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Everyone seems to have an opinion about Graham Platner.
The left sees Platner — and the series of negative stories that have come out about his personal life in the last week — as a victim of a media hell-bent on tearing the Maine Democratic Senate candidate down.
The right casts Platner as a Nazi-sympathizing misogynist who exposes the double-standard Democrats have when it comes to character in their candidates.
But what do actual Mainers think? And what does that mean for Platner’s chances of surviving this series of bad stories and beating GOP Sen. Susan Collins this fall?
I put that question (and lots of others!) to my friend Alex Seitz-Wald on Friday. Alex is uniquely positioned to understand both how the story is landing in Maine and nationally. He spent a decade as a national political reporter for NBC News before moving to Maine to take care of his mom during Covid. He took a job as the editor of the Midcoast Villager, which is based in Camden, Maine.
Alex told me that it’s important to differentiate the Reddit posts/Nazi-aligned tattoo stories from the more recently-published ones about Platner’s sexting habits and treatment of his exes.
The Reddit and Nazi stories, in Alex’s view, were deftly handled by Platner. He was transparent about his struggles as a younger man. In short, he said that when he was young and stupid, he was young and stupid. And voters seemed to take it all in stride.
These latest allegations are different, according to Alex. They are more recent. They’ve occurred since Platner moved back to Maine.
“There was this redemption narrative that he was a troubled young military vet with PTSD and then he came home to Maine and put his life back together and made good,” said Alex.
The newer stories “have taken the Teflon off” of Platner. Added Alex: “It’s taken his shield off. Even his supporters who would have just gone with whatever he says and believed him no longer will — and every new story that comes out, even ones less damaging [information] than this, will be viewed in this different context.”
That makes a ton of sense to me. And means that ANY future stories about Platner — even if they are less damaging on their faces — could well do him more damage because his Teflon reputation is gone. The shields are down.
Alex and I talked about all angles of the Platner story — from his meteoric rise to what he needs to do next (HINT: It involves his wife) to stay in the race.
Watch the whole conversation. It was terrific. And follow Alex on X and the Midcoast Villager on Instagram!
