Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine

[Measure_for_Measure]

Ok, I’m going to requote what I think are the most salient points. The JewishInsider piece quoted upthread was a solid article. 1st quote:

Platner’s former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned from his campaign last week over her objection to his recently unearthed incendiary Reddit comments, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that “Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest.”
“He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff,” McDonald wrote in the post, which was reviewed by JI. “Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.”

For myself, the preponderance of the evidence suggests that he knew about the provenance of his tattoo before 2025, though not necessarily when he obtained the tat in 2007.

So what should we do with this hypothesis, assuming its true? The article continues:

A spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement to JI that Platner’s tattoo “appears to be a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo, and if true, it is troubling that a candidate for high office would have one.”
“We do understand that sometimes people get tattoos without understanding their hateful association,” the ADL spokesperson added. “In those cases, the bearer should be asked whether they repudiate its hateful meaning.”

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.

Here’s the third factor:

@Miller

If Platner got that tattoo because he was just so super into Nazi ideology, you’d think there’d be more cites of him actually promoting Nazi ideology. Especially in all the years between when he got it, and when he entered politics. That’s a pretty long stretch for a guy who thought the SS was so great he got their emblem permanently marked on his body for him to not have a single tweet about, “Hitler did some good things for Germany,” or writing “(((Soros)))” or anything like that.

I think the evidence is pretty strong that Platner is not a Nazi or a white supremicist. (Not 100%: there’s that Jan 2026 siting with the right wing anti-MAGA conspiracy theorist.)

So what’s the problem? Mutatis mutandis of Chronos’ point, Platner screws up some of the Dem’s messaging on opposing bigotry and opens the door to media both-sidsing. I think these problems are manageable, (eg “I am not Platner and I am not running for election in Maine. I oppose all forms of bigotry and am glad Platner changed his tattoo. But c’mon. My opponent has said nothing about Hegseth. Also, why the hell does Joseph Kent have a Nazi tank on his arm?”) But if you’re explaining, you’re losing. Luckily this constitutes an attack by a Republican from the left, which is problematic for a number of reasons: they are easier to respond to and lack the punch.