Off the Cliff Today
Maine Democrats appear set to go off the cliff with Graham Platner today. It is primary day in the Pine Tree State. Like Thelma and Louise, Platner and Bernie are going to take the Democratic Party off a cliff.
Yesterday, in the Washington Post, Genevieve McDonald warned Democrats. She had been Platner’s political director.
Over the past eight months, women have come to me with their own disturbing stories about Platner. Last week, revelations about his physical mistreatment of women erupted in the Times. I had never met or spoken with Lyndsey Fifield, who spoke to the Times, but I knew about her experience while dating him.
Yet many Democrats seem unconcerned. On CNN, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) offered a dismissive response about Platner’s behavior: “Is he a saint? I guess not. I don’t know too many saints here.”
His comment reflects one of the deepest problems in American politics today. We have learned to excuse what we should condemn. I want better for my daughters, and for the people of Maine. Democrats are being sold a narrative that Platner is the only choice for the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Maine voters don’t have to accept that. There are two other named candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. If Platner wins the nomination but later withdraws, Maine Democrats can hold a convention and choose a different nominee.
It is so important to everyone to understand that the attacks on Platner have thus far come from Democrats, but it is also Democrats who have debased themselves with Platner. After years of comparing Trump to Hitler and insisting Republicans had lost their moral compass by backing a womanizer with questionable treatment of women, Democrats have decided to do the same. Except for Democrats, they’re going with a guy who has an actual Nazi tattoo and hates Jews.
They don’t have to, but they will.
