# 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:** 26
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/503 "2026-05-04T23:56:03Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Collins isn’t MAGA either. She is a Republican who often but not always votes with her party. And she has been a meaningful vote for the Democrats at times. Has she ever refused to confirm most trump SCOTUS nominees? She did vote NO on Barrett as it was too close to the election. But she went Yes on all others, and when she votes NO on a GOP bill, it is only when there are enough votes to pass anyway. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > when it could actually make a difference she consistently enables those other Republicans. Oh she’s concerned. Oh she’s making her disappointed face. But she’s not the Republican Manchin. Yep. She voted in Kavanaugh. > [@DigitalC](#): > > That seems very obvious in retrospect. So, where is the info on that Blind link you shared? ---
**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 5, 2026, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/504 "2026-05-05T00:04:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, where is the info on that Blind link you shared?. It’s a link to a Twitter post, which one can easily discern by hovering over the text “here you go”. As for what the post contains, since it was in reply to you asking for evidence that the podcast is antisemitic, one might presume that this is what is contained in the Twitter post. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/505 "2026-05-05T00:06:49Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > So the Anti-Defamation League takes a softer line on this issue than some of the posters here. Platner no longer has the tattoo. Platner has repudiated its hateful meaning. Done and done. The same cannot be said for Hegseth or Joseph Kent. The same thing cannot be said for Elon Musk, either, but the ADL also took a softer line on his Nazi salute than some of the posters here. So their stance doesn’t really inform me on whether he should be considered repentant, unrepentant, or clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/506 "2026-05-05T00:07:37Z")
Yes she is a Republican and generally supports her party. Not sure what your point is. ---
**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 5, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/507 "2026-05-05T00:23:31Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > since it was in reply to you asking for evidence that the podcast is antisemitic, one might presume that this is what is contained in the Twitter post. It’s actually not. Although it displays antisemitic content, it’s showing what appear to be retweets. No indication of what is on the podcast. (From what I gather, the claimed antisemitism on the podcast is the fact that the podcast has peddled in the theory that Charlie Kirk was killed by Israel. I don’t see why that’s necessarily anti-Semitic, even if it is deranged conspiracy nuttery) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/508 "2026-05-05T00:26:36Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > It’s a link to a Twitter post, which one can easily discern by hovering over the text “here you go”. As for what the post contains, since it was in reply to you asking for evidence that the podcast is antisemitic, one might presume that this is what is contained in the Twitter post. **Did you see the mod note?** And their post was so angry, that it might lead to something nasty was possible. So, you know, quoting a Tweet is pretty damn easy. Not that a tweet is a good cite. > [@Moriarty](#): > > It’s actually not. Although it displays antisemitic content, it’s showing what appear to be retweets. No indication of what is on the podcast. > > (From what I gather, the claimed antisemitism on the podcast is the fact that the podcast has peddled in the theory that Charlie Kirk was killed by Israel. I don’t see why that’s necessarily anti-Semitic, even if it is deranged conspiracy nuttery) Thank you. Yeah weird-ass conspiracy theories do not make you a bigot. And that would make it _anti-Zionist,_ which is quite a bit different than _antisemitic._ A good number of the current posters here are currently against the current activities of Israel. They are not bigots due to that. ---
**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 5, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/509 "2026-05-05T00:34:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yeah weird-ass conspiracy theories do not make you a bigot. I see that I missed a few clips from the podcast in that link. They reference the Epstein files. One is a weird lament about whether winning word war 2 was good in light of the Epstein files, but it’s devoid of context. Certainly nothing overt; 2 clips, maybe 2 and a half minutes total length. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/510 "2026-05-05T00:40:30Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > They reference the Epstein files. Weird-ass conspiracy theories are endemic for those “files”. I seem to remember seeing a few of them here. ---
**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 5, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/511 "2026-05-05T00:42:12Z")
Collins pretends to be a moderate while she regularly votes for fascism, and has done nothing significant to oppose this administration’s fascist tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/512 "2026-05-05T00:52:18Z")
# If Democrats Have Appropriate Fear of Trump, They Will Elect Platner > [@Frank Bruni in the NYT](#): > > …And I worry that Platner is a bigger gamble than Janet Mills, the Maine governor, who essentially [ceded the Democratic nomination](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/us/politics/janet-mills-drops-out-senate-race-platner-schumer.html) to him last week, would have been. That’s largely because he has never held elected office and the skeletons tumbling out of his closet make him vulnerable. But it’s also because he campaigned more or less to Mills’s left. > > I have separate misgivings about Platner’s character and about his ability to deliver for the economically anxious Americans whom he vigorously and rightly champions. But now that he’s the presumptive Democratic nominee, I’m behind him, for one reason that overrides many reservations: He’s not Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who is running for a sixth term and who, despite her reputation for moderation, has shown herself to be an [undependable check](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/opinion/kennedy-trump-senate-republicans.html) on Trump. The contest — about the balance of power in Congress — pits someone who has never coddled our dangerous president against a coward. And the costs of such cowardice have risen much too high. Gift link: [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/opinion/platner-trump-democrats.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.gFA.hYU-.GN3qktd\_QvRI&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/opinion/platner-trump-democrats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gFA.hYU-.GN3qktd_QvRI&smid=url-share) ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/513 "2026-05-05T01:02:24Z")
Sure that is fair, but again I’m not sure what you are trying to dispute. I would say her vote to preserve Obamacare was significant, but yeah she is largely a reliable Republican vote. She absolutely a political opportunist. That doesn’t make her a member of the MAGA wing of the party. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/514 "2026-05-05T01:34:11Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > Collins isn’t MAGA either. She is a Republican who often but not always votes with her party. And she has been a meaningful vote for the Democrats at times. It would be nice if crossed party more, but very few Senators do and she does more than most. I’m not saying Democrats should support her, but it hard to grow your party when you just throw all of your non-voters into one giant bucket If the Democrats had and were expected to keep a safe majority in the Senate that would be relevant. And if the majority party in the Senate didn’t control what comes to the Senate floor to be voted on, it would be relevant anyway. But they don’t and it does. If the election of a DINO means that the Democrats get 51 seats in the Senate — that could actually matter more than how the person votes, as long as they still caucus with the Democrats. And while 51 D seats is far from certain, it is just about possible — and more likely if Maine is one of them. The more I read this thread, the less certain I am whether Platner is a DINO, or an antisemite, or a Nazi (all Nazis are antisemites, but not all antisemites are Nazis), or any more of a liar than anybody running for office (and that’s not a bothsides, there are drastic differences in both amounts and types of lies.) But I am certain that we need 51 (or more) Democrats in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/515 "2026-05-05T03:10:43Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The more I read this thread, the less certain I am whether Platner is a DINO, or an antisemite, or a Nazi (all Nazis are antisemites, but not all antisemites are Nazis), or any more of a liar than anybody running for office (and that’s not a bothsides, there are drastic differences in both amounts and types of lies.) But I am certain that we need 51 (or more) Democrats in the Senate. Yeah. Look, if I was a Maine voter, I wouldnt vote for him in the Primary- But vs Collins? yep. ---
**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 5, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/516 "2026-05-05T04:30:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The same thing cannot be said for Elon Musk, either, but the ADL also took a softer line on his Nazi salute than some of the posters here. So their stance doesn’t really inform me on whether he should be considered repentant, unrepentant, or clueless. The ADL certainly isn’t the final authority on this or any other matter, but they have a perspective that I think should be taken seriously. Here it is: enforce norms against antisemitism. That involves having some tolerance for those who disavow or condemn antisemitism even if they do something unfortunate in a moment of exuberance. In fact, the ADL has criticized the Grok AI chatbot [as well as antisemitic comments by Musk](https://www.axios.com/2025/01/23/elon-musk-nazi-joke-adl); [Musk has called ADL an anti-Christian hate group, so it’s not like they get along](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/29/elon-musk-anti-defamation-league-christian-extremism). Here’s an analogy. In Japan you can clip years off your sentence if you break down in tears at trial and beg for mercy. So Yakuza members do that and are expected to do that. Of course it’s fake. _But it also removes a lot of the mystique from criminal behavior_. Yakuza likes to tell itself that it’s the last redoubt of Samurai culture but the general consensus is that it is made up of losers. If I denounce Nazi tattoos it doesn’t mean much. But if a prominent person with a tattoo removes it or covers it up with another tattoo, that takes a lot of the air out of the Nazi sails. So I’m sympathetic with this perspective by the Anti-Defamation League. In fact I’ll go out on a limb and maintain that they know a thing or two about opposing antisemitism. ---
**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 5, 2026, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/517 "2026-05-05T08:28:40Z")
Rhetorically she may not be MAGA, but her actions are 99% or so MAGA, and that’s more than enough. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/518 "2026-05-05T09:49:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So, where is the info on that Blind link you shared? It’s just a twitter link with a video of him saying we’d have been better off losing WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/519 "2026-05-05T10:17:10Z")
I have no doubt that that podcaster is an antisemitic bigot. What puzzles me is how much absolute faith you put in Platner’s claim “l’m a longtime fan of your show,” when you also believe he’s a liar. One theory of the case is that Platner is a Nazi. Nazi tattoo, fan of alt-right podcast, said some shitty things about women. This theory is complicated by the fact that he explicitly disavows Nazism, is a fan of culture that’s explicitly antifascist, adopts policy positions that are exactly the opposite of Nazi positions. I haven’t heard a plausible reconciliation of all of these complications that maintains the “Platner’s a Nazi” theory. The other theory is that he’s a dumbass of the Internet generation. Got the tattoo when drunk and either didn’t know what it was or didn’t take it seriously (it’s _ironic_ and therefore _funny!_). Said shitty things about women online, in the way that far too many dudes do, but when confronted with their shittiness regrets them. As for “longtime fan of your show”? Come on. He’s part of a political movement that prioritizes going into hostile spaces and trying to win converts. Yeah, Nazis are the worst–but some folks are alt-right less out of sincere political beliefs and more out of dissatisfaction with the system, and if you can give them an alternate analysis that keeps their dissatisfaction but strips away the antisemitism and xenophobia, that’s a great thing. Platner is definitely part of that political movement. So what do podcast guests always do, if they want a positive interview? _They compliment the host_. These compliments aren’t always true. The blandest, most acceptable, most obvious lie for a politician to tell a podcast host is that they like the podcast. If you think Platner’s a liar, why on earth do you take him at face value on this, the likeliest of all his statements to be a lie? The second theory–that he’s a dumbass but not a Nazi–accounts for all the facts in a way that the first theory doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/520 "2026-05-05T12:05:25Z")
For argument: Accept as a hypothetical alternative reality that Collins votes against Trump very often. She’s in this alternate dimension fantastic! She still could be the seat that keeps a GOP Senate majority even if she tut tuts as she votes for his SCOTUS choice and their leader decides what is kept from coming to a vote. Accept as fact that Platner in his true thoughts thinks Nazis are cool and Jews are scary, something that I’m less convinced of after reading this thread than I first was thinking. He has as his declared positions not been that and even if he is not too smart is not dumb enough to start espousing or voting for a Trump fascist or explicitly hate inspired agenda. Few paths to a D Senate majority do not include him winning that seat. A loss there makes A GOP Senate majority much much more likely. Guaranteed that there will be GOP funded ads very very seriously painting him as as a Nazi and Collin’s as the middle. An independent thinker who stands up against Trump. And ads calling him antifa at the same time. He’s too far left for Maine! He’s too far Right for Maine! He’s a Nazi! Whatever might stick. . ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/521 "2026-05-05T12:25:06Z")
To undercut my own position: I don’t think it’s insane to conclude that Platner’s a Nazi. I think it’s wrong, because I think the bulk of evidence points in the other direction; but there’s enough evidence to point to Nazi that it’s not like concluding that Kamala Harris is a Trotskyite or anything.I don’t even think it’d be insane to refuse to vote for him based on the evidence in front of us, although I think that’d empower the most powerful fascist government in the world today. It deeply troubles me that he’s the best that’s on offer in Maine. But all that said, I still think the most reasonable conclusion is that he’s kind of a shallow dumbass who doesn’t actually hold Nazi views, and that he’s much better than a politician who enables violent fascism. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/522 "2026-05-05T12:26:59Z")
If voting for Platner makes you a Nazi, then voting for Collins makes you a white supremacist Christian Dominionist by the apparent transitive property of voting – she votes to support a white supremacist Christian Dominonist all the time. Since Platner is less than 100% for-sure a Nazi, but Collins is 100% a white supremacist Christian Dominionist (by the voting transitive property), your expected value of a non-fascist Senator is better with a vote for Platner. [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=25) [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=27)