The closing paragraphs of The New York Times’ report on Graham Platner’s sexting-while-married problem are, uh, interesting.
The Democratic Senate candidate from Maine was speaking at an event in April, shortly after Gov. Janet Mills had dropped out, when he was asked a perfectly logical question: Other than the Nazi tattoo and the offensive social-media posts, is there anything else we should know? Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer write:
Toward the end of a town hall meeting in Sabattus, Maine, in April, the night before Ms. Mills dropped out, a Platner supporter named Carolyn Greeley asked him a blunt question.
“Is there anything you need to share with us?” she asked.
Ms. Greeley was bothered by his past comments about women, she said, and wanted assurances that there would not be more damaging revelations to come.
Mr. Platner was unequivocal in his response. Republicans would certainly “make stuff up” about him, he said. He had dated, had girlfriends, “gone through life.” But everything had already been “dragged up,” he promised the crowd.
“In my past, there is not some big, dark secret,” he said.
Asked in an interview how he could be so certain that there was no other information that would come out about him after the event, Mr. Platner was terse.
“I lived my life,” he said. “That’s how.”
We now know not just about the sexting but that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, had warned a campaign official about it just as the campaign was getting under way. In other words, Platner failed to tell Greeley the truth, and it’s pretty hard to imagine that he’d forgotten about the sexting.
Meanwhile, Michael Shepherd reports (sub. req.) in the Bangor Daily News that a Platner adviser “warned a former aide she would be accused of lying and sabotage if she cooperated with news outlets reporting on sexually explicit messages Platner sent to women.”
The former aide, an ex-state legislator named Genevieve McDonald, went to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times anyway.
The blood is really in the water now, and you can be sure that news outlets are scrambling to get ahead of whatever might be coming next. And it is absolutely incredible that Maine’s now-she’s-Trumper-now-she-isn’t Republican senator, Susan Collins, may be on the verge of getting another free ride.
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Nice piece until the end “…another free ride.”
While I don’t cover Maine, it’s next door. So I watch their politics, here and there. I have never perceived her election or re-elections to be “free rides” or even easy. So I did some digging to see if what I recall was accurate and it appears Collins has had competitive races and competent challengers every time she ran. She wins because she has always been a moderate to liberal Republican, in a state that is half blood red and half leftwing blue. As well, like New Hampshire, the state is changing as more folks from your state move to our states (as well as other dynamics).
In 1996, Collins beat a sitting Representative to Congress, Joe Brennan, for the open seat, by about 5%.
Democrat Chellie Pingree, the Senate Majority Leader, in other words, someone who was established, challenged her in 2002, but Collins won by 16%. This, despite Collins voting for the unpopular tax cuts (both were against the Iraq invasion).
In 2008, Collins won easily, too (20%), even though that was a Democrat wave year and she was challenged by a sitting Congressman from the 1st District, Tom Allen. Collins won every county.
The election before that, 2014, she ran against Sheena Bellows, a state Senator who also worked for the ACLU. She was trounced… 30 points… although later, Bellows became Secretary of State (although, she is far behind the frontrunners in the gubernatorial primary for 2026).
Six years later, things began to change…
Collins had to raise $23 million to compete against Sara Gideon, the speaker of the House in Maine who spent $48M. Why was so much money spent? According to MainePublic.org, $130M in special interest money was spent on the race. Collins still won by 8%. Certainly a lot tighter than 30%…
Collins has no challenger in the primary but has still spent $15 million. The RCP polls have Graham Platner leading by 7% to 9% despite everything that has come out about the guy. Collins and Gov. Mills, before she dropped out, were essentially tied in the RCP polling average.
For any Democrats from Maine who are interested, you have another choice: David Costello. According to BallotPedia, he was born in Bangor, Maine, earned a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University in 1983 and a graduate degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1989. His career experience includes working as an environmental policy consultant. Andrea LaFlamme, an adjunct professor, is also running as a write-in candidate.
Janet Mills is still on the ballot, as well.
There are options. It should be noted, too, that Platner is now calling “facts” gossip and blaming the “establishment” media for revealing the “sexting” that his wife told campaign aides about. His aides barred a reporter from the BDN from attending a rally Sunday, saying the press made them feel unsafe. He had an account on Kik, catering to mostly 13-24 year olds, so his sexting very well could have been targeting women who were decades younger than him and possibly underage.
Not good. This is the kind of stuff we expect from Republicans.
Being a Democrat or a Republican does not eliminate our proclivities. Let he (or she) without sin, cast the first stone. That said, “better” and “worse” come into play. We vote for or against who is available, keeping in mind consequences. Ralph Nader? Not a bad guy. Good ideas. But voting for him was a vote for George W.
If I were a Mainer I would vote Platner. My under-thirty errors were different than his…but they were there. The consequence of Collins winning would be devastating for our country and the world.
If I
Important facts are getting in the way. Graham might be as dumb as paint, but he is running a campaign that should be run in every state and congressional district. At least two major themes are in our politics now: Supporting genocide in Gaza and now Lebanon and ignoring the failing economy.
Many of us knew the initial reports from Oct 7 were lies. Now we know the genocide that has happened and the complete destruction of Palestinian homes in favor of Israeli fascism.
It’s amazing how the Hillary supporters go after Platner while they stood beside the wife of a sexual predator and harasser. It’s OK to be a Rhodes Scholar and cheat on your wife, but don’t you dare be a combat veteran with PTSD and flirt online with other women.
Nobody has accused Platner of sexual abuse or harassment nor physical abuse. No police reports. No convictions. MEANWHILE – Susan Collins voted in favor or Kavanaugh.
Of course Platner has been accused of physical abuse against a woman. What are you talking about?
By one person who is a Republican consultant and worked for Collins. Grabbing by the shoulders and putting arm behind back would hardly result in a conviction in court.
One person is not zero, which is what you claimed. You were wrong. Grabbing someone by the shoulders hard enough to leave marks and shutting them inside a room and not letting them out is a crime, and that’s what she is claiming. I don’t know whether she’s telling the truth, but I do know that bad things can happen to Republican political operatives too.
Yeah, the ‘abuse’ was so traumatic for her that she stayed in the relationship for two years.
Lyndsey Fifield and the org that is supporting Collins.
https://www.independentwomen.com/people/lyndsey-fifield/
Collins’ top PAC donor is AIPAC. AIPAC is running ads against Platner.
The author of the NYT article, Katie Glueck, was the co-president of Students for Israel at Northwestern and received an award from AIPAC.
See how this works?