Splatner

It’s never a good sign when your Nazi tattoo ends up being one of your better attributes by comparison. Graham Platner, the controversial Senate candidate running against Susan Collins in Maine has weathered many political storms. He won’t be able to weather the latest one. Politico: Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her.

+ “The allegation is the latest in a string of controversies Platner has faced and so far weathered since the oyster farmer and Marine veteran entered the race. But the seriousness of the assault claim has put the Maine contest — and Democrats’ ability to win control of the Senate — at risk, with even some of his strongest supporters questioning whether Platner should continue his campaign.” (Pretty much everyone has called for him to quit the race. The big question is whether this means Maine is down the drain.)

+ “While I’m assigning blame, I shouldn’t leave out myself. Last October, when stories about Platner’s tattoo and Reddit posts first broke, I went to Maine to write about him. I tried to convey what I saw: a campaign that was electrifying angry Maine voters. But I deeply regret that, impressed by Platner’s political charisma, I wrote that he was ‘nothing like the edgelord caricature I encountered online.’ If anything, he seems to be significantly worse.” Michelle Goldberg in the NYT (Gift Article): Lessons From the Graham Platner Disaster.