# 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:** 43
**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:** [June 6, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/843 "2026-06-06T21:58:38Z")
Cites have been provided already. There is nothing in the NYT article or any allegation made that he locked her in the room. He held the door. That is not locking her in. He said “we already went over this” without acknowledging that it is something without basis. It is a simple fact that it is untrue information that was created in his mind. He may have believed it was true. He may still believe that holding a door is close enough to locking it overnight that you may as well use the word interchangeably. No accusation of lying. But definitely made up in his head. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/844 "2026-06-06T22:01:16Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > He said “we already went over this” without acknowledging that it is something without basis. I said “we went over this” and then quoted my explanation of why I think you are making a distinction without difference. I have no idea how you could possibly read my post and think I was not conceding that the door was not locked with a mechanical device when what immediately followed “we went over this” was: > [@Babale](#): > > I’m so sorry, I guess restraining women who don’t do what you say inside a room is completely fine as long as you physically hold the door shut or keep her inside through the mere threat of violence; it only becomes problematic if you use a mechanical device such as a lock to hold the door shut. Silly me, I guess Platner is a stand up guy after all! 🙄 🙄 🙄 When my cats decide to loudly meow in the middle of the night and I need to put them in my office with a bowl of food so they leaves me alone, my wife will ask me to “lock them up”; the fact that my office door doesn’t have a lock doesn’t confuse me when this happens. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/845 "2026-06-06T22:30:26Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There is nothing in the NYT article or any allegation made that he locked her in the room. He held the door. And, sorry, she is well known as a Conservative Republican. Do we now trust MAGA stories about Dem politicians? ---
**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:** [June 6, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/846 "2026-06-06T22:46:50Z")
Neither automatically accepted as truth nor automatically rejected. But correction is appropriate: “He is _alleged_ to have held the door shut.” ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/847 "2026-06-06T23:25:33Z")
Are there any possible negative implications for the alleged goals of a Democratic majority that might arise from adopting “bitches be lying” as the platform? Or is the concept of second-order consequences just another conspiracy by the “billionaire elite epstein class zionists,” whoever they may be? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/848 "2026-06-06T23:50:15Z")
You can say that policies are more important than his personal behavior, but that still doesn’t help, because we know almost nothing about his policies. All we know is that he claims that he’s a populist. That’s doubly worthless: First, we know he’s a liar, and second, populist does not equal liberal or Democratic. Trump’s a populist, too. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/849 "2026-06-06T23:52:42Z")
But there’s a non zero chance he’ll mostly vote Democrat. That’s a million times better than what we already know we’d get with Collins. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/850 "2026-06-06T23:54:59Z")
There’s also a nonzero chance that Collins will change parties. And a nonzero chance that she’ll die or otherwise leave office before her term is up, to be replaced by a Democrat. I think that the sum of those two probabilities is higher than the probability that Platner will change into the kind of person who would vote with the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/851 "2026-06-06T23:55:11Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Are there any possible negative implications for the alleged goals of a Democratic majority that might arise from adopting “bitches be lying” as the platform? Remember that woman who accused Biden of raping her in the Halls of Congress? She was lying. Paid too, IIRC. Now we have 7 women here, one who is a known MAGA. We can disbelieve her, and accept the other six. Mind you, a couple of them said some not nice things- one said he was drinking heavily and cheated on her as her boyfriend. Okay, I can accept that- young men do foolish things. 4 said nice things, one other - hard to tell, but didnt sound complimentary. I dunno if six out of seven people say one thing, and another contradicts the other six- and has publicly known reasons for lying- maybe we believe the six women, and not the one outlier. Why not believe them, instead of the MAGA? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/852 "2026-06-07T00:39:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s also a nonzero chance that Collins will change parties. And a nonzero chance that she’ll die or otherwise leave office before her term is up, to be replaced by a Democrat. I think that the sum of those two probabilities is higher than the probability that Platner will change into the kind of person who would vote with the Democrats. I mean…I kinda doubt that. Platner is campaigning as a Democrat, he’s going to swing with them at least for awhile. He may be an only semi-reliable Democrat a la Fetterman. But he is not immediately going renegade if he wants to not get shat on as a turncoat by the left, some of which is definitely part of his current constituency. If he swings over it will be gradual. Collins is not changing parties. I’m not going to eat my hat if she does, anything is possible. But she’s had more than enough ammo to do so already and she hasn’t come close. She’s also 73. It’s not like Feinstein who was 85 when she was last elected. She can probably weather another six years just fine. I mean I wouldn’t vote for Platner in the primary, at this point I’d just waste (probably) a vote on Mills. And I don’t know what the hell I’d do if I was a Maine voter in the general - maybe abstain. Like HMS\_Irruncible said up thread Platner is clearly a douche and at the very least a bit of a meathead idiot to boot. I hate voting for idiots. Doesn’t mean I won’t, but I do try to avoid it. That said, let’s not go overboard. The whole reason this is a difficult decision is you’re trading a populist semi-known meathead/maybe misogynist/possible quiet anti-Semite for a well-known problem. Collins is maybe the best of a shitty bunch, but that’s a low fucking bar. If Platner somehow was the 51rst Democratic senator that’s a big deal in the current environment. If he isn’t (and I’m personally skeptical he would be), then he would be way less important as senator #49. I would be inclined not to vote for his meathead ass, but it’s not an easy call at all. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/853 "2026-06-07T00:41:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > we know almost nothing about his policies. > **[Graham Platner | Political views](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Platner#Political_views)** > > Platner has been characterized as a populist and a progressive. He has received attention for focusing on economic issues facing working-class Americans, and for being willing to criticize the Democratic Party establishment. His platform focuses on issues such as housing affordability, strengthening labor unions, universal health care through Medicare for All, reducing the political power of billionaires, and ending US involvement in what he describes as "pointless" wars.\[3 In The American Prospe... ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/854 "2026-06-07T01:02:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s also a nonzero chance that Collins will change parties. I don’t believe this. She’s had years to show us who she is. She’s fine with being a Republican. I don’t think the chances of her dying are nearly as good as Platner’s chances of being at least a semi reliable Democratic vote. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/855 "2026-06-07T01:46:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t think the chances of her dying are nearly as good as Platner’s chances of being at least a semi reliable Democratic vote. > Based on national actuarial data for 2022, a 73-year-old female in the United States can expect to live, on average, approximately another 13 to 14 years. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/856 "2026-06-07T02:02:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t believe this. She’s had years to show us who she is. She’s fine with being a Republican. I don’t think the chances of her dying are nearly as good as Platner’s chances of being at least a semi reliable Democratic vote. Maybe a _tiny_ chance of calling herself Independent but caucusing with the GOP. Which works out the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/857 "2026-06-07T02:05:47Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But he is not immediately going renegade if he wants to not get shat on as a turncoat by the left, some of which is definitely part of his current constituency. Why would he care? Once he’s in office, it’s not like they can recall him or anything. And there are a lot of right-wingers who are clearly banking on just getting one more term and sticking it out until they can abolish elections. How do we know he’s not one of them? > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t believe this. She’s had years to show us who she is. She’s fine with being a Republican And Platner’s had years to show us who he is, too, and he’s fine with being a Nazi. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/858 "2026-06-07T02:21:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > because we know almost nothing about his policies. All we know is that he claims that he’s a populist @Smapti provided a link. Here’s another: > **[Platform — Graham Platner | Democrat for U.S. Senate](https://www.grahamforsenate.com/platform)** > > Read Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner's plan to defeat Susan Collins and win back the seat for working Mainers. He’s an economic populist which is not the same universe as right wing populism. Tracks pretty much with Sanders Social Democrat positions. Which tracks with Sanders endorsing him! Now you know! 😀 Not much chance of siding with the GOP on much but unlikely to vote lockstep with establishment Democrats either. More in favor of higher taxes on billionaires, raising the limit on payroll taxes, Medicare for all, labeling Israeli actions in Gaza as “genocide” (might be a factor in @Bable’s strong antipathy?) More to the progressive side than my tastes but if I was a Maine voter I could live with that. Fetterman he definitely is not. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/859 "2026-06-07T02:28:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And Platner’s had years to show us who he is, too, and he’s fine with being a Nazi. I’ll ask again, please list all the evidence that Platner is a Nazi other than his tattoo. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/860 "2026-06-07T02:35:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And there are a lot of right-wingers who are clearly banking on just getting one more term and sticking it out until they can abolish elections. How do we know he’s not one of them? I doubt someone who’s clearly been as sloppy with his social media use as Platner is some kind of mustache-twirling supervillain with a secret master plan who’s going to celebrate being elected by shouting “FOOLED YOU!” and grind the Senate to a halt until they pass the Jews Aren’t People Act. And “abolishing elections” isn’t going to happen. > [@Chronos](#): > > And Platner’s had years to show us who he is, too, and he’s fine with being a Nazi. Is Bernie Sanders also a Nazi, since he’s endorsing Platner and campaigning for him? > [@DSeid](#): > > labeling Israeli actions in Gaza as “genocide” (might be a factor in @Bable’s strong antipathy? I disagree with Platner on this point, but it’s probably the main reason the establishment has been knives-out for him with the relentless smear campaign. AIPAC has deep pockets. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/861 "2026-06-07T02:36:30Z")
No, even the Soviet Union has elections. But our elections may… Not be quite as open and fair, shall we say. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/862 "2026-06-07T02:44:02Z")
We know a little about what he claims his policies are. We know absolutely nothing about what his policies actually are. Because, as I pointed out before, we know he lies. [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=42) [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=44)