Graham Platner had more red flags than a prison soccer match

[dsc]

but Mills was old. It is almost as if rampant ageism is a bad idea. All I can say is thank God for Jenny Racicot. Now finally, after literally getting hit by the broadside of a barn, people had decided that maybe, just maybe, a man with a NAZI tattoo, who repeatedly denigrated rape victims, African Americans, the police, gay people and God alone knows who else, and who was accused by multiple women of being abusive to them, might be unsuitable for the Senate.

Mills' midwife could have been Eve and I would have voted for her over him.

I sincerely hope we have learned our lesson.

[drray23]

1. Some have not.

You still have people here on DU supporting him , willing to say that lady is lying and is a plant. Its despicable. There are documented contemporary witnesses ( like her psychiatric and other people she told) from back in 2023 .

Unless she has a time machine, this was obviously not a plant.
Apparently, for some, having moral integrity is only when it's convenient . They are making the exact same arguments Trump supporters are regarding his victims.

[paleotn]

9. Some don't tar and feather people until everything comes out.

Let the evidence speak for itself. Do you have links to contemporary witnesses? Where's the documentation?

[EdmondDantes_]

13. Here

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737

You can even see screenshots. She told her boyfriend in 2023 and another woman who was asking about Platner.

[paleotn]

21. And you trust Republican op research that much? My mind isn't made up. That's my point.

Lets see where this goes.

[obamanut2012]

46. Nice moving the goalposts there

When showed the evidence.

It isn't "Republican " evidence, it's actual evidence. Racicot also is a Democrat.

[RoseTrellis]

75. Maine party leadership?

The states leadership is using op research now, or are they fully aware how serious this actually is?

Link to tweet

?s=61&t=D5bZL0vhU8KaFBareC8u6g

[MichMan]

17. Whatever happened to "Believe all women" ?

Was it just a soundbite to be used when it was convenient?

[Maru Kitteh]

20. See Eric Swalwell. People only 'trust' women who fill their narrative.

Which is of course, disingenuous at best.

[paleotn]

23. Lying can be universal given the right incentives.

With control of the US Senate in play, there's plenty of incentive.

[Maru Kitteh]

24. So ya know, thx for stopping by and offering a radiant display

of my point.

[paleotn]

30. Not in the slightest. Read the words and comprehend what I'm saying.

Think about it rationally, not emotionally.

[obamanut2012]

47. Seriously, even after shown rhe excellent evidence

They still attack Racicot.

[paleotn]

22. Honestly, during election season, I don't necessarily believe anyone.

Too much at stake with control of the Senate in the balance. That puts a different spin on a case of he said / she said. So, I'm holding judgment until I see how Platner defends this. If he f's it up. If he admits to it. If it's what I feared from his campaign early on, i.e., amateurish stuff, then he's cooked. In that case, if we want to "burn" him, I'll throw wood on the fire too. Until then, we'll see.

[obamanut2012]

45. There is evidence

My God.

[ColoringFool]

59. Give. It. Up. Time has been called.

[obamanut2012]

44. Some of the posts here have been appalling

[Doodley]

2. He needs to step down, whether innocent or guilty.

[swong19104]

5. Correct

We’re not here to adjudicate a crime. We’re here to decide whether the character of this person is fitting for the role of a senator. His character is not fitting for the role of a senator.

[31st Street Bridge]

52. Character not fitting?

You've just described most of Congress, all of the cabinet and certainly the chief executive.

[Bluetus]

11. Is this supposed to be satire?

He needs to step down, and it doesn't matter is he is innocent? What kind of twisted bullshit is that?

[yardwork]

29. He's a politician. We must win that seat.

If he can't win he needs to step down. Simple.

[Bluetus]

31. He already won the primary. It isn't as simple as you make it sound.

Be that as it may, you are saying that it does not matter what the truth is. If somebody simply makes an allegation, then he should be treated as guilty. I find that attitude just plain wrong, considering how many dark forces are operating to manipulate our elections. If he is guilty, then I certainly want him out, but nobody here seems even the slightest bit interested in finding out the truth, or even taking a few days to hear his side of the story.

[Doodley]

33. What is more important? Him or America? We have to win these midterms and hold Trump to account or we all all fucked!

[Bluetus]

35. The truth is the most important thing.

What would you think if 6 months from now, we found out that some combination of the GOP and foreign agencies were behind a smear campaign that was based on nothing at all?

[yardwork]

42. The truth is not all that important in politics.

[Doodley]

81. Whether true or not, these allegations damage ALL Democratic candidates.

[yardwork]

41. Nope.

It's up to the justice system to decide if he's guilty or not.

It's up to the Democratic Party to decide whether we want him as a candidate.

Those are two completely different things.

[Bluetus]

69. And what if these allegations are completely false, created by foreign agencies in support of Trump's regime?

[Doodley]

32. Do you want use to win the midterm election? How are we going to get our message across if one candidate is constantly

dominating the headlines with these allegations? Republicans will milk this for all they can. And do you think even Democratic voters across the nation care more about him or about their own lives, their own financial situation and healthcare? How are we going to tackle the "they are as bad on both sides," argument? These allegations are damaging for all Democratic Party candidates.

He will be demonized by the right and portrayed as worse than Trump and representative of all Democrats. Yes, we could fight for his right not to pay a price for things that are unproven, but in doing so we will lose the midterms. We need to be attacking Republicans over healthcare, over the economy, over abuses of power, over Iran, etc., not spending our time defending one candidate from attacks.

[LisaL]

3. Yep, it was clear that more accusations

were coming.
We were just hoping to avoid this exact situation that pretty clearly was going to happen, by pointing that out.

[Grim Chieftain]

4. Well said

We need to hold our candidates to the same standards we hold Republicans. We are better than this.

[1WorldHope]

14. Now that we have destroyed Platner, could we refocus our attention on the current Nazi, child rapist, racist, grifter ..

... and thief? How about we all go out in the streets and raise a little hell like the Albanian people are doing about our "president"!

[Grim Chieftain]

19. I am right there

We need to ditch the "no kings" mantra and protest him for what he is, a criminal who is corrupt and who is destroying this country each and every day. The protests need to be nationwide, in each and every state.

I am a baby boomer who grew up with the mantra "The people, united, will never be defeated".i still cling to that.

[obamanut2012]

48. No one destroyed Platner but Platner

[yardwork]

53. Who is we?

Who destroyed Platner?

[redstatebluegirl]

71. Platner did thos to himself.

[duckworth969]

6. Maine voters decide

No one else. It’s not up to DU pundits.

[Keepthesoulalive]

8. But donations come from many areas of the country

People can decide to close their purses. The dem party will not donate to him, so really we are involved. We need a serious senator from Maine who will work for the American people, not one with zipper problems.

[LisaL]

12. I also can't envision any prominent democrats willing to campaign for him.

NT

[QueerDuck]

62. True. Other politicians might... but no Democrats.

[duckworth969]

15. I get that

But Maine has the final say. Those of us on the outside can fret and be profoundly upset and angry.

I know I’m extremely disappointed and frustrated. But it’s out of my hands.

If he backs out, the $20 I sent him will be for nothing. But that’s the risk I took.

For selfish reasons, I hope Graham sticks. If he doesn’t, I fear that seat is lost to us.

[calimary]

16. True. The people have to decide.

And we absolutely need a serious senator representing us. In Maine, AND as one of the 100 Senators representing us.

[GPV]

54. I'm in maine. I talked to my Rep, who rescinded her endorsement. She

does not back the idea of Mills. She knows better than anyone how hard it's been for progressives to work with this governor. Her hope, and mine, is that we can put someone else forward. The one thing they need to have learned from Platner is to speak the truth about Trump, loudly.

Having said that, though, this race is See-Saw Susie's to lose. Just like always.

[LisaL]

58. Yea, your state just walked right into this one, didn't it?

One could see this coming a mile away.

[GPV]

64. Ayuh. Some of us tried to slow things down with Platner,

but just like here, there's too much frantic anger for reason to get through.

[yardwork]

63. There are progressives who don't come with baggage.

One day maybe we'll learn more about how Platner rose to such prominence so quickly. He's never held any office.

[GPV]

65. It never sat right with me, a non-office holder for Senator.

[yardwork]

66. It's very unusual.

He had to have a lot of funding right out of the gate.

Lots of Democrats call for progressive goals but don't get that kind of attention and support.

[GPV]

68. I truly believe the fact that he's a shit-kicker and loudly

tells the truth about Trump is what got him where he is. We need someone else who can do that, but who also has good character and the political background to hit the ground running in DC. In other words, we need another Bernie.

[ColoringFool]

60. Funny how this particular train of argument NEVER RAISED ITS RIDICULOUS HEAD.....

UNTIL THIS POL AND A COUPLE ADMONITIONS BY SOME DU POSTERS WHO SOMEHOW GLOMMED ONTO "AUTHORITY" THEY DO NOT POSSESS.

You DO realize you must henceforth be as Caesar's Wife, with zero comments about the politics of the 49 states in which you do not reside?

[RoseTrellis]

76. Maine's D leadship

The state party has spoken.
Even worse is Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who chairs the powerful Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also called on Platner to "immediately withdraw" from the race in a joint statement.

"The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot," Schumer and Gillibrand said.

Link to tweet

?s=61&t=D5bZL0vhU8KaFBareC8u6g

[nini]

78. That is true yet it still affects the whole country

It's the senate not a statewide office.

So, people outside of Maine can sure as hell have opinions on things that will indeed affect them and the future of this country.

[Nasruddin]

7. Tough choices for Maine

I would not have voted for Mills either. I personally have been done with gerontocrats since the mid 2010's.
The party has to do a better job of organizing candidates, keeping problematic people and old warhorses from getting nominations.
Look what happened to the Republicans.

[BannonsLiver]

26. Well they control the house, the senate, the White House and the judiciary.

I’m not sure there’s much of a case to be made that things went poorly for them the last time around.

[Boo1]

39. Ones a rapist the other is old

THeSe ArE the SaMe.

[ColoringFool]

61. 😉

[Joinfortmill]

10. Wow.

[Celerity]

18. Mills was unpopular with Dem voters for reasons far beyond just her age. Mills the centrist is pro filibuster, she is

anti-decriminalisation for small personal use amounts of drugs, she is anti red-flag laws for guns, she has vetoed collective bargaining rights (so is anti-union to a noticiable degree), vetoed a moratorium on data centers, vetoed wealth taxes, vetoed protections for renters, and vetoed some tribal sovereignty laws, etc. Those are unpopular stances and actions inside our Party.

[obamanut2012]

49. Still better than Platner

[Celerity]

57. There were better choices than either Mills or Platner, but once again

leadership at Maine Dem state Party and also US Dem Senate level failed to either support and/or recruit them. They instead hitched their wagon to Mills, who took multiple actions and had multiple stances that are and were very unpopular within our Party. I was saying that for months here. It was a bad electoral decision in terms of countering Platner.

That was shown to be the case by the Maine voters themselves in the primary (and that includes evidence both before and after Mills suspended her campaign and even with Platner mired in previous scandals).

[mcar]

25. Lots of folks here still accusing the woman

Saying she's being paid by Republicans. Staying she needs to provide more proof. Etc, etc.

The poor, poor white man must be believed at all costs, it appears.

[Sympthsical]

38. Republicans would've dropped this one in October

Not before the deadline to replace him. If there were maneuvers, it came from inside the house. Not that I think there were. I think the woman involved probably agonized over the decision, but she pulled the lever before a course correction became impossible.

Honestly, I think it took a lot of courage, because I don't think she wanted this kind of attention. What woman in her situation does?

[obamanut2012]

51. Like the info here about Swalwell dropped in time

We immediately united behind Becerra.

Republican oppo drops in September or October, not in time to possibly save things

[Sympthsical]

73. And Swalwell was even worse

Because he was a known quantity. His behavior was so well known as an open secret for years, my politically connected friends here in California wondered if the party had been seized by a fit of collective madness in promoting him. Even before the assault allegations, he had a reputation for being a sex pest at best.

Platner, for all his many red flags, was unknown enough for a lot of people to extend the benefit of the doubt. When he won, my feeling was, "I really hope there's not something else," where deep down, you kind of know there's probably something else. People were willing to overlook an asshole to get the policies we need.

But at least we do seem to have a bright, bold line at rape (various internet individuals excepting).

I hated everything about this primary. But it is what it is now.

[obamanut2012]

50. Some of the posts about this are sickeninh

[BannonsLiver]

27. Is soccer a thing in American prisons? I had no idea.

[Prairie Gates]

37. Are red flags a thing in soccer?

I think the OP is thinking of red cards?

[nycbos]

28. I mean, shouldn't the SS tattoo have been the first clue?

Last edited Tue Jul 7, 2026, 05:08 PM - Edit history (1)

[Music Man]

34. This is not important, but what is that metaphor?

Do you mean red cards? Are prison soccer matches more questionable than other prison activities?

Sorry, I just had to ask

[JoseBalow]

40. Some folks would be surprised to see just how civilized people can be

when disrespect brings real and immediate consequences.

[Sympthsical]

36. You're setting up a false choice

The party leadership looked at an octogenarian first term and thought, "Voters will love this!"

Voters did not love this. Democratic voters increasingly do not love this. President Biden faced 2/3 of Democratic voters telling him for over a year running for one more term was a bad idea.

It's almost as if running people who should be retired in front of an increasingly Millennial and Gen Z electorate is not a winning decision.

You can bemoan it all you want, but we should be in the business of making choices to win elections. If the party leadership did not want Platner or another progressive, they needed to recruit better choices.

They did not. That's on them.

And the voters let them know it.

[obamanut2012]

43. Well said!

[sop]

55. I think the question Democrats should ask is why Platner won such overwhelming support from Maine's Democratic voters.

I believe it was his message. Platner passionately and unambiguously argued for all the things Democrats used to stand for, but don't any longer. He said the things rank and file Democrats wanted to hear, it's what they want to hear from all their candidates. That's the lesson Democrats need to learn.

[yardwork]

67. No question about that.

[leftstreet]

70. +1

[Ziggy Beans]

74. There are plenty here that disagree and will never learn

It's why we are on the verge of losing our democracy

[nini]

79. Voters are falling for lip service more and more. We need to VET candidates

Saying what people want to hear does not automatically make someone a stellar candidate.

Research and vet people. It's not the first time people were fooled. Look at fetterman for God's sake.

Stop getting played by this nonsense. Results matter and find the person who has a track record closest to what you want. That should include people who aren't hiding this kind of baggage.

[ColoringFool]

56. Oh, my, you have awakened the "Not 'literally'!" dragon within me! 😇 🐲.......

I agree with every other word, though! 😁👍

My particular bugaboo was his alleged naivete regarding his tattoo. Does this guy LOOK LIKE he was unaware?! More like he depended on "plausible deniability."

[progressoid]

72. But ageism IS okey if you're aiming it at a Republican.

I can't recall many people here saying we should back off of the ageism comments of say Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell.

[CrimsonBight]

77. My brother in Christ, let me put this into perspective for you:

Everyone who supported Graham Platner knew he was an alcoholic former Blackwater mercenary and Reddit shitposter with a fucking totenkopft tattooed on his chest and they still preferred him to Janet Mills.

Maybe the lesson is Mills wasn't the pick here, and Maine Dems should have run somebody more capable of competing with Platner.

[JustAnotherGen]

80. There will be more like him

There are a lot of people on the Left who believe that the only way to take down the oligarchy patriarchy racism -

Is to elect someone cut from the same cloth as Platner.