# 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:** 69
**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 29, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1363 "2026-06-29T22:12:18Z")
What be the issues of greatest importance to Maine voters this election: I know what I think it will be (Meant to allow more than one but this should do) _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1363))_ ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1364 "2026-06-29T22:26:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > What be the issues of greatest importance to Maine voters this election: > > I know what I think it will be > > (Meant to allow more than one but this should do) Platner is running significantly behind the “generic Democrat” ballot and the percentage that Harris ended up with in 2024 in Maine. He has a 49-47 lead in polls so he’s basically just sitting on the margin of error. Once the Collins campaign actually starts unloading the reams of dirt they have on him (which they are sitting on until July 13, the last day that the Democrats can legally replace him with another candidate) he’s toast. I can’t wait until Platner loses and we find out that the Wise Leftist Maine Electorate that knows they need to vote for the alcoholic Nazi disability fraudster because it’s _important_ were actually “bigots” and Fox News-enchanted zombies who wake up every day and go “it’s time to vote the wrong way because we love being bad people!” all along. It will be a huge surprise to all. ---
**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 29, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1365 "2026-06-29T22:40:17Z")
So none of the listed choices then? ---
**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 29, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1366 "2026-06-29T23:28:33Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > Once the Collins campaign actually starts unloading the reams of dirt they have on him Which you assume exists without any evidence thereof. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > alcoholic Nazi disability fraudster I can think of four things wrong with that description. > [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > can’t wait until Platner loses So you’re rooting for Trump and MAGA, then. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1367 "2026-06-29T23:40:11Z")
It’s highly likely that Platner has dick pics out there. Honestly, it would be kinda surprising if he doesn’t given his age and background. So, IMHO, he should get ahead of it and drop trou in an age appropriate setting. ---
**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 30, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1368 "2026-06-30T01:25:22Z")
Of all the people who are perfectly certain about something they could not possibly know with any more confidence than a guess, you are certainly one of them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1369 "2026-06-30T03:00:13Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So you’re rooting for Trump and MAGA, then. Yep. I am not thrilled with Platner, but Collins has to go. If we get 51 Dem Senators, trump cant put some MAGA on the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1370 "2026-06-30T16:07:14Z")
Well, the “anonymous source” who claims Platner knew for years that the tattoo was a Nazi symbol [turns out to be Lyndsey Fifeld,](https://substack.com/home/post/p-201063355?selection=71313a56-7a1c-4c57-8914-4a13afdc0eea#:~:text=Last%20fall%2C%20I%20received%20a%20tip%20from%20a%20trusted%20Republican%20source%20that%20Republicans%20in%20Washington%20D) the very same person who made unsubstantiated accusations of physical abuse against him in the recent NYT article. Among other bright spots in her resume was being a founder of…you can’t make this shit up…“Ladies for Kavanaugh”, which was instrumental in persuading Collins to vote to confirm the rapist to the Supreme Court. The last paragraph of the link quotes former GOP strategist turned Lincoln Project dude Rick Wilson on the Platner “controversies”: “I ran more than a few GOP smear campaigns in my past. I know one when I see it”. Indeed. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1371 "2026-06-30T17:14:35Z")
That’s a very interesting article. I hope many of our participants here read it. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1372 "2026-06-30T18:55:05Z")
It doesn’t make sense for Republicans to cook up stories before the primary though. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1373 "2026-06-30T18:56:57Z")
It wasn’t really a primary – Mills had basically dropped out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1374 "2026-06-30T18:59:41Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Well, the “anonymous source” who claims Platner knew for years that the tattoo was a Nazi symbol [turns out to be Lyndsey Fifeld,](https://substack.com/home/post/p-201063355?selection=71313a56-7a1c-4c57-8914-4a13afdc0eea#:~:text=Last%20fall%2C%20I%20received%20a%20tip%20from%20a%20trusted%20Republican%20source%20that%20Republicans%20in%20Washington%20D) the very same person who made unsubstantiated accusations of physical abuse against him in the recent NYT article. Among other bright spots in her resume was being a founder of…you can’t make this shit up…“Ladies for Kavanaugh”, which was instrumental in persuading Collins to vote to confirm the rapist to the Supreme Court. > > The last paragraph of the link quotes former GOP strategist turned Lincoln Project dude Rick Wilson on the Platner “controversies”: “I ran more than a few GOP smear campaigns in my past. I know one when I see it”. Indeed. Oopsies. 🙀 Do I hear any Emily Litella “Never Mind”? No? ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1375 "2026-06-30T19:02:33Z")
Mmmm… these days, Republicans want to smear Democrats preemptively - to get their voters (and undecideds) set in their judgments about how “sus” someone might be - putting up a lot of smoke so people will convince themselves there’s fire. Consider how the quarter-century campaign to slander Hillary Clinton paid off in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1376 "2026-06-30T19:16:22Z")
But if it works, Democrats could just find someone else or voters might lose interest in the claims before the election. Anyway, I’m just saying the idea it’s a GOP setup seems dumb to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1377 "2026-06-30T19:41:37Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Democrats could just find someone else or voters might lose interest in the claims before the election. The “Democrats” do not generally “find” candidates. Sometimes in lesser known races, sure. > [@Palooka](#): > > Anyway, I’m just saying the idea it’s a GOP setup seems dumb to me. Did you read Thing.Fish’s post and cite? # **Why I am skeptical of the NY Times’ Platner Investigation** … > Last fall, I received a tip from a trusted Republican source that Republicans in Washington D.C. were acting smug about the U.S. Senate race in Maine, like they had a “nuke” to take down Graham Platner. It was a little over a month after news broke about Platner’s problematic Reddit history and his tattoo resembling the death’s head symbol that was used by the Nazi S.S. I was told that the Republicans’ source was one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends and that it had something to with a BDSM fetish that would feed into the narrative that he was violent and disturbed. … > > The most explosive revelations in the _NY Times_ story are uncorroborated allegations that Platner physically abused an ex-girlfriend while living in Washington DC in the mid 2010s. Lyndsey Fifield of Virginia, a career Republican activist, first met Platner in 2013 when they were both in their 20s… But most critically, even the _Times_ admitted, it _ **“could not independently corroborate Ms. Fifield’s account of the altercations.”** _… Fifield also outed herself as the anonymous source who told the conservative, pro-Israeli outlet _Jewish Insider_ last October that Platner knew his skull head tattoo was used by the S.S. and referred to it as “my Totenkopf.” According to [Fifield’s former podcast host Bethany Mandel](https://x.com/nathanTbernard/status/2062705712644370444/photo/1), Fifield told the press about the tattoo “many months ago, naively believing that a Nazi tattoo would be disqualifying.” Apparently, when that didn’t bring him down, she brought out the big guns - abuse allegations…No one else has publicly claimed that Platner knew that the symbol was used by the Nazis… At the time, Marine veteran Phil Proschko, who got the same tattoo with Platner, [forcefully denied](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/21/graham-platner-tattoo-antisemitism/) that they were aware that the skull tattoo had been used by the S.S. and > The _Times_ disclosed some of Fifield’s ties to right-wing groups, but not provide any context for the campaigns these groups run. The _Times_ noted that she worked for the right-wing Heritage Foundation, but failed to mention that it was the group that developed [“Project 2025,”](https://www.aclu.org/project-2025-explained) the blueprint for the second Trump administration to dismantle government, mass deport immigrant families and undermine democracy. It also reported that Fifield is “[affiliated with Independent Women](https://www.independentwomen.com/people/lyndsey-fifield/), a conservative group.” T… This puts a kibosh on several points here- That Platner & buddies knew it was a Nazi Tattoo, that the “anonymous” person that claimed otherwise is a bogus cite, and that the story of Platner being abusive to one of six women interviewed is also bogus. It is clear that this MAGA operative has been spreading lies about Platner. Not to mention helping out Kavenaugh to get confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1378 "2026-06-30T21:25:42Z")
I did not bother to read it. The premise seemed dumb to me. Frankly, I find the idea that someone doesn’t know what their own tattoo is kind of preposterous. (Unless your kanji tattoo doesn’t mean what you think it means.) Someone that online is going to recognize it from that British comedy show meme. I know the NYT piece being referenced. The abuse allegations are very tempered. She’s very clear that Platner did not hit her. If you’re a scumbag political hack who is lying about a candidate to sink them and no one can prove it either way anyway, why not go for the whole lie? The dots don’t connect for me. If she says he knew, that’s easy to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1379 "2026-06-30T21:53:49Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Frankly, I find the idea that someone doesn’t know what their own tattoo is kind of preposterous. Really? I find that _incredibly_ easy to believe. > [@Palooka](#): > > Someone that online is going to recognize it from that British comedy show meme. I think you’re really overestimating how easy it is for someone to just completely miss a part of pop culture that seems endemic to you. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1380 "2026-06-30T22:02:28Z")
I mean, Siri probably pulled up the wikipedia page while he was taking that selfie going around. ---
**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 30, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1381 "2026-06-30T22:02:56Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Someone that online is going to recognize it from that British comedy show meme. I suspect the overlap between “jarhead oyster farmers from Maine” and “fans of an obscure early 2000s British sketch comedy show” is smaller than you assume. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1382 "2026-06-30T22:07:04Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > I mean, Siri probably pulled up the wikipedia page while he was taking that selfie going around. I don’t know what this means. [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=68) [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=70)