Editors’ Notes
Some on the left voiced frustration with their own party, with Mattew Yglesias (Lean Left) saying, “Stop being dupes for leftists who don’t care about beating MAGA.” Others agreed that he should have been more thoroughly vetted but added, “We’re only going to do better if the idealism that propelled him into public life survives.”
Voices on the right saw the Democrats as hypocritical for championing women’s rights while ignoring Platner flaws for so long. But what the left and right agree on is that having a revolving door of candidates forced out at the last minute, leaving the party with no clear path forward, is not a good sign for the future of the party.
News about Platner
Assault allegations from ex-girlfriend Jenny Raciot in Politico on Monday derailed the Platner campaign. She said he entered her Maine home uninvited in late 2021, reportedly intoxicated, and assaulted her. Shortly after the first allegation, another ex-girlfriend came forward, describing physical abuse and removal of protection during sex when she asked him not to. On Wednesday, Platner dropped out of the race, saying, We believe that for the [Democratic] movement to continue, it can't be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations." The campaigns suspension leaves Democrats just 100 days to decide who will replace him and face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Democrats see the Senate seat in Maine as critical in taking control of the Senate after November.
Analysis and Opinions about Platner’s Campaign
Commentators on the right were more likely to condemn Democrats for continuing to support Platner, noting previous scandals regarding his Nazi tattoo and alleged inappropriate text messages. Voices on the left were more likely to cover what the campaign signals about the Democratic party’s internal struggle between Democratic Socialism and moderate liberalism.
Nicole Russell (Lean Right) wrote in USA Today (Lean Left), “Call me a conservative cynic, but Democratic leaders didn't call on Platner to step down until multiple allegations surfaced, crucially, from a fellow Democrat. Fifield's claims, published in June, were downplayed by Kantor and others, and even somewhat buried in the original Times story, which focused heavily on her résumé in conservative politics, insinuating that a political motive made the abuse allegations somewhat beside the point…Both parties can and should do better. But it's worse when one party claims to champion women's voices, yet stays silent on their accusations until the political cost of silence gets too high.”
A Boston Globe Opinion (Left) said, “But, all these decades later, what happened with Platner shows that liberals still have soul-searching to do, maybe even more now than when Clinton was president... As I subsequently wrote for ‘Right, Left, and Center,’ our Globe Opinion newsletter, ‘how a man treats the women in his life is ultimately more important than how much he supports abortion rights.’ I believed that before the rape allegation, but I did not write it until afterward — not because Racicot is a Democrat, and Fifield is not, but because the accumulation of evidence about Platner’s character problems is now too great to ignore. When does personal behavior outweigh ideology? What’s the tipping point? Those are questions for voters of all political persuasions.”
A Washington Examiner (Lear Right) piece said, “Today’s Democrats are acting much like Canada’s liberals who dumped Trudeau, Britain’s Labourites who pushed out Starmer, and the 2024 Democrats who spent nearly four weeks pushing Biden off the ticket after his disastrous June 27 debate performance…There are lessons here aplenty. It’s risky to support little-known candidates. Nostalgia for a working-class politics that hasn’t existed for two generations can produce bad strategy. It’s off-putting when those who claim to be preserving ‘democracy’ overturn the choices of voters. Going off the deep end may not be a profitable response to the otherwise going off the deep end.”
A Semafor (Lean Left) view read, “So as much as mainstream Democrats are frustrated by what the left's rise has given them, particularly the collapse of Platner, they're unlikely to see the Maine mess discredit Sanders and his wing of the party…The goal of the Platner-Sanders effort was not just winning, but proving that their politics could win where Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's politics lost. Despite the humiliation of Platner's collapse, which came with plenty of warning signs that his backers looked beyond, that remains the case.”
