Graham Platner is finally suspending his campaign for U.S. Senate in Maine, and honestly, the only surprising thing is that it took this long. As USA Journal reported, the Democratic primary winner who pulled in 72% of the vote is on his way out after a sexual assault allegation, a Nazi tattoo, racist and sexist Reddit posts, and a New York Times story about alleged abuse. He attacked the Democratic establishment on his way out the door, because of course he did, and he plans to wait until Monday at 5 p.m. to file the actual paperwork. Even his exit needs a dramatic countdown.
But here is where things get truly entertaining for anyone who enjoys watching a political party step on rake after rake after rake. The man Democrats are reportedly eyeing as Platner's replacement is Troy Jackson, former Maine state Senate president and a Bernie Sanders-backed gubernatorial candidate who finished third in his own primary. Third. In his own state. That is the resume they are working with.
Jackson got his first big moment on national television this week when MSNBC's Katy Tur asked him the single most predictable question in the history of predictable questions: why did you keep supporting Platner after all the Nazi tattoo stuff, the alleged abuse, and the Reddit posts about assaulting someone to show dominance?
Jackson's answer, delivered on live television after having days to prepare: "I understood, you know, that people can change."
That was it. That was the whole thing. No pivot, no deeper explanation, no acknowledgment that maybe backing a guy with a swastika tattoo required a slightly more robust defense than something you would hear from a parent explaining why their kid deserves a second cookie. Just "people can change" and a thousand yard stare into the middle distance.
This is genuinely impressive in its own way. Political consultants across America knew that question was coming. Jackson's own team had to know it was coming. Katy Tur knew it was coming. The camera operator probably knew it was coming. And yet Jackson showed up with the rhetorical equivalent of bringing a spoon to a sword fight.
The RNC Research account clipped the moment and sent it around the internet faster than you can say "opposition research gift."
Meanwhile, Susan Collins is sitting over there polling ahead with more money, more name recognition, and presumably a campaign staff that can anticipate obvious interview questions. She has been running circles around Maine Democrats for three decades, and nothing about this situation suggests that streak is in any danger.
So to recap: Maine Democrats produced a historically successful primary winner they had to publicly shove out the door, and now they are scrambling to replace him by Monday's deadline with a guy who just demonstrated on national television that he cannot handle a softball. The Platner era is over. The disaster is just getting a fresh coat of paint.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
