The Graham Platner saga in Maine has reached the part of the movie where the main character is clearly doomed but refuses to read the script. Maine Democratic Party executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson went on camera Tuesday night and delivered a message so blunt it practically came with a restraining order: stop calling us, you have no leverage, and please drop out so we can replace you. As USA Journal reported, Platner's response to being publicly dumped on video was to ask if they could talk about it.
According to people close to his campaign, Platner will not exit the race unless his replacement shares his "values and vision." The man is facing a sexual assault allegation from a witness sympathetic to his own politics, has a Nazi tattoo that was public before the primary, is dealing with domestic abuse allegations, and has been abandoned by every major Democratic donor and institution in the country. And he still thinks he is in a position to negotiate terms. That is a level of confidence usually reserved for people who have never once been told no by anyone in their entire lives.
Murphy-Anderson's statement was about as subtle as a fire alarm. The Platner campaign has been repeatedly contacting the party trying to influence the replacement process. The party has repeatedly told them to stop. They have not stopped. So the party put it on video for the whole country to watch. Graham Platner is being run over by his own party, and he is lying in the road demanding to speak with a manager.
The part that should really sting for Maine Democrats is that this entire disaster was self-inflicted. The Nazi tattoo was known before the primary. The domestic abuse allegations were circulating. The New York Times had a story so damaging that Platner's lawyers spent 24 hours trying to kill it before publication. Maine Democrats looked at all of that, shrugged, and gave the man 150,000 votes anyway because he was the candidate in front of them and they wanted a Senate seat. Now they have five days to fix the mess. July 13th is the deadline, and after that, Platner stays on the ballot no matter what else comes out.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins, meanwhile, is polling ahead for the first time and watching the entire spectacle from what can only be described as a lawn chair. She has spent thirty years surviving everything the left throws at her. This time, the left threw themselves.
The only remaining question is whether Platner's wealthy parents, who have reportedly bankrolled his entire political career, are willing to fund a vanity campaign against the explicit wishes of the party whose nomination he holds. Given the audacity this man has shown at every step of this saga, nobody should be surprised if the answer is yes. Five days, Maine Democrats. The clock is ticking, and nobody is coming to help.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
