# 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:** 28
**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:** [July 9, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/541 "2026-07-09T22:28:52Z")
Yes, that’s true. It remains to be seen whether Rahm Emanuel’s initiative will do anything to get this issue out in the open. The current situation is (basically) two sides, each equally confident of their Righteousness. That is **not** working. > [@](#): > > … Jewish adults, who overwhelmingly skew Democratic, have a slightly more favorable opinion of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel, than of Netanyahu, the poll found. > > “You cannot fight indefinitely against a world that has stopped believing you have the right to fight,” Emanuel told a packed auditorium of students and supporters in a speech hosted by the university’s Center for the Study of the United States. “You must instead find a new sustainable path to peace, security, and economic prosperity.” > > … The speech was well-received by the liberal Tel Aviv University crowd, who applauded even when Emanuel condemned Israel’s policies, such as Netanyahu’s role in not preparing for the day after in Gaza. He said “true friends tell each other the truth.” > … > **[Rahm Emanuel warns that Israel has become a 'territorial pariah' in a...](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-war-gaza-rahm-emanuel-23de561fab908a4dec72f9df1d6add0e)** > > Rahm Emanuel, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, warns that Israel is becoming isolated due to its leadership. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/542 "2026-07-09T23:10:58Z")
Tuition for day students is $68,000 a year! ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/543 "2026-07-10T01:38:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > This is being argued with straight faces on every social media outlet, I hear (I don’t look at all of them). Platner, that shining star, was brought down by “corporate Democrats”…which seems to be a thinly-veiled reference to The Jews. Um bullshit. If you’re not looking at them, where are you hearing this from? If I were you, I’d be far more suspect of your sources and wondering what kind of agenda they have to push. ---
**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 10, 2026, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/544 "2026-07-10T04:29:30Z")
Platner has reportedly told associates that he plans to file papers formally withdrawing from the race on Monday. Why is he waiting until right up against the deadline? Is he trying to further pressure state party leaders to let him pick a successor, or is he hoping to claim a groundswell of support has emerged, leading him to announce that he’s changing his mind about dropping out? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/545 "2026-07-10T04:40:36Z")
I think he’s probably trying to extort money from the party. In any case, pretty in line with him being a piece of shit that belongs nowhere near office. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/546 "2026-07-10T04:48:31Z")
My first thought was spite. He doesn’t seem above pulling a passive aggressive stunt like that. I thought I heard him, or someone quoting him say something about waiting until the very last minute. Now I’m kind of worrying what kind of shit he might pull,digging us into a deeper pit. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/547 "2026-07-10T16:14:22Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Um bullshit. If you’re not looking at them, where are you hearing this from? If I were you, I’d be far more suspect of your sources and wondering what kind of agenda they have to push. Wait, are you honestly asking for a source for people blaming the “establishment” for Platner’s demise? It’s everywhere. It’s in this thread. Platner himself said as much in his graceless, sulking “withdrawal” speech. (we have to put “withdrawal” in quotes because the piece of shit hasn’t actually filed the papers yet, he’s dragging it out and trying to make the exit wound as painful as possible, and still apparently trying to pick his “successor”). And that fits with what anyone ought to have seen coming. A guy who commits domestic violence and sexts other women and gets a Nazi tattoo and waves it off without apologizing, just lies and lame excuses about PTSD, will do anything. Literally anything. And he’ll blame someone else for it, as he and his supporters are now doing. Now ask yourself how this would’ve gone down had he actually gotten elected, and _then_ the rape allegation came out, and _then_ the Democrats asked him to step down. If you think this is a guy who would own his fuckups and do the gracious thing, you’re dreaming. He’d torch the Dems first. We still don’t know he’s actually going to drop out and support his replacement. And that’s what some of us were saying all along - he could do anything once elected, because you simply do not know who this person is. Even after all this, I don’t think we’ve yet seen his shittiest depths. ---
**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 10, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/548 "2026-07-10T19:29:20Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Even after all this, I don’t think we’ve yet seen his shittiest depths. I’m hoping we never will. ---
**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 10, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/549 "2026-07-10T19:56:13Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Even after all this, I don’t think we’ve yet seen his shittiest depths. We might well have gotten to see them had he stayed in the race\* through further disclosures, including what the Collins campaign might have saved up to release at an appropriate time. They must be gnashing their teeth at Collins HQ, now that they’ll have to spend much more time defending her support of Trump and MAGA. \*assuming he doesn’t make a U-turn at the last minute and refuse to withdraw. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/550 "2026-07-10T20:16:21Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Wait, are you honestly asking for a source for people blaming the “establishment” for Platner’s demise? It’s everywhere. It’s in this thread. Platner himself said as much in his graceless, sulking “withdrawal” speech. (we have to put “withdrawal” in quotes because the piece of shit hasn’t actually filed the papers yet, he’s dragging it out and trying to make the exit wound as painful as possible, and still apparently trying to pick his “successor”). > > … And that’s what some of us were saying all along - he could do anything once elected, because you simply do not know who this person is. Even after all this, I don’t think we’ve yet seen his shittiest depths. Yes. Platner is one of those who’ve seen a path to Power _ **as a Democrat** _ via trashing Democrats. (And, yes, via trashing Jewish people as being The Democratic Establishment.) This ugliness is guaranteed to keep Republicans in charge, among other unpleasant things. It’s an inherently unprincipled tactic. And Platner is its poster child. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Is he trying to further pressure state party leaders to let him pick a successor, or is he hoping to claim a groundswell of support has emerged, leading him to announce that he’s changing his mind about dropping out? Either is possible, but I’d bet (if there were a way) that he’s still fantasizing about being handed a seat in the US Senate. Besides the nail-biting issue of whether he’ll make the 5pm Monday deadline to file the paperwork, there’s also the fact that fundraising for Dems will have basically ground to a halt. While Susan Collins is sitting on a big fat war chest. > [@](#): > > Platner privately told staff that he is planning to officially file paperwork to end his Senate campaign on Monday — the drop-dead deadline for him to exit the race. [https://www.axios.com/2026/07/09/graham-platner-exit-maine-senate-race-deadline](https://www.axios.com/2026/07/09/graham-platner-exit-maine-senate-race-deadline) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/551 "2026-07-10T21:11:43Z")
> [@Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine (campaign suspended July 8, 2026)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1553): > > He just formally withdrew. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/552 "2026-07-10T21:17:10Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes. Platner is one of those who’ve seen a path to Power _ **as a Democrat** _ via trashing Democrats. > > (And, yes, via trashing Jewish people as being The Democratic Establishment.) Examples? ---
**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 10, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/553 "2026-07-10T21:18:54Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Certainly it’s not safe to assume that someone who identifies as being ‘_on the left_’ or _'voting Democratic Party_’ (in general) will see Trump and Republicans as the **main** problem facing the USA. Because people were still unhappy before Trump was elected, and returning to the pre-Trump status quo doesn’t actually fix things. Running on “I can beat Trump” just doesn’t seem to be a winning strategy. Ya gotta run on actually fixing stuff. If you’re on the left, of course you think the Democrats are too corporate, too willing to throw minorities and workers under the bus. Too willing to cozy up with conservatives. And to unwilling to actually fight back on anything, to get their hands dirty. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/554 "2026-07-10T21:37:49Z")
Oh thank God. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/555 "2026-07-10T21:39:17Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If you’re on the left, of course you think the Democrats are too corporate, too willing to throw minorities and workers under the bus. Too willing to cozy up with conservatives. And to unwilling to actually fight back on anything, to get their hands dirty. I know that some of you are desperately trying to give the rest of us a bad name, but you can actually be on the left without believing such idiocy. It does not necessarily follow that just because someone is on “the left” that they be totally brain broken on Democrats; none of those things you say are remotely true. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/556 "2026-07-10T21:39:58Z")
> [@Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine (campaign suspended July 8, 2026)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/1553): > > He just formally withdrew. Good riddance to bad rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/557 "2026-07-10T21:55:43Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@Shalmanese](#): > > > > Wait, are you honestly asking for a source for people blaming the “establishment” for Platner’s demise? It’s everywhere. It’s in this thread. Platner himself said as much in his graceless, sulking “withdrawal” speech. It’s not “everywhere” in this thread, it’s a single, named posted who others have spent endless hours arguing against. What’s the claim here? That at least one person on every social media platform believes this? Then yes, for any single possible belief, you can find a single person on the internet believing it. That there’s a named, influential contingent of people who believe Platner’s “I was set up but I’m dropping out anyway”, that simply does not exist. And anytime someone else is telling you what is “all over” social media that you don’t bother to check yourself, you should question why that source is interested in pushing this agenda. ---
**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 10, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/558 "2026-07-10T22:12:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes. Platner is one of those who’ve seen a path to Power _ **as a Democrat** _ via trashing Democrats. > > (And, yes, via trashing Jewish people as being The Democratic Establishment.) The only person I’ve seen attributing anything to “the Jews” is you. ---
**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 10, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/559 "2026-07-10T22:39:35Z")
I’m sure the Maine Secretary of State’s office was most impressed by Platner’s self-martyrdom statement, excuse me, official notification letter that he is withdrawing from the race. > ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839/560 "2026-07-10T22:45:09Z")
That’s…not so bad? I mean, people did vote for all those things, a lot more than they were voting for him as a person. He didn’t say anything about himself in the letter, which is 100x better than his video address. The last line might lack decorum, but it’s not some “fuck you” to the “establishment”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-defending-graham-platner-are-pathetic-and-intellectually-bankrupt/1030839.md?page=29)