# 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:** 54
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1063 "2026-06-09T15:07:42Z")
Maybe the moon is made of cheese, but it isn’t. He listed the income from the VA benefits on his financial disclosure forms (required to run for the Senate, aka legally no it is not “private information” in his case) and he’s been talking about his veteran status and all sorts of things related to it throughout the campaign. The fact that he refuses to specify this one particular aspect of it that would get him in legal trouble and blow his oysterman narrative out of the water is only a mystery to people who buy a lot of bridges. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1064 "2026-06-09T15:22:56Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > If your father was claiming a 100% rating and TDIU status while working full-time under the current law, then he was committing benefits fraud If you say so, you’re the expert. Have you called the VA to report the fraud you’re so clearly seeing? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1065 "2026-06-09T15:34:18Z")
Good read. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1066 "2026-06-09T15:49:52Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Tammy Duckworth applied for a medical waiver to remain in the military for ten years after she lost her legs and has used her position in the Senate to speak out against VA disability fraud and make curtailing it a signature issue. Possibly the worst example you could have picked. She is against fraud, but I cannot find any links indicating she thinks claiming PTSD when you can work, or at least are likely to be able to work in the future, is fraud. Here is a .gov link showing her working to make PTSD claims easier when an Obama administration official: [Making the Process Easier](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/07/12/ptsd-claims-making-process-easier-our-veterans/) Do you have a link indicating that she is talking about a situation like Platner’s when she speaks of fraud? I would have a hard time voting for Platner. And I’m unsure what to think of Duckworth having worked to make PTSD claims easier. I just find claims of Platner committing disability fraud to be unfounded. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > If your father was claiming a 100% rating The claim is of a certain disability. It isn’t the disabled person’s fault if the VA, following the law and regulations, puts a high percentage number on that disability. ---
**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 9, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1067 "2026-06-09T16:27:02Z")
TDIU isn’t required to have the 100% VA disability rating. Plenty of vets are rated 100% and work with absolutely no fraud. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1068 "2026-06-09T16:56:22Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > God, I wish the mods would close this thread. It’s the same half dozen posters who are sure they are right just repeating themselves for a thousand posts. And you know that none of them will ever admit if they are wrong if Platner wins and proves them wrong Physician, heal thyself. > [@asterion](#): > > It’s the exact same six posters saying the exact same thing over and over for 600 plus posts. Nobody is going to change their mind, nobody is even going to consider the possibility they are wrong, and I guarantee nobody will even admit it in the future if they are actually wrong. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1069 "2026-06-09T18:41:14Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Nothing on that page supports anything you are claiming in your post, and several points contradict it. Yes, it does and I quoted it. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > not the same as claiming that PTSD makes one constitutionally incapable of working at all, Cite that he has claimed this? Since this is also not true. PTSD can make you incapable of being in the Military, but perfectly capable of other jobs. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is not how VA disability works. You can have a job and still get VA disability benefits if you have a physical or mental health issue caused by your military service. We have pointed this out several times to them. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Platner has repeatedly refused to answer the direct question of whether his 100% disabled rating is a TDIU designation, which of course means that it is. Because that is no ones business, as medical records are private under Federal law. In any case, the Feds know he is working and know his disability, and they have not reacted. Got a cite? > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > My father had VA disability, because the VA concluded that WWII gave him heart attacks. He was medical officer at the D-Day landing, trying to patch people back together as they were fished back out of the water or the beach severely wounded, and sometimes failing. They figured out later that he had a heart attack in the middle of this, and kept right on working. > > He held down a full time job with long hours and walked significant distances at high speeds. Whenever he wasn’t having another heart attack, that is; he had several of them through the rest of his life. His disintegrating circulatory system finally killed him at age 69. And yes he was entitled to that disability; and no you wouldn’t have seen it if you saw him at any time between heart attacks. And yes he was entirely capable of doing his job. > > This kind of attack doesn’t make me more dubious about Platner. It makes me more dubious about the other attacks. Exactly. This attack is so bogus it casts doubt on the other “facts” and allegations. Did everyone here vote for Mills today? 😀 ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1070 "2026-06-09T20:47:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Did everyone here vote for Mills today? 😀 I think the biggest irony in this thread is that there isn’t anyone actually from Maine here. ---
**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 9, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1071 "2026-06-09T21:15:19Z")
Beyond the repetition back and forth here - let’s _hypothetically_ assume he wins the primary today, what, if anything, will his performance in the general inform about the next election cycle? I mean the theory he is running on is that the Ds will rally around voting against the current shitshow no matter who it is, including establishment types who might usually not be thrilled about an economic populist eat the rich candidate, the progressives out in force, and the disaffected working class not college educated that went to Trump willing to buy a different disruptive CHANGE message this cycle. Maine is an interesting test of that message I think, albeit confounded with Platner’s own specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1072 "2026-06-09T21:34:16Z")
In a few hours we’ll know what Mainers decided about this. I’m guessing Platner will get 51% or a better, meaning there won’t be a runoff—but that Mills will get more votes than anyone would have predicted a month ago. That said: of COURSE Republicans have prepared an October Surprise. Most likely it will be connected with this: > [@Babale](#): > > … his Kik thirst trap profile pic he used to trawl for (only of legal age he pinkie promises) girls on Kik while his wife was undergoing IVF treatment. > [https://s.yimg.com/lo/mysterio/api/158F96636CC679DD6E95FB0869F8133D799D43FA893D6BC8821556801E8CE214/subgraphmysterio/resizefill\_w976\_h651;quality\_80;format\_webp/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Faol\_ny\_post\_us\_news\_articles\_123%2Fdcc3f1fd7499845642fad56c6c428a71](https://s.yimg.com/lo/mysterio/api/158F96636CC679DD6E95FB0869F8133D799D43FA893D6BC8821556801E8CE214/subgraphmysterio/resizefill_w976_h651;quality_80;format_webp/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Faol_ny_post_us_news_articles_123%2Fdcc3f1fd7499845642fad56c6c428a71) (^ That’s the ‘mirror photo’ Platner posted on Kik; you can see it by clicking on Babale’s post, which is around #928.) Democrats need to impress on Platner that HE CANNOT GO ON STONEWALLING about potential accusers—whether underage-at-the-time girls, or adults who could plausibly accuse him of rape or something close enough to rape to matter. His constant cry of ‘corporate interests are making this up to destroy me’ WILL NOT HELP. That ‘defense’ will be utterly ineffective. He needs to give names and a timeline of all the females he’s had contact with, because Republicans _ **will be making claims about them.** _ Platner’s only hope is to be able to _counter any GOP accusations with names, dates, and witnesses._ He has to start working with campaign operatives NOW to get ahead of what the GOP will be planning. It’s not the Nazi-related tattoo that’s the problem, now. It’s the accusations—no matter how fictitious—from females that will be employed by the GOP to ensure that in November, Democrats are too disgusted to go to the polls. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1073 "2026-06-09T21:39:56Z")
The allegations will be “fictitious,” yet Platner already knows who will be making them and what they will allege that he did at what times. Curious. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1074 "2026-06-09T21:40:52Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I think the biggest irony in this thread is that there isn’t anyone actually from Maine here. Well, yeah. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > That said: of COURSE Republicans have prepared an October Surprise. Most likely it will be connected with this: Yeah, they are already swiftboating him. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > Democrats need to impress on Platner that HE CANNOT GO ON STONEWALLING about potential accusers > **["Make the Sonofabitch deny it": The Rise of 'Pig Fucker Politics'](https://www.thestanduplawyer.com/make-the-sonofabitch-deny-it-the-rise-of-pig-fucker-politics/)** > > No, I'm not talking about that Black Mirror episode that made some of us stop watching after the pilot because... where do you go after you begin with political porcine procreation? > > I'm talking about what can be appropriately dubbed "Pig Fucker... > This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. > “The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumour campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his barnyard sows. > > “Christ, we can’t get away with calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.” > > \*“I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the sonofabitchh deny it.” Sometimes, the best answer is to ignore baseless accusations. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1075 "2026-06-09T21:41:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Because that is no ones business, as medical records are private under Federal law. He’s running for the Senate. He’s running for the Senate and repeatedly invoking his military service, disability status, and work history while doing so. Graham Platner has _no_ expectation of privacy and should not insult voters further by invoking it. Don’t like it? Don’t run for one of the most powerful political offices on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1076 "2026-06-09T21:43:03Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > He’s running for the Senate. He’s running for the Senate and repeatedly invoking his military service, disability status, and work history while doing so. Graham Platner has _no_ expectation of privacy and should not insult voters further by invoking it. trump and co are swiftboating him, if trump and his crew of deplorables knew Platner was defrauding the government, they would have already arrested him. And again _“But let’s make the sonofabitchh deny it.”_ And _you_ are the only one making these baseless claims, do you think Platner needs to share his medical records just to make you happy? ---
**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 9, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1077 "2026-06-09T21:43:12Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Don’t run for one of the most powerful political offices on the planet. No, run for President and keep your current medical reports totally secret! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1078 "2026-06-09T21:44:02Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > The allegations will be “fictitious,” yet Platner already knows who will be making them and what they will allege that he did at what times No, the point is that the allegations will almost certainly be made by some female Platner HAS met (and likely, dated). If the Dems have a timeline with facts and witnesses, they can respond nearly immediately about any accusation. For example ‘she says he raped her on 5-3-2010 but he was in Canada, not where she said he was, on that date’. That type of thing. Platner and his campaign staff need to be prepared with far more than a generic “they’re making this up to smear me.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1079 "2026-06-09T21:45:06Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > No, the point is that the allegations will almost certainly be made by some female Platner HAS met (and likely, dated). They already had a GOP operative make baseless accusations- and posters here believed them. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1080 "2026-06-09T21:51:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They already had a GOP operative make baseless accusations- and posters here believed them. Her accusations weren’t about sexual abuse, though. They were entertained even by the skeptical, likely because they fell something short of ‘there should have been charges filed.’ They were unpleasant enough to bother many, of course, quite reasonably. The October Surprise will likely be more ugly. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1081 "2026-06-09T21:54:13Z")
I’m still waiting for an explanation of what “pretendicide” is. Am I left to speculate? OK, something I would never do, because I love her, but hypothetically, if I killed Chrissy Hynde, is that pretendicide? Because in that case, I would at least capitalize the “p”. ---
**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 9, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1082 "2026-06-09T21:57:36Z")
Pretendicide = Gaza. [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=53) [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=55)