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Republicans vote for a rapist felon while Democrats squabble over imperfections. (Original Post) dalton99a Yesterday OP
We couldnt vote for John Glenn or Gary Hart Johonny Yesterday #1
rePUKES are much better at ratfucking wolfie001 Yesterday #21
THIS orangecrush Yesterday #37
Howard Dean screamed and he was banished. Will Rogers said it best: flashman13 Yesterday #51
It's an old story. marble falls Yesterday #2
Rape apologists and liars are not exactly "imperfections", in my book, niyad Yesterday #3
And definitely not "good" MorbidButterflyTat 23 hrs ago #106
Eh, people aren't squabbling over imperfections Sympthsical Yesterday #4
+3 Emile Yesterday #7
No. We're talking about bad judgment. Quiet Em Yesterday #8
Honest question Sympthsical Yesterday #12
There is a history of dishonesty, bad actions and bad judgment Quiet Em Yesterday #13
Yes, I don't think it's a good idea to nominate someone LisaL Yesterday #17
"This is like George Santos level." krkaufman Yesterday #53
This claim is George Santos level. mr715 Yesterday #65
Let's fix that for you to be more accurate EdmondDantes_ 21 hrs ago #117
And he's polling at 76% after all that Sympthsical 20 hrs ago #119
And while we're looking for perfection, MAGA and Pukes win time and fucking time again paleotn Yesterday #14
I think we are nowhere near perfection with this guy. LisaL Yesterday #15
He's nowhere even close to that range, Quiet Em Yesterday #19
You want Susan then and more Republican agenda. paleotn Yesterday #22
No. I don't want Susan Collins. Quiet Em Yesterday #25
At this point, you have two alternatives. paleotn Yesterday #27
Your point sounds exactly like Nina Turner's Quiet Em Yesterday #31
Life, reality doesn't care what you don't care for. paleotn Yesterday #33
how is she wrong? Skittles 23 hrs ago #105
She would be correct if she had applied it to this situation - Maine Quiet Em 23 hrs ago #109
ahh, OK Skittles 23 hrs ago #110
Right. NT was comparing PEDO to Biden... she was Cha 16 hrs ago #124
He's polling 9 points ahead of her. If we don't shoot ourselves in the feet, our odds are quite good. Scrivener7 Yesterday #86
Unfortunately polling isn't votes. Quiet Em Yesterday #90
I hate that I really don't care about him sexting someone not his wife. Once upon a time I think I would have. But Scrivener7 Yesterday #91
I care about him being a rape apologist and a liar. The sexting garbage niyad 23 hrs ago #108
No shit. Did you read the rest? paleotn Yesterday #20
BUT, with this guy, we ARE near to getting rid of Susan Collins. Scrivener7 Yesterday #85
So, someone has to be "perfect" to run as a Democrat? Bettie Yesterday #93
Nobody is asking for perfection Quiet Em Yesterday #18
Welcome to an imperfect world. You damn sure better get use to it. paleotn Yesterday #26
Nobody finds six more years of Susan Collins appealing Quiet Em Yesterday #48
Mills could not wrangle enough support to keep the lights on so questionseverything Yesterday #56
Few of her supporters seem to recognize this mr715 Yesterday #67
Are you telling me that there was nobody else in Maine the recruiters could have found? Quiet Em Yesterday #72
Nobody found him, he decided to run and started talking to the people of Maine questionseverything Yesterday #75
At this point, that's moot. They didn't find someone better. And this guy is way ahead in the primary polling. Scrivener7 Yesterday #87
I have yet to speak to a Mainer who doesn't love the guy. Akakoji 8 hrs ago #131
Yeah, who said anything about wanting "perfect"? Cha 16 hrs ago #127
Yep indeedy RetiredParatrooper Yesterday #49
Unfortunately, I think you are right. Reality sucks sometimes for sure. But we nevetheless KPN Yesterday #58
Question SocialDemocrat61 Yesterday #29
A rare opportunity to disagree with you! yardwork Yesterday #57
I don't disagree with you at all Sympthsical Yesterday #83
Well said, Sympthsical mr715 Yesterday #63
to be fair Skittles 23 hrs ago #100
Is it okay if Mainers vote first? MorbidButterflyTat 23 hrs ago #107
'Imperfections'? sheshe2 Yesterday #5
Or Susan and the Republican agenda. Our choice. paleotn Yesterday #16
You should tell that to sheshe2 Yesterday #38
Maybe if Janet Mills was a good candidate, she would've done some oppo. mr715 Yesterday #64
She was run off...on that we can agree! sheshe2 Yesterday #74
I don't think we agree. mr715 Yesterday #76
I know we don't, I was being facetious. sheshe2 Yesterday #82
DURec leftstreet Yesterday #6
We also knife incumbents in the back. nt. BootinUp Yesterday #9
"We are oft to blame in this... Torchlight Yesterday #10
But look where this felon got us. LisaL Yesterday #11
Ugh wolfie001 Yesterday #24
Platner isn't a felon. Scrivener7 Yesterday #89
..... wolfie001 Yesterday #95
Vote for Platner or shoot yourself in the foot. Again wolfie001 Yesterday #23
The latest "foot shooting" incident if you been keeping track as they go by. paleotn Yesterday #28
I have to be careful. I really don't want to offend anyone here wolfie001 Yesterday #94
Fetterman. nt sheshe2 16 hrs ago #123
Platner ain't runnin in California. And I'm glad he ain't. Iggo 16 hrs ago #125
I'm in Maryland wolfie001 10 hrs ago #130
Exactly SocialDemocrat61 Yesterday #30
Every election cycle. The same thing. paleotn Yesterday #32
This happened early in the marriage orangecrush Yesterday #34
"This happened early in the marriage" They only been married 2-1/2 years EX500rider Yesterday #77
So we won't marry him. He doesn't seem to be very good at marriage. But he's polling ahead of Collins. Scrivener7 Yesterday #88
We hold ourselves to a higher standard because we can and we should Grim Chieftain Yesterday #35
We're going to hold ourselves to losing a majority orangecrush Yesterday #40
So, you don't think we should hold ourselves to a higher standard? Grim Chieftain Yesterday #97
Ah, let me think orangecrush 23 hrs ago #99
Okay, so we disagree Grim Chieftain 23 hrs ago #102
I wonder if she feels we should go high with Trump orangecrush 23 hrs ago #104
Yep... They'll say, B.See 22 hrs ago #111
Explain How That Strategy Succeeds ProfessorGAC Yesterday #96
You show them Renew Deal Yesterday #98
We all want the perfect candidate. Guess what? There is no such thing. Platner is flawed, like all the others. Fil1957 Yesterday #36
This message was self-deleted by its author Skittles 23 hrs ago #103
Much of this controversy is astroturfing by the usual suspects: the same who smeared Mamdani Ponietz Yesterday #39
"The usual suspects"? sheshe2 21 hrs ago #112
Republicans are goal oriented and the ends justify the means, any means dlk Yesterday #41
We can bask in our purity orangecrush Yesterday #43
The gloves came off a long time ago dlk Yesterday #46
It's pretty obvious orangecrush Yesterday #52
Should We Also Have A Low Bar? Your Definition Of... ColoringFool Yesterday #42
Why Are Some Of You Convinced You Know To Whom The OP.... ColoringFool Yesterday #44
Yep perfect example is Graham Platner oldmanlynn Yesterday #45
That's not the problem. yardwork Yesterday #59
Independents might might the tattoo and the XXX pics mr715 Yesterday #68
The rules of politics have been re-written a long time ago. Scandals are normalized now. TheSphinx Yesterday #47
Just doing everything I can in my home state of Texas limits my time to worry about Maine. walkingman Yesterday #50
If you're talking about Platner or Swalwell, I see it differently. yardwork Yesterday #54
The people of Maine get to decide, thank goodness questionseverything Yesterday #71
We are on the verge of troops in the streets nationally hadEnuf Yesterday #55
In a way, we do. ananda Yesterday #60
That's what we all have to kinda do. hadEnuf Yesterday #66
The big learning curve has been how not to be nice and civil... ananda Yesterday #70
Purity tests will be the death of our Democracy. What I am 100% certain of is that the NoMoreRepugs Yesterday #61
that's very true samsingh Yesterday #62
Here's the thing about Republicans and Trump agingdem Yesterday #69
Just Remember Deep State Witch Yesterday #73
Fetterman was a completely different person before his stroke questionseverything Yesterday #78
It's frustrating MustLoveBeagles Yesterday #79
"Republicans vote for a rapist felon" J_William_Ryan Yesterday #80
no one is "perfect" Skittles 21 hrs ago #116
Is that where the bar is now? RandySF Yesterday #81
100% Blue Full Moon Yesterday #84
Is there a line short of rapist sarisataka Yesterday #92
yup.....literally being compared to Donald Fucking Trump Skittles 21 hrs ago #115
ah, OK Skittles 23 hrs ago #101
I guess you didn't think the O/P was about Platner. AloeVera 21 hrs ago #113
so he doesn't have a nazi tatto? Skittles 21 hrs ago #114
... AloeVera 21 hrs ago #118
That's been the case for decades. Orrex 18 hrs ago #120
Sorry, but I don't use how Republicans act Boo1 18 hrs ago #121
Democrats are afraid to run Women or Gays but donheld 17 hrs ago #122
Hey! LuvLoogie 16 hrs ago #126
This message was self-deleted by its author RandySF 14 hrs ago #128
Suddenly, getting the majority is important. Math makes a return! betsuni 13 hrs ago #129

Johonny

(26,708 posts)
1. We couldnt vote for John Glenn or Gary Hart
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:41 AM
Yesterday

But they voted for Nixon, Reagan, and Trump twice.

Republicans have no morals or ethics at all. It's fucking scary.

wolfie001

(8,056 posts)
21. rePUKES are much better at ratfucking
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:38 AM
Yesterday

That's their strategy and media companies are complicit.

flashman13

(2,593 posts)
51. Howard Dean screamed and he was banished. Will Rogers said it best:
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:57 AM
Yesterday

I'm not a member of an organized political party, I'm a Democrat.

Sympthsical

(11,161 posts)
4. Eh, people aren't squabbling over imperfections
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:46 AM
Yesterday

They're squabbling over their pick going over like a dry fart delivered during eulogy, and just want the world to know it should have listened to them!

I'm watching people compare sexting to drugging and raping women.

Yeah. That's just bitterness coming out without the executive function overriding it before the keys get tapped.

And I say this as someone who really doesn't want Becerra, but if it's him vs. a Republican, I'ma STFU about it.

Platner's going to be the candidate. People need to deal with it.

"Sexting!" from the same people who were all out of sorts that Cuomo lost to Mamdani.

It's excessively disingenuous.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
8. No. We're talking about bad judgment.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:10 AM
Yesterday

Bad character. Bad actions.

MAGA overlooks that sh*t. Doesn't mean everyone has too.

I didn't like Cuomo either. I did and do fully support Zoharan Mamdani. Mamdani is an excellent representative. He doesn't belong in the same conversation.

Sympthsical

(11,161 posts)
12. Honest question
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:26 AM
Yesterday

Would you rather:

A politician who sexted and whose marriage seems to have ridden that out?

Or! A politician with a clean personal life who enabled policy that left the employment of new mothers vulnerable, showed abject indifference to unions, supported tax breaks for the rich, etc. etc. etc.

It's a testament to our puritanical roots that we'll get all caught up in what is inconsequential personal behavior between two people while overlooking that the policies certain politicians support, the donations they take, and the lobbyists they give favors to that have far, far, far greater effects.

It feels like "bad character" is always over stupid shit, when the real large scale projects never seem to be down to "bad character." Politician votes for bad policies again and again, but hey, at least their marriage is nice?

When a crime has been committed, someone come find me.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
13. There is a history of dishonesty, bad actions and bad judgment
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:32 AM
Yesterday

I have never asked or expected a candidate to be perfect, but this is not even close to normal when you add it all up. This is like George Santos level.

This isn't stupid shit and it's quite offensive to suggest it is.

LisaL

(47,614 posts)
17. Yes, I don't think it's a good idea to nominate someone
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:35 AM
Yesterday

with that many issues. That we know of.

EdmondDantes_

(2,146 posts)
117. Let's fix that for you to be more accurate
Sun May 31, 2026, 08:08 PM
21 hrs ago

He's a politician who had a nazi tattoo, is a rape apologist, still uses the word retarded as a slur, told an antisemitic YouTube host he was a big fan, has a bunch of other problematic reddit posts, and shortly after getting married was busted sexting women who weren't his wife.

Sympthsical

(11,161 posts)
119. And he's polling at 76% after all that
Sun May 31, 2026, 08:59 PM
20 hrs ago

Except the sexting. And if the tattoo didn't budge that needle, I doubt this will.

I'm on record repeatedly noting the guy's got some problems and wouldn't have been my first choice.

But I also live in reality where he's going to be the nominee, and it was obnoxiously on-brand for our leadership to go, "You know what'll excite people? An 80 year old in their first term whose been slap-fighting with her own party the past four years!"

There are plenty of ways this went dog-legged. Maybe glance at the leadership's absolutely fucking terrible decision making for the past ten years and start with that. Because Platner's candidacy and the fact he is not only viable, but the overwhelming choice of Maine Democrats so far, is 100% down to the party's failures. Schumer personally recruited Mills.

This was their bright idea, and the surprise people have that it's now blown up all over the place is a testament to their lack of political skill and awareness of what voters are like nowadays.

If people are mad about Platner, fine, be mad.

And then demand people in leadership start retiring. I mean, if we're serious about how we got to this stage.

I suspect we will not see this.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
14. And while we're looking for perfection, MAGA and Pukes win time and fucking time again
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:33 AM
Yesterday

Look around. Do you want more of this?? Do you?? Seriously, DO YOU??? If we don't start using our fucking heads, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE GOING TO GET!

Pukes don't care about their candidate's improprieties for one simple reason. IT'S THE AGENDA THAT MATTERS, not the candidate. You want more of THEIR agenda, then keep this shit up. In that respect, they're way smarter than many Dems. Way smarter.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
22. You want Susan then and more Republican agenda.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:38 AM
Yesterday

That's what we're going to get with the shit. It's like Gaza all over again. Look where that got us.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
25. No. I don't want Susan Collins.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:44 AM
Yesterday

Sadly we are likely to get more of this shit because it looks like we might nominate a very problematic candidate who needs to face her in the general election. I'm not comfortable with our odds.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
27. At this point, you have two alternatives.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:46 AM
Yesterday

Neither are good. One's not as bad as the other. Make a choice. And while you're at it. Welcome to life.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
31. Your point sounds exactly like Nina Turner's
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:59 AM
Yesterday

"You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It’s still shit" - Nina Turner

I didn't care for her wrong and awful point then and I still don't.

I don't vote in Maine.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
33. Life, reality doesn't care what you don't care for.
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:04 AM
Yesterday

Take it from someone who's had to eat a few "half" shit sandwiches.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
109. She would be correct if she had applied it to this situation - Maine
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:23 PM
23 hrs ago

I strongly disagree with the situation she did apply it to which was the 2020 Presidential election.

Scrivener7

(60,143 posts)
86. He's polling 9 points ahead of her. If we don't shoot ourselves in the feet, our odds are quite good.
Sun May 31, 2026, 03:48 PM
Yesterday

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
90. Unfortunately polling isn't votes.
Sun May 31, 2026, 04:05 PM
Yesterday

Sara Gideon was polling ahead of Collins, too.

I will stress again that I do not want Collins to return to the Senate for another six years. She's awful. But my optimism for flipping this seat isn't as high as it was.

Scrivener7

(60,143 posts)
91. I hate that I really don't care about him sexting someone not his wife. Once upon a time I think I would have. But
Sun May 31, 2026, 04:13 PM
Yesterday

he seems to be our best bet unless some big plot twist comes up in the next few weeks. Yes, he's not who I would have picked, but if he can beat her, he adds one more seat toward us controlling the committees. One more link in the chain of saving our Democracy. And those really are the stakes.

He still seems to be our best bet for that seat.

niyad

(134,332 posts)
108. I care about him being a rape apologist and a liar. The sexting garbage
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:23 PM
23 hrs ago

ranks below those, the totenkopf, him stating he was a communist, etc., etc. The "r's" are going to have a field day (hypocritical, I know) with him. I have already seen one rather large piece they have on him and his oyster business. Whether it is true or not, I have no idea.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
20. No shit. Did you read the rest?
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:37 AM
Yesterday

You want more of the Republican agenda? Do you? And when we get exactly that for voting stupid, don't come boohooing to me. I don't want to hear it.

Scrivener7

(60,143 posts)
85. BUT, with this guy, we ARE near to getting rid of Susan Collins.
Sun May 31, 2026, 03:46 PM
Yesterday

And we get one more seat to give us the Committee control. As we are fighting for the life of our Democracy and need every seat we can get.

Let's keep our eyes on the prize.

Bettie

(19,928 posts)
93. So, someone has to be "perfect" to run as a Democrat?
Sun May 31, 2026, 04:20 PM
Yesterday

That's why we lose.

Our side never seems to stand behind anyone.

Look at Biden, he had one bad debate performance and 3/4 of the party suddenly thought he should be thrown out like garbage.

Then, they had Kamala, a shiny new candidate, followed by the screaming that we should have had a primary (in the short time before the election)....then, when she lost, it was all about her failings as a candidate and "we should have had a primary" and a bunch of other crying over things that were done.

Do you live in Maine? If not, you have no say over the outcome of the primary or the election.

I don't live there. I don't get to choose their candidate. I get to vote on my choice in Iowa and I hope that the Iowa seat and the Maine seat go to Democrats.

There are plenty of Democrats I find to be not what I would choose. I don't pretend that I am the arbiter of morality for the entire country though.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
18. Nobody is asking for perfection
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:36 AM
Yesterday

nobody is looking for garbage either.

Shouldn't be too much to ask.

The MAGA way does not appeal to me at all and never will I am not interested in pursuing the MAGA way.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
26. Welcome to an imperfect world. You damn sure better get use to it.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:44 AM
Yesterday

Does the Republican agenda appeal to you? Because that's what we're going to get if we play politics this way. It never ceases to amaze me that people actually think politics is some honorable activity. It isn't. People are imperfect and politics is a machiavellian business. But it's what drives policy. Pukes understand that, if little else. We screw ourselves.

But go on and do just that. Just don't come crying about the outcome. You'll get no sympathy from me.

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
48. Nobody finds six more years of Susan Collins appealing
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:42 AM
Yesterday

You do realize that what should have been an easier flip will now be quite difficult if Platner wins the primary, right?

Not a single Mainer has voted in the primary let alone in the general and I am not as confident as your are that Mainers will toss out Collins in favor of this unknown guy with all the baggage. It won't just be Democrats voting. Independents and Republians get to vote too.

questionseverything

(12,016 posts)
56. Mills could not wrangle enough support to keep the lights on so
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:11 PM
Yesterday

To suggest supporting her would of lead to an easy win is comical

mr715

(4,369 posts)
67. Few of her supporters seem to recognize this
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:30 PM
Yesterday

That she ran virtually no campaign, raised so little money she couldn't afford her Zoom bills, and got heckled out of every town hall she attended.

Mainers did not want her.

And she didn't want the job.

She was NOT the perfect candidate in reality, despite what her resume might've said in theory

Quiet Em

(3,090 posts)
72. Are you telling me that there was nobody else in Maine the recruiters could have found?
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:54 PM
Yesterday

They just found this one and settled?

questionseverything

(12,016 posts)
75. Nobody found him, he decided to run and started talking to the people of Maine
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:00 PM
Yesterday

Imagine that, a politician who listens and talks to regular people instead of asking what the party bossy want

Scrivener7

(60,143 posts)
87. At this point, that's moot. They didn't find someone better. And this guy is way ahead in the primary polling.
Sun May 31, 2026, 03:53 PM
Yesterday

This is the one we have, unless there's a big upset in the primaries which doesn't look likely.

Akakoji

(577 posts)
131. I have yet to speak to a Mainer who doesn't love the guy.
Mon Jun 1, 2026, 09:05 AM
8 hrs ago

And I speak with a whole lot of them. He’s a man. He’s done the extraordinary thing of being honest and transparent and open with his wife. Most of the women in Maine never even got that amount of decency from a man who was drunk or just imperfect.

Cha

(320,976 posts)
127. Yeah, who said anything about wanting "perfect"?
Mon Jun 1, 2026, 01:12 AM
16 hrs ago

Not a good argument against all the stuff that keeps coming out on Planter's own actions.

I want Collins gone, too. I'm pissed that he didn't clean up his act before he started running.

And I don't like at all the way he's dissing other Dems... We need all Dems to win across the country for the Midterms. He can't do it alone. He has some nerve attacking other Dems.

RetiredParatrooper

(238 posts)
49. Yep indeedy
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:53 AM
Yesterday

Far too many Dems are fixated on hand-wringing over flaws than getting out and saving the GD republic.

Throw out the old rulebook - it's not useful to keep using it when the GOP set their copy on fire 40 years ago.

KPN

(17,542 posts)
58. Unfortunately, I think you are right. Reality sucks sometimes for sure. But we nevetheless
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:22 PM
Yesterday

need to accept and deal with it if we want to survive, move forward in a positive way, and possibly one day actually thrive.



yardwork

(69,771 posts)
57. A rare opportunity to disagree with you!
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:19 PM
Yesterday

I see this differently. I think Platner is a ticking time bomb scheduled to go off in October. He never should have gotten this far. There have got to be better candidates in Maine.

I'm seeing a lack of leadership on the part of the DNC. A short list of things that have me very worried:

1. The DNC released a report on their analysis of what went wrong in 2024 and it has no analysis, no action plans. It ignores big issues like the I/P protests. It appears to have been written by AI. Basic facts are wrong. (Our local paper reviewed the section on the gubernatorial win in NC and reported that this "analysis" got basic facts wrong and missed the big point - which was that the Republicans ran a disastrous candidate.)

2. I'm watching Talarico twist in the wind in TX and all our party seems to be doing to support him is engage in schoolyard taunting online.

3. Swalwell. Turns out it's more than sexting and even more than harassment. This should have been flagged much earlier. At least he resigned but it's a bad look for us. Should never have run.

4. Platner. Sexting on Kik is not good. His campaign knew about it a year ago. Where's the strategy? The crap keeps piling up. His little Tottenkamp tattoo that he's cute about. His false origin story. Years of problematic statements. Why was he encouraged to run?

5. Most importantly, where is the pushback every single day as we watch our country go down the tubes? Why aren't our leaders holding press conferences every day? I don't want to watch Schumer read from a piece of paper. Where is the fire and strength?

I agree that Democratic voters can be stupid about little things. I'm still angry that Al Franken was forced out (looking at Schumer again).

Whatever the hell is wrong we need to fix it fast.

Sympthsical

(11,161 posts)
83. I don't disagree with you at all
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:37 PM
Yesterday

Which is why I've always been a little "Eh . . ." about him. But given the party's major alternative would be a geriatric running for a first term after she managed a series of very corporate friendly actions (and boy howdy, those vetos) during her governorship, I get it. I think if I lived in Maine, I'd get Platner's appeal even more. Not merely populism, but just sheer frustration at politicians making choices they do not have to outside of what's good for their vested interests over what's good for the people.

He very well might implode. Absolutely. He's risky to say the least. But what really prompted me is the . . . let's just say pattern of names who went hard to bat for Cuomo and almost to the mat for Swalwell until that became virtually impossible who are now play-acting, "Verily, servant, fetch me the smelling salts!" over Platner. It's like people don't get the Internet is forever. I can see what you wrote in the past year about much worse people, y'all.

It's cynical pretense, and I just hate that shit.

Completely agree with you on Talarico. But you know what? Maybe it's a good thing our national party is mostly leaving it alone. Do we really want Newsom's interns bothering Texan voters? How would that play there? The people who run the national party - particular the ones who hang around social media all day every day - have proven themselves time and time again to have no idea what a normal voter looks like. They seem keyed into a terminally online perspective and no one else. Sometimes I wonder if they've even talked to someone who lives outside of Twitter or a city. It may redound to Talarico's benefit if they just let him do his thing without their "help." I've spent a little time in Texas, and they think people from Oklahoma are practically foreigners. Maybe the coastal consultant class should leave those plane tickets unused.

Your fifth point is where it gets interesting. Platner seems willing to be that type of politician. Maybe we should hang up our pearls for a moment and just let that ride. Especially, and I wrote a long post on this before, we're entering an age where a lot of people are going to have long social media histories that aren't going to be perfectly curated for political respectability.

We've been electing "respectable" people, and those people keep doing some not so respectable things in regards to policy and governing. I'm willing to give some people of ill-repute a shot if they're going to champion policies that help people on the ground. Barring criminality of course. We can and should draw a line there.

And this is, after all, the party that still holds Bill Clinton in some esteem. Acting like he wasn't a much worse mess back in the day - and still pretending he wasn't.

The hypocrisy is just too much to let slide without comment. It's like those people on the Right. Their pastor molests a school bus and they don't have much to say. But when a politician they dislike does something even a tenth as bad, suddenly they're in front of cameras, "As a Chreeestyan . . . ."

I don't enjoy it when we emulate that.

mr715

(4,369 posts)
63. Well said, Sympthsical
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:21 PM
Yesterday

People are so very concerned. Oh so very concerned.

And the purity tests, oh my God.

I've been accused of having purity tests because I'm critical of leadership but I recall a whole lot of people here supporting the love gov Cuomo because he wasn't an anti-genocide young Muslim. Oh, how we had to hear how he was the real Democrat and Mamdani was an upstart, flash in the pan know nothing.

Janet Mills didn't want the job. She didn't campaign effectively. She didn't raise money. She would not have beat Susan Collins.

Graham Platner, by all metrics, is beating Susan Collins.

Whatever sex he has, I don't care as long as he doesn't fuck the country like Collins.

sheshe2

(98,640 posts)
38. You should tell that to
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:23 AM
Yesterday

Schiff, Franken and Hill.

These 'imperfections' keep leaking, lots of them and they are giving fodder to our enemy. Yes, we need that seat, and I am afraid we may lose it. I just wish we had a better vetting process and the big names that came out with immediate endorsements used it. That includes my Senator that I adore.

That said, I am hoping for the best in the primary and a huge Democratic victory in the general election.

mr715

(4,369 posts)
64. Maybe if Janet Mills was a good candidate, she would've done some oppo.
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:23 PM
Yesterday

She didn't, because she was never really running. She was being run.

mr715

(4,369 posts)
76. I don't think we agree.
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:03 PM
Yesterday

My understanding is she didn't want the job, and that the DSCC - Schumer and Gillibrand basically begged her.

On the campaign, she did terribly. I watched her town halls and zoom calls. She was contemptuous of her constituents. She didn't want to be doing that.

Nor should she have been asked. She had a rich, successful career and didn't need to fight at 78 years old.

Heck, if she was promising 1 term as a 78 year old freshman Senator, that is a pretty troubling sign. Worthy of concern.

Gov. Janet Mills saw she was losing by 40-50 points because Maine did not like what she was selling. They preferred the dude with the nazi tattoo and the great speeches.

She wasn't going to lose, she was going to be humiliated by a man with a nazi tattoo.

She didn't want to actively be a part of that.

So, she stepped away.

Because... she was just on the tracks set for her by Schumer and Gillibrand.

Torchlight

(7,105 posts)
10. "We are oft to blame in this...
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:18 AM
Yesterday

with devotion's visage, and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself.”

LisaL

(47,614 posts)
11. But look where this felon got us.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:21 AM
Yesterday

It's not like voting for felon turned out well, did it?
Maybe there are good reasons to not vote for the felon.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
28. The latest "foot shooting" incident if you been keeping track as they go by.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:49 AM
Yesterday

We're also very good at circular firing squads.

wolfie001

(8,056 posts)
94. I have to be careful. I really don't want to offend anyone here
Sun May 31, 2026, 04:21 PM
Yesterday

But we're in a war with the nazi fascist republican party. We need to overcome this tyranny together. Cheers!

Iggo

(50,082 posts)
125. Platner ain't runnin in California. And I'm glad he ain't.
Mon Jun 1, 2026, 01:01 AM
16 hrs ago

Unless he runs for President or VP, I’m never gonna have to vote for him.

Y’all do what yer gonna do. It’s got nothing to do with me.

wolfie001

(8,056 posts)
130. I'm in Maryland
Mon Jun 1, 2026, 07:12 AM
10 hrs ago

That Maine keeps re-electing that waste of a space republiCON for the Senate every 6 years is quite appalling. Change is needed. STAT.

paleotn

(22,850 posts)
32. Every election cycle. The same thing.
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:02 AM
Yesterday

Dems screwing themselves because fundamentally they don't understand politics. Politics is machiavellian at its heart and no amount of happy thoughts will EVER change that. It many times requires holding one's nose to advance the agenda. And it's the AGENDA that's important, not that Platner may have some improprieties. The only time those improprieties should come into play is if it will cost him the general AND if there's an alternative. There's not. Mills dropped out so hold your damn nose.

If you're not down with all that, what it takes to win, you don't get to do the governing part. Republicans understand that, if little else. The supposedly smart party many times does not and has a long, storied history of f'ing itself.

orangecrush

(31,346 posts)
34. This happened early in the marriage
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:19 AM
Yesterday

And his wife said they worked through it and it's nobobys fucking business, and said the campaign aide she confided in "spread malicious gossip".


"The wife of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said she was “deeply hurt” after details of her husband’s extramarital sexting became public Saturday, accusing a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust."

"“I know who Graham is,” Gertner said in a statement delivered through Platner’s campaign. “I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.”

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/30/politics/graham-platner-wife-campaign

The way the press is presenting this seems to be intended to destroy the campaign.

The headlines are misleading.

They really are using every tool in their ratfucking box to prevent a Democratic majority.




Scrivener7

(60,143 posts)
88. So we won't marry him. He doesn't seem to be very good at marriage. But he's polling ahead of Collins.
Sun May 31, 2026, 03:57 PM
Yesterday

He does seem to be good at politics.

orangecrush

(31,346 posts)
40. We're going to hold ourselves to losing a majority
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:27 AM
Yesterday

We can bask in our purity as we are rounded up by the secret police.

Grim Chieftain

(2,130 posts)
97. So, you don't think we should hold ourselves to a higher standard?
Sun May 31, 2026, 05:02 PM
Yesterday

We should get in the trough with Republicans? I recall a great Democrat who said "When they go low, we go high." I stand with her.

orangecrush

(31,346 posts)
99. Ah, let me think
Sun May 31, 2026, 05:45 PM
23 hrs ago

"There's no such thing as fighting dirty. There's fighting like you want to live, and fighting like you want to die." — Seanan McGuire

Fil1957

(922 posts)
36. We all want the perfect candidate. Guess what? There is no such thing. Platner is flawed, like all the others.
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:22 AM
Yesterday

However, we're only talking texts. Bad taste, lewd, but in the final analysis, in the big picture, inconsequential.

The culture in America has changed. Things that were socially unacceptable decades ago, though still frowned upon, carry less of a taboo today.

One good thing about this revelation, is that it's coming out now, and will have been flushed down the memory hole well before November.

The main question has to be, would the country be better served with Susan Collins or Graham Platner? What is worse, Collins voting with Trump 96% of the time, or Platner sexting last year?

Response to Fil1957 (Reply #36)

Ponietz

(4,464 posts)
39. Much of this controversy is astroturfing by the usual suspects: the same who smeared Mamdani
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:23 AM
Yesterday

dlk

(13,372 posts)
41. Republicans are goal oriented and the ends justify the means, any means
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:32 AM
Yesterday

Democrats not only view the goal but the journey, as well.

As the cliché goes: to victor belongs the spoils

ColoringFool

(1,196 posts)
42. Should We Also Have A Low Bar? Your Definition Of...
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:33 AM
Yesterday

"Imperfections"?

If you mean adultery, we've been known to overlook that particular private transgression, to the ultimate good of the country.

If you mean harassment, assault, coercion, yeah, no.

If you mean financial crimes, another hard no.

ColoringFool

(1,196 posts)
44. Why Are Some Of You Convinced You Know To Whom The OP....
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:38 AM
Yesterday

Refers??

Moreover, anyone who thinks "The end justifies the means" is anything less than REPREHENSIBLE AS A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY has not been paying attention to its historical manifestations.

oldmanlynn

(858 posts)
45. Yep perfect example is Graham Platner
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:40 AM
Yesterday

Democrats will squabble over some text messages he may have received or some tattoo he had from a long time ago and decided not to go vote for him and hand it over to Susan Collins before they vote for him because of their squabble over being perfect. Dems have to vote for Dems no matter what.

yardwork

(69,771 posts)
59. That's not the problem.
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:22 PM
Yesterday

Democrats will vote for the Democratic candidate. But independents - who determine our elections - might not vote for a candidate who seems to have his own personal shitstorm following him everywhere.

TheSphinx

(8 posts)
47. The rules of politics have been re-written a long time ago. Scandals are normalized now.
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:42 AM
Yesterday

Pre - Nov 2016 a text or rude comment would have ended a GOP politicians career forever. Today that would probably get them a promotion. After seeing Trump win despite being the most disgusting piece of shit in history, MAGA has been operating under these new rules since then.

Dems are still stuck in 2005 with their "standards". Better get with the times, get tough and win elections like the other side.

walkingman

(11,193 posts)
50. Just doing everything I can in my home state of Texas limits my time to worry about Maine.
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:56 AM
Yesterday

Good luck to everyone that is brave enough to run for public office these days. It is a nasty business at best. I seriously doubt that any of us are that "squeaky clean". ☮

yardwork

(69,771 posts)
54. If you're talking about Platner or Swalwell, I see it differently.
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:02 PM
Yesterday

The Democratic National Committee, our party's organization, should have one goal: elect Democrats up and down the ticket in every local, state, and national contest.

To achieve that goal our party must find strong candidates, encourage them to run, and support their campaigns with money, messaging, and grass roots support.

A person with Platner's baggage never should have gotten the party's support. There have got to be strong Democratic candidates for senate in Maine.

I'm watching Talarico fight off dirty campaign tactics in TX and I'm not seeing the DNC come to his support with anything more than schoolyard taunts back and forth.

We need a strong party apparatus.

questionseverything

(12,016 posts)
71. The people of Maine get to decide, thank goodness
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:44 PM
Yesterday

Platner is against the murder and mayhem going on in the mid east, AIPAC will accept nothing but complete support for Israel so they will spend many millions trying to defeat platner

hadEnuf

(3,668 posts)
55. We are on the verge of troops in the streets nationally
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:08 PM
Yesterday

We already have them in cities. We have a cabal of open criminals looting our government and we have a demented, murderous dictator running wild, along with a congress who is sitting back and saying "what problems?"

We don't need to be having this conversation about Democrats.

ananda

(35,606 posts)
60. In a way, we do.
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:25 PM
Yesterday

For the past 25 years, Republicans have never been
bad enough, and Dems have never been good enough.

Me... I have always held my nose and voted for the
Democrat, even when I preferred a different nominee.

hadEnuf

(3,668 posts)
66. That's what we all have to kinda do.
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:24 PM
Yesterday

We are literally fighting a fascist situation that is being fully enabled by the Republican Party, so it's all hands on deck.

It's Trump fascism or democracy.

ananda

(35,606 posts)
70. The big learning curve has been how not to be nice and civil...
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:41 PM
Yesterday

in the face of monstrous inhumanity.

NoMoreRepugs

(12,253 posts)
61. Purity tests will be the death of our Democracy. What I am 100% certain of is that the
Sun May 31, 2026, 12:27 PM
Yesterday

WORST Democrat is BETTER than the best Republican.

agingdem

(8,987 posts)
69. Here's the thing about Republicans and Trump
Sun May 31, 2026, 01:40 PM
Yesterday

particulary the few Republicans that still have a few working brain cells…they know he’s garbage in sub-human form…they hate his existence but they will never say it out loud… they will say he’s a complicated man with baggage ..and when they vote they are not voting for a convicted rapist, a pathological liar, a hate spewing psychotic degenerate, they are voting for a Republican..period

We Democrats tend to parse are candidates..what we like and what we don’t like…and we never fully vet them
and rarely discourage the more controversial to sit this one out..and we do all this publicly…

So when the few Republicans that still have a few working brain cells stand before a voting machine (fully aware Trump is a loathsome cretin) they will still pull the “lever” for the loathsome cretin because the Democrats ran a guy with Nazi tattoos..

MustLoveBeagles

(17,615 posts)
79. It's frustrating
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:12 PM
Yesterday

If this is about Platner I have issues with him but he's not Swallwell. Democracy is on the line. We need butts in the seats bottom line and the Republicans are much worse.

J_William_Ryan

(3,608 posts)
80. "Republicans vote for a rapist felon"
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:13 PM
Yesterday

The problem is that voters other than Republicans voted for the rapist felon while voters other than Democrats refuse to vote for the imperfect Democratic candidate.

RandySF

(86,771 posts)
81. Is that where the bar is now?
Sun May 31, 2026, 02:14 PM
Yesterday

There are three people on the Maine primary ballot. There’s still a choice to make?

sarisataka

(22,874 posts)
92. Is there a line short of rapist
Sun May 31, 2026, 04:16 PM
Yesterday

or is anything less than that simply an "imperfection"?

Because that seems a rather low bar; is that where we are now?

AloeVera

(4,474 posts)
113. I guess you didn't think the O/P was about Platner.
Sun May 31, 2026, 07:56 PM
21 hrs ago

As he is neither of those things.

You will not find one record or utterance from him to validate those smears.

You might want to think about why the same people who attacked Mamdani are now attacking Platner.

Orrex

(67,443 posts)
120. That's been the case for decades.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:46 PM
18 hrs ago

Republicans will vote for the guy who takes a dump on camera during a kindergarten reading circle, while Democrats will reject someone for having used the wrong fork at a charity luncheon in 1997.

donheld

(21,334 posts)
122. Democrats are afraid to run Women or Gays but
Mon Jun 1, 2026, 12:19 AM
17 hrs ago

Republicans can elect the 34x convicted felon rapist child molesting conman president tRump with the IQ of a tadpole.

Response to dalton99a (Original post)

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Republicans vote for a ra...