Media Made and Unmade Graham Platner

Graham Platner’s once-ascendant candidacy for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat collapsed spectacularly last week.

In an 11-minute, self-pitying rant, the self-described communist suspended his campaign, blaming everyone but himself for the half-dozen personal scandals that derailed it. He also announced that he would file the paperwork to withdraw his name by today’s deadline.

With Platner’s exit and Democrats in disarray, one must ask: How did such a comically radioactive candidate get this far in the first place?

The immediate explanation is that he was granted an unusual amount of grace by party leaders, primary voters, and donors eager for a genuine born-and-bred blue-collar champion in this age of anti-establishment slopopulism.