# People defending Graham Platner are pathetic and intellectually bankrupt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839 "2026-06-12T02:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/321 "2026-07-06T23:35:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Name the last candidate to win a major office after replacing another candidate that had already won the nomination. I don’t know how often that situation happens, where a person has to replace a nominated candidate. But the most famous case is James Buchanan (who only became the nominee after both Franklin Pierce and Stephen Douglas dropped out). Pierce, who he succeeded, was the only US President to not be nominated for reelection by his own party. And Buchanan only received the nomination after others dropped out; Pierce himself endorsed Douglas after resigning. Prior to that, Buchanan wasn’t able to secure the nomination outright. He had made a deal with Douglas to not seek reelection if he won, which convinced Douglas to concede. More recently, and much closer to the situation in Maine, you had a 2002 election for Senate in New Jersey where Robert Torricelli was trying to be elected to a second term. He had been embroiled in an ethics investigation regarding a donor who claimed to have given Torricelli large amounts of money and other gifts. Prosecutors didn’t charge him, so Torricelli considered the matter settled. But then the Senate Ethics Committee “severely admonished” him in a formal letter, and a court ordered the release of a memo from federal prosecutors that claimed “substantial corroborating evidence” of the claims. The Republican challenger was leading in polls, and Democratic leaders pressured Torricelli to drop out, and he did so on the last day of September. Democrats were desperate to find someone, **anyone** , to replace him, and tapped retired former Senator Frank Lautenberg (78 years old) to run. Lautenberg did, and won by 10 points. So yes, it can and does happen now and then. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/322 "2026-07-06T23:39:04Z")
Some Missouri politician died during the run-up, and his wife took over the campaign and won. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/323 "2026-07-06T23:40:45Z")
Yeah, it doesn’t happen often, but it happens. It’s also just not common for a person to not run after being nominated. It takes something really significant for that to happen. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/324 "2026-07-06T23:54:38Z")
So that’s three examples in the last 170 years, one of them for which the original nominee’s name was still on the ballot. Not really all that hope-inspiring. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/325 "2026-07-06T23:56:02Z")
Now it’s your turn to provide examples. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/326 "2026-07-06T23:57:00Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Who browbeat Biden into having a disastrous debate performance that sent everyone into an absolute panic? He had covid. The only alternative was to cancel the debate which would have been worse. If he made a mistake it was not being honest about being sick at the beginning of the debate. The party establishment’s reaction was a classic ratfuck, just like what they’re doing to Platner right now. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/327 "2026-07-07T00:06:42Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Now it’s your turn to provide examples. 2024 - Harris replaces Biden, loses. 2004 - Alan Keyes replaces Jack Ryan, loses. 2002 - Walter Mondale replaces Paul Wellstone, loses. 1972 - Sargent Shriver replaces Thomas Eagleton, loses. Those are off the top of my head. I’m sure there are more. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/328 "2026-07-07T00:08:59Z")
“The party establishment” bitch I was in a living room full of libs and we were all sitting there in stunned disbelief saying to each other that he needed to drop the fuck out. Quit pretending like there was some deep state involved in that one. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/329 "2026-07-07T00:10:12Z")
And that’s why Democrats can’t win. Too many of you insist on surrendering at the first sign that everything isn’t 100% perfect. You treat politics like a football game and throw watch parties and yell at the TV when “your team” fumbles a pass. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/330 "2026-07-07T00:13:27Z")
I’m still wondering who this “party establishment” is that doesn’t include Joe Biden. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/331 "2026-07-07T00:14:41Z")
Biden stopped being part of the establishment when he sided with Obama. They grudgingly backed him in 2020 because he was to the right of Sanders and Warren, then spent the next four years trying to keep him from accomplishing anything productive and knifed him in the back when they had a chance, replaced him with a candidate even more to the right, and then sabotaged her too by telling her to court Trump voters and boast about being friends with Dick Cheney. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/332 "2026-07-07T00:22:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 2004 - Alan Keyes replaces Jack Ryan, loses. True, but Keyes was a particularly atrocious choice: he was only selected after the Illinois Republican Party struggled to find anyone else to run after Jack Ryan was forced to drop out. Keyes had never lived in Illinois, he had never won an election (getting thrashed in two runs for Senate seats in Maryland, and two unsuccessful tries for the GOP presidential nomination), and his platform was strongly based on his opposition to abortion in a purple-to-blue state. Even before Ryan had dropped out, the Democratic candidate – Barack Obama – had a big lead in polls. tl;dr; that 2004 race was likely unwinnable for any GOP candidate; having to replace Ryan in August just made the hole deeper. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/333 "2026-07-07T00:27:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And that’s why Democrats can’t win. Too many of you insist on surrendering at the first sign that everything isn’t 100% perfect. _There’s_ the new Platner slogan. “Hey, I’m not 100% perfect, but I’m not Susan Collins”. Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Party Establishment must be grinding their teeth that the latest Platner scandal isn’t leading all the MSM headlines. On ABC News online the story is only fourth, behind Balogun starting for the U.S. against Belgium, the death of the"Party Rock Anthem" singer, and “Black hair care pioneer George E. Johnson Sr. dies at 99”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/334 "2026-07-07T00:32:30Z")
@Smapti I have said that the idea Biden could have won is not uncommon. I can’t completely dismiss it.\* But the idea that the establishment wanted to tank him is not tenable. If that were true, there wouldn’t have been so many fighting back. What appeared to happen was that there was a narrative about Biden becoming senile or having dementia that was going around. And then we had a flashpoint in the debates that confirmed that narrative to enough people that Biden’s numbers dropped. This drop was enough that they believed that switching to Kamala would give them a better chance. They may have been wrong. But the big issue with swapping out candidates is that you only do it when you think your candidate is losing, so it’s always more likely you’ll lose. I don’t have high hopes with Platner being replaced. But I also don’t have high hopes with him staying in at this point, either. This will lose him a lot of the women’s vote, and he can’t win without that. A replacement very well could give us a better chance. \* I don’t think it was possible in reality, but if things were different and Democrats didn’t buy into the narrative, maybe. I mean, Republicans are completely ignoring all the signs of Trump’s dementia now. And they are worse than Biden’s. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/335 "2026-07-07T00:42:15Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You treat politics like a football game and throw watch parties and yell at the TV when “your team” fumbles a pass. First time I’ve heard rape described as a “fumbled pass.” Hopefully the last time, too. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/336 "2026-07-07T00:57:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > First time I’ve heard rape described as a “fumbled pass.” If some woman went to Mother Jones and told them Ken Paxton raped her five years ago with no evidence, do you think the Republicans would be falling over themselves with moral outrage and demanding he drop out? Or would they call it a baseless attempt to discredit him and rally around him? One strategy wins elections and it’s not the one Democrats are going with. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/337 "2026-07-07T01:06:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > One strategy wins elections and it’s not the one Democrats are going with. One strategy has maybe at least a shred of decency and morality, and it’s not the one that the GOP has been going with. Just saying. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/338 "2026-07-07T01:08:41Z")
It’s so fucking weird that you describe the people who hold fast to their morality as the people treating it like a sport. If you’re so interested in winning elections rather than behaving in a principled manner, the Republican Party is ready to welcome you with open arms. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/339 "2026-07-07T01:10:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If you’re so interested in winning elections rather than behaving in a principled manner, the Republican Party is ready to welcome you with open arms. I’m interested in stopping the fascist takeover of this country. I don’t need the people fighting for me to be saints who’ve never had a whiff of inpropriety or baseless accusation of wrongdoing about them. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > One strategy has maybe at least a shred of decency and morality Decency and morality don’t win elections in this country. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/340 "2026-07-07T01:10:11Z")
Democrats not immediately denying rape accusations they don’t want to be true is one of their more admirable qualities. Doing otherwise would not win them elections as they would lose significant portions of their base. There’s room for “Keep an open mind. We don’t have all the facts.” There’s even room for “I find the accusations suspicious.” But never “I know without checking that the accuser is lying.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=18)