundwork by snagging glowing profiles in The New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, and, weirdly, Bon Apetít before Platner's big rise.
Jim Geraghty did a great story about Platner's grooming, summarized in this tweet responding to the claim that Platner's rise was organic:
Completely wrong, which you would know if you bothered to click through and read.
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) May 26, 2026
The New York Times is not in the habit of writing a largely glowing profile of every long-shot, little-known Democrat who announces a bid for Senate. Platner was the harbormaster of Sullivan,… https://t.co/6RBscqm2uv
The New York Times is not in the habit of writing a largely glowing profile of every long-shot, little-known Democrat who announces a bid for Senate. Platner was the harbormaster of Sullivan, Maine, population 1,246.
Yet the Times wrote its profile of Platner _before_ he officially announced his campaign, in August.
In September, The New Yorker wrote its own 3,400-word profile of Platner, emphasizing how he “devoured books on military history.” (But remember, he insists he never recognized the tattoo on his chest as a symbol of the Nazi SS.) Again, The New Yorker almost never writes long-detailed profiles of little-known Democratic Senate candidates one month after they announce their bid.
Then in October, GQ – not primarily a political magazine, and not one that often spotlights candidates – published its own large spread of Platner with lots of photos.
Then in November, the culinary magazine Bon Appetit – again, not in the habit of covering obscure Senate candidates – wrote another glowing profile, this one entitled, “How Graham Platner Went From Working-Class Oysterman to Maine’s Zohran Mamdani.”
This is Beto O’Rourke-level national coverage, right out of the gate. https://x.com/DarkOssoff/sta/DarkOssoff/status/2059247014144061835
Obscure candidates in MAINE don't get coverage like that without a massive PR campaign making it happen. A massive effort was put into place to make it happen, just as there has been one to make his consultant, Morris Katz, a power on the left (I will write about him and his sketchy tactics sometime).
Graham Platner's Reddit posts blaming rape victims can HELP Dems "win back... the young men we've lost," his handler, @katz_morris, told @davidaxelrod.
— Joel Mowbray (@joelmowbray) June 1, 2026
Why? It shows Platner is "one of them" & a "real person."
Katz is a top Dem strategist.
This is what he thinks of young men. https://t.co/iA1Y2AOuN4 pic.twitter.com/zM10gUXY73
It's true that some Democrats, notably Senator Chuck Schumer, worked hard to keep Platner off the ballot, and that a few are breaking with the Democratic Party consensus that Platner is The One, I'm not so sure that the avalanche of revelations Duane outlines in his post (too long to go through, but it's A Lot!) will be enough to drive him out of the race.
I'm starting to think that SS tattoo might have been a red flag. https://t.co/o6Er979eQm
— Haviv Rettig Gur (@havivrettiggur) May 31, 2026
Sure, the guy hangs out on a pedophile site, screws around with 12 women while his wife is pregnant, wants soldiers to die, joined the military to kill people, loves to masturbate in public toilets, and thinks women are responsible for being raped, but aside from that he's really a normal guy. Who doesn't have a Nazi tattoo?
When asked whether Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner passes the “character test,” after CBS confirmed reporting that Platner's wife told his campaign about sexually explicit texts he sent to other women, Sen Chris Murphy (D-CT) says Platner has lived a life of… pic.twitter.com/coKBizY1aD
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 31, 2026
When asked whether Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner passes the “character test,” after CBS confirmed reporting that Platner's wife told his campaign about sexually explicit texts he sent to other women, Sen Chris Murphy (D-CT) says Platner has lived a life of service to the U.S., but “also made mistakes and he has admitted that.”
“I think this is going to be a pretty clear contrast in Maine between somebody who has spent his life protecting us versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump's corruption,” he says.
What we are seeing, I think, with some Democrats making a clear break with Platner is the external evidence of an internal battle within the Democratic Party over who should control it. Platner is the darling of one side, and the other side is trying to salvage its diminishing power.
What level of white male privilege is it when the female whistleblower is the one facing threats for exposing the truth? https://t.co/eAdgRAS2LM
— Holden (@Holden114) June 1, 2026
The oppo dump on Platner, I think, is pretty obviously coming from some Democrats, who are giving the green light to some of their friends in the media to drop all the ammo now to weaken Platner so they can replace him before the July deadline, even after the primary.
WATCH: NBC's Kristen Welker addresses the Platner sexting scandal within the panel discussion at "Meet the Press". Fmr. Rep. Val Demings dismisses it all as she goes into her set piece, is absolutely COOKED by Stephen Hayes
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 31, 2026
KRISTEN WELKER: Val, I want to ask you about another… pic.twitter.com/QZTekXXfvR
KRISTEN WELKER: Val, I want to ask you about another controversial candidate for Democrats. You talked about Maine, Graham Platner. I’m going to just read from my notes because I want to get it right. He’s faced a series of controversies, including past posts about sexual assault, a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol that he had covered up right before he ran, by the way, and now sexually explicit texts with other women despite being married. Does Graham Platner pose a headache for Democrats?
VAL DEMINGS: Well, let me go back to Texas for just a moment. Cornyn was a beloved candidate beloved by Republicans in Washington and in Texas. I’m not sure that candidate flaws matter as much as they used to. Millions of dollars were spent to save Cornyn. Didn’t work. Paxton won by a landslide. But the bottom line is Platner, he’s a combat veteran, has served in multiple tours of duty, an oyster farmer. And I believe that sends a message to voters that he understands the working class, had to go to work every day. I think people are so worried about the future right now they’re going to look at, “Do I feel like this candidate is going to fight for me and what I care about?” If Maine believes that through all of the controversy, as we just saw with Paxton, Platner will win.
It may work, but I think the odds are in Platner's favor because the radical left is ascendant, and Platner only has to ride it out for a month, and the Democrats are stuck with him.
Next time they tell you Trump is a unique evil and thus justifies their rage, remind them that they also think Susan Collins is so evil, they have to support a nazi predator over her.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 31, 2026
They don't mean anything they say. It's all just about power. https://t.co/j6A0VuzvCv
The DSA wing of the Democratic Party (which is now a thing) is making a play for total control over the Party, and they will fight like hell to keep Platner in the race. Only a massive drop in the polls, which isn't clearly happening yet, will give the less-radical left a small window to take him out.
Haven't seen Nazis and Communists get along this well since the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. https://t.co/bE0YHT76HY
— Holden (@Holden114) May 26, 2026
The communist left, which is ascendant in the Democratic Party right now, has a lot invested in Graham Platner, and while the less radical Democrats are right that even if Platner looks like he still might win right now, he is a dangerously vulnerable candidate in the fall as Maine voters really get to know him, I expect the communists to not give in to the pressure.
For decades, the powerful have taken. They took so much, they began to think we didn't even exist at all.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) June 1, 2026
But they don't know Maine. We are taking back what is ours.
Our new ad ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MnYvGjnlde
The "moderate" (read rapacious, not communist) Democrats smell blood and want safer candidates to be on the ballot to seize the House and Senate. The communist Democrats smell "moderate" blood in the party, and want to seize the opportunity to take out their Democratic Party opponents.
Duane could be right, and Platner could be toast, but if he is, it is in the General Election. I would not be SHOCKED if he were driven out of the race this month, but I would be more than a little surprised. AOC, Bernie, and their ilk will stick by Platner, and that will be enough, I think, to keep him viable within the Democratic Party.
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