# Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine (campaign suspended July 8, 2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179 "2026-03-04T03:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/323 "2026-05-03T14:47:08Z")
@hajario , I must quibble with your claim that we are simply trying to discern context. Plenty of posters have decided that this guy is a Nazi - big, bold, and proud - based on scant evidence. And I’m pretty sure the retort to my claim of scant evidence is going to be a reference to his “Nazi tattoo” (since there don’t seem to be any _statements_ from Platner that are Nazi-like). As I’ve argued, that’s hardly decisive. You don’t like my “addlebrained” false comparisons. Fine. But it seems to me they are replete in this thread. > [@DigitalC](#): > > I am not from Maine but I can’t imagine ever supporting a nazi. People are scared he will be another Fetterman, but that is literally best case scenario. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m in the mode of booting white nationalist supporters out of the ranks. > [@Chronos](#): > > At worst, he introduces bills to exterminate all the LGBT folks, and the Republicans jump on it and claim it’s “bipartisan”. > [@Chronos](#): > > he’s not a secret Nazi. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > it’s going to be six years of “oh, you want my vote for that LGBT rights bill or health insurance reform or resolution against invading Venezuela? Better get behind my monomaniacal agenda about The Jew or no dice.” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/324 "2026-05-03T14:56:54Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Plenty of posters have decided that this guy is a Nazi - big, bold, and proud - based on scant evidence. You are correct. A lot of those arguments are stained as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/325 "2026-05-03T15:11:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Plenty of posters have decided that this guy is a Nazi The statement of mine that you quoted indicates that Platner has supported white nationalists, not that “this guy is a Nazi”. The distinction doesn’t make him an honorable person or someone the Democratic Party should support. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/326 "2026-05-03T16:00:27Z")
Planter is coming from the bottom up, Democratic establishment was quite resistant to that. Maine voters don’t like to be told what to do, they like Platner. Democratic party has now embraced Platner it seems. > **[Graham Platner Handed Centrist Dems a Bruising Defeat in Maine](https://theintercept.com/2026/05/01/graham-platner-schumer-centrist-democrats-senate/)** > > After supporting Janet Mills, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have had to do an about-face in the Senate race to defeat Susan Collins. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/327 "2026-05-03T16:17:31Z")
“Don’t tell us what to do” and resentment against leaders and experts are hallmarks of MAGA. Looks like the Democratic Party is facing a serious challenge from its left, some of which is so far left it’s become hard to distinguish from the far right. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/328 "2026-05-03T16:21:57Z")
There are a gazillion podcasts out there, and each and every podcast prolly has had a guest or made a sound bite that someone out there will find offensive. It is not a stretch to think that a volunteer or even a staff member focused on booking the interview, maybe didn’t perform the due diligence they should have. Or didn’t realize that a specific podcast had baggage or something in the woodpile. That doesn’t necessarily give a politician a free pass, but it also isn’t enough for me to think it’s a smoking gun of a Nazi trojan horse. YMMV. Biden was roundly criticized for being out of touch by not going on the right-wing Joe Rogan podcast during his campaign. One way of reaching the other side, and maybe even peeling off a few votes, is to go on the platforms that the other side uses. Faux News or Breitbart viewers that skew heavily _cough cough_ Nazi _cough cough_ Republican, don’t typically listen to the NY Times “The Daily”. So, do you concede and not go where those voters are, or do go to get a voice yet risk putting someone’s panties in a twist? If there is a real cite that Platner was kicked out of the Marines for a Nazi tattoo, please share? What is known for a fact, is that the Army enlisted Platner, including his tattoo, despite a policy of “no Nazi tattoo’s.” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/329 "2026-05-03T16:33:52Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > There are a gazillion podcasts out there, and each and every podcast prolly has had a guest or made a sound bite that someone out there will find offensive. Or were completely in agreement with and agreeing with someone, on certain points, doesn’t mean you agree with them on every point. Hitler approved of traffic lights, if you approve of traffic lights, then you are a Nazi! ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/330 "2026-05-03T16:41:41Z")
> [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > Planter is coming from the bottom up, Democratic establishment was quite resistant to that. Maine voters don’t like to be told what to do, they like Platner. Democratic party has now embraced Platner it seems. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Don’t tell us what to do” and resentment against leaders and experts are hallmarks of MAGA. > > Looks like the Democratic Party is facing a serious challenge from its left, some of which is so far left it’s become hard to distinguish from the far right. Yep. This is eerily reminiscent of the Tea Party around the very early 2010s. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/331 "2026-05-03T16:47:05Z")
What resentment against experts (on the left)? There’s plenty of resentment against leaders (rightly so, IMO), but that’s totally different. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/332 "2026-05-03T16:54:54Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > This is eerily reminiscent of the Tea Party around the very early 2010s. The Tea Party was a self serving anti tax movement funded by billionaires (which I don’t mean in any sort of coded way; think Koch brothers). > **[The Tea Party movement: deluded and inspired by billionaires | George Monbiot](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/25/tea-party-koch-brothers)** > > George Monbiot: By funding numerous rightwing organisations, the mega-rich Koch brothers have duped millions into supporting big business Who is funding this “left wing” movement? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/333 "2026-05-03T16:57:55Z")
Since this came up in the “I’m going to vote for the Nazi tattoo guy” thread, here’s the lore dump about how Platner was rejected from reenlistment in the Marines in 2009 due to his Nazi tattoo that he refused to cover up: > > > > > > > > ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/334 "2026-05-03T16:59:05Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Who is funding this “left wing” movement? I must have missed the part of my own post where I said “the reason that this is reminiscent of the Tea Party is because of external funding”. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/335 "2026-05-03T17:12:15Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > If there is a real cite that Platner was kicked out of the Marines for a Nazi tattoo, please share? What is known for a fact, is that the Army enlisted Platner, including his tattoo, despite a policy of “no Nazi tattoo’s.” No. He enlisted prior to getting the tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/336 "2026-05-03T17:18:13Z")
Again, your cite says active duty Marines were exempt from the tattoo sleeve prohibition, and he was seeking to return to active duty—per your same cite. If he’s lying about why the Marines shut down his reenlistment, I don’t think your cite shows it. ETA: And as noted above, the Army didn’t take exception with his chest tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/337 "2026-05-03T17:31:25Z")
AFAICT the most charitable explanation for the reenlistment tattoo rejection is that Platner was told he couldn’t rejoin with the chest tattoo, was told why, and like a stubborn teenager said something to the effect of “you’re not the boss of me!” and told himself they were just woke scolds. Truly dumb, but I’ll still take that hope, that he’s just a stubborn idiot, over the certainty that Collins is a MAGA fascist rubber stamp. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/338 "2026-05-03T17:44:08Z")
MAHA, which has a substantial left wing element, thrives on suspicion of and hostility towards scientists and public health experts. > [@](#): > > The MAHA movement is a **hybrid of traditionally left-wing health activism** (organic food, non-toxic living, European food standards), and **right-wing populist outrage and personal liberty**. It rallies against ultra-processed foods, dyes and additives and then celebrates raw milk, butter, red meat and the carnivore diet as political resistance… > > If the MAHA movement feels contradictory, that is because it is. It claims to defend public health, demanding action on food additives, toxins and chronic illnesses, while simultaneously supporting a political project that dismantles the very regulatory institutions required to deliver those protections. This is not some accidental inconsistency. It reflects a pattern in U.S. political history, in which **populist grievances are co-opted by neoliberal or authoritarian agendas** that ultimately betray their original aims. > > Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rise illustrates this. > **[The MAHA Movement](https://www.gdginspire.com/post/the-maha-movement)** > > From fringe wellness content to formal health policy, the MAHA movement reveals how identity, distrust and emotional narratives are redefining public health. We analyse its rise, contradictions and strategic communication challenges. Highly educated and trained experts have become the enemy, except for a select few “top” scientists and “top” doctors, whose loss of licensure and failed/retracted publications are seen as evidence of martyrdom and ideological purity. They’re the only ones Moms on the March can trust. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/339 "2026-05-03T17:54:23Z")
There’s nothing new about new age health woo on the left. And I’ve seen nothing to suggest it’s significantly impacting left politics any more today than in the past - Platner isn’t remotely running on a MAHA platform (or an alliance with RFK Jr). Platner may well represent some new branch of politics rising in the American left, but I’ve seen nothing supporting any assertion that distrust of experts is driving it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/340 "2026-05-03T19:01:58Z")
Decent Vox article. > What doomed Mills — anti-establishment sentiment, her age, a bad campaign, or all of the above? How did Platner survive what many expected to be a [campaign-ending scandal](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/us/politics/maine-senate-primary-mills-platner-democrat.html)? Were his bold left views an asset or a liability? And can we read big national trends into this outcome, or is it mainly about the particular candidates, and the quirky state, involved? > To answer these questions, I spoke with Alex Seitz-Wald, a longtime national political reporter who moved to Maine and now [works as deputy editor](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/style/midcoast-villager-newspaper-maine.html) for the [Midcoast Villager](https://www.midcoastvillager.com/), a local newspaper. Since Maine’s Senate primary captivated national attention, Seitz-Wald has been a sort of Maine politics whisperer — a Maine-splainer — to national reporters. Here’s what he had to say. Gifted > **[Graham Platner’s triumph, explained by a Maine reporter](https://www.vox.com/politics/487494/graham-platner-janet-mills-suspends-campaign-maine?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IjdZd3NhREZYb0UiLCJwIjoiL3BvbGl0aWNzLzQ4NzQ5NC9ncmFoYW0tcGxhdG5lci1qYW5ldC1taWxscy1zdXNwZW5kcy1jYW1wYWlnbi1tYWluZSIsImV4cCI6MTc3OTA0NDQ4NiwiaWF0IjoxNzc3ODM0ODg2fQ.P2zjSBtqMR6eJjZbog3cXg-xYqf2_vT8JTN_dr0l49g&utm_medium=gift-link)** > > Can we read big national trends into Janet Mills’s defeat? Or are these candidates — and this state — just singular? Demographics have not been emphasized enough. Maine is a small state. 1.3 million residents. It is the oldest state in the country. Politics is more retail and Platner is good at retail politics, while Mills is 78 and ran a very weak campaign. That’s not entirely Schumer’s fault or the fault of the Maine Democratic Party. She looked good on paper. > I also think, if you look at his bio, he [was voted](https://themainemonitor.org/graham-platner-success-explained/) Most Likely to Start a Revolution in high school, where he’s holding up signs with Free Palestine and Free Tibet. Through that, and through the [Reddit posts](https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts), we have something like an unvarnished window into his raw political id. And the Nazi thing just doesn’t really pass the smell test to me. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/341 "2026-05-03T19:03:37Z")
No, the most charitable explanation, and one yet to be disputed by a cite, is the one he provided: He was shut down for reenlistment because of the new (at the time) prohibition on sleeve tattoos. The cite provided incoherently argued that this was a lie since active duty Marines were exempt from the prohibition—even though he was looking to return to active duty (and would not have been exempt). IOW, the cite does not prove his explanation was false. If anything it’s supportive. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/342 "2026-05-03T19:20:22Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > This is eerily reminiscent of the Tea Party around the very early 2010s. That’s good. We NEED a Tea Party to clear out the geronticracy and milquetoast institutionalists who crow about “bipartisanship” and “our friends across the aisle” before they vote to approve Trump nominees and let this country slide further into authoritarianism in the name of preserving “norms”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=18)