For nine months, Graham Platner’s supporters have insisted that Democrats should ignore the mounting evidence of his personal foibles and political vulnerabilities – and support his bid for the Senate in Maine.
They argued that his Nazi “Totenkopf” tattoo was a youthful indiscretion. They said his sexting with as many as a dozen women soon after his wedding was between him and his wife. They insisted that he was the best candidate to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, even as polling showed him badly underperforming other Maine Democrats.
On Monday, they ran out of excuses and rationalizations. Politico published long-rumored allegations that Platner hadn’t merely mistreated past girlfriends (as was alleged last month) but sexually assaulted a woman he’d dated. Within hours of the report, Platner’s former allies began abandoning him en masse. Now it’s merely a question of when, not if, Platner drops out of the race and is replaced by a less scandal-ridden Democrat.
But Democrats can’t so easily sweep this mess under the rug. There are painful but necessary lessons to be learned from Platner’s rise and fall.
This is a preview of a column by Michael A. Cohen. Read the full column here. |
