Maine voter here. Platner will be on the ballot and I will vote for him. He may be another Fetterman or worse but my hope is that he has at some point had a “Come to Jesus moment” and will be a progressive in the Senate. If that CtJ moment happened ten years ago or two doesn’t matter if it is genuine.
More important is to get a D majority if possible
Which won’t mean jack if he switches after getting voted in.
I’ll take the maybe D over the certain R
Who is he running against, and do you think he is on the ballot to split the vote as opposed to having a good chance of winning?
“Would you rather vote for a Nazi or a Republican” sounds like a rejected card from a Would You Rather party game box set. We truly live in the worst timeline.
I agree. You’re in a tough position but I think it’s the right decision. A maybe secret Nazi is better than a proven Nazi:
Susan Collins. Multi decade, high profile, low impact Senator. I don’t understand the rest of your question.
I mean, if he was running against a run of the mill Trump stooge, I suppose I would concur, but Susan Collins is pretty moderate, and has voted against Trump’s policies on notable occasions. She is not the problem and I would certainly pick her over a nazi, whatever his nominal party affiliation.
The per-party headcount so which party is the majority in the senate is more important than any given senator’s qualifications or ideology.
The only problem is identifying and preventing folks who’ll change party after being elected.
She’s a Nazi who pretends she’s not. She’s voted for multiple Nazi nominees and is doing absolutely nothing to curb the Trump administration’s fascist tendencies.
An article linked in another Pit thread seems to suggest he’s running as a left-populist vs. the center establishment. He seems to be arguing for more socialist ideas. He seems the better choice for actually differentiating himself from Collins.
That doesn’t really make me think he’s planning on switching sides. I can’t imagine the Republicans would want him.
The argument in the article is that, in the era of Trump, things that would be disqualifying no longer are. The tattoo, his old tweets, and so on: people seem to be willing to say “well he’s clearly changed.” The fact he covered up the tattoo means he’s not like the Trump Nazis.
Granted, the article may be biased as the guy knew the guy growing up, but I don’t think fearing he switches sides makes a lot of sense.
But, but, but,; Collins was concerned, sometimes deeply concerned, brow furrowed as she voted for Orangeman’s nominees and destruction of laws protecting Americans against racists.
Remember when it was necessary to tolerate “antifa” groups brawling in the street because anyone who a masked vigilante says is a “fascist” must be one and must deserve limitless violence?
Remember hearing the ponderous “if you let one Nazi into the bar…” parable a thousand times?
Remember “it’s always good to punch a Nazi”?
Remember being lectured nonstop for the past three years on how it’s absolutely inconceivable that any of the people who think Israel responding to a mass slaughter of civilians is the source of all evil in the world might have a problem with Jews?
I don’t want to hear any more of that from the people explaining why they’re voting for the Nazi. Go to hell.
If it were me, I’d put LaFlamme first in the primary, and consider moving to a new state before the general.
ETA: Last part is a joke, of course. I wouldn’t blame you for not voting, though, and would try not to blame you for voting Platner. But you Maine guys are going to need to keep an eye on him and not let him get away with any fashy bullshit.
All but the “one Nazi in a bar” stuff is bullshit. At least Platner claims not to be a Nazi. If he wins, we’ll find out. A maybe secret Nazi is still better than a proven Nazi like Collins.
I don’t think the guy is a Nazi. Getting a “badass” skull tattoo when you’re a 20-something year-old Marine doesn’t make someone a Nazi, any more than a skull & crossbones tattoo makes someone a pirate.
But Susan Collins keeps voting for the fascists in this country over and over again, including the current SecDef who—for the record—has Nazi-adjacent tattoos all over his body. And he got them as a commissioned officer, from whom more judgement is typically expected.
ETA: I should check my facts before posting. Collins did apparently vote against the confirmation of Hegseth. Nevertheless, she has still gone along with most of the abuses of this administration.
Yes. And the Vice President cuddled up to Germany’s neo-Nazi party Alternative for Germany, which was too much for even the far-right French party National Rally. Not too much for Vance.
We have maybe-a-secret-Nazi-but-more-likely-a-reformed-shithead running against a Vichy Republican. I don’t mind unsavory bedfellows if it helps beat the fascists. The Economist magazine says that control of the Senate will boil down to Alaska, Maine, and Ohio. The Senate map is not a good for the Dems this year, so we can’t afford to lose focus.
I’m having difficulty figuring out how the transformed Nazi tattoo (it now has a Celtic design and a dog) will affect Platner’s policy stances. I have a pretty good idea how Collins the collaborator rolls.
Some people oppose antisemitism because they think that treating Jews (or anyone else for that matter) badly is a bad thing.
Other people opposed antisemitism when it was a convenient method to attack their antisemitic political opponents, but they have no actual problem with it. Those people are not allies, and they never have been.
Then explain why he literally quit the Marines rather than cover it up or remove it.
Oh, and just a warning. There are now people on the right who “oppose antisemitism” when it’s coming from their political opponents on the left. Some of the time, that’s because they actually oppose antisemitism, and that’s good. But there are also those who are doing exactly the same thing: only calling out antisemitism when it’s politically convenient to do so.