The Graham Platner Conundrum

This story lurches so much that it’s hard to know where to start to tell it. I’m not an expert on Graham Platner, and all I know is what I read from other people. And from Wikipedia, in which I have tremendous confidence. One of those people, for what it’s worth, is David Sirota, the founder of “The Lever,” and who spent in person “quality time” with Platner, trying to get to know him. One recording I heard was of the two of them on a car trip in Maine. Sirota, who is a journalist, and is essentially entitled, recorded the conversation. I have total confidence that Platner was very well aware that the conversation was being recorded. If I had to make my best guess, knowing Sirota and his work as I do, I would feel sure that Platner retained the right to review the recording before it was released. “In full disclosure,” I think very highly of Sirota and his work, and I donate to “The Lever.” I don’t read every posted article or listen to every recorded interview, but I want to support Sirota and his work. He can be edgy and provocative, but I almost always think he’s right. My best estimation is that he would be classified as a Progressive Democrat.

So, back to Platner. Platner is running for US Senator from ME. His aim is to displace Susan Collins. Frankly, and interestingly, there’s substantial expressed concern about him from people on both the left and the right. Platner appears to consider himself a Progressive Democrat.

Platner’s resume is that he grew up privileged, and smart, and he attended Hotchkiss School in Lakeville CT, and John Bapst High School in Bangor ME. There is no explanation as to why he went from the fancier private school in CT to what I assume is a regular high school in ME. He then became a US Marine (“eight years, including three combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with the Maryland Army National Guard,” according to Wikipedia), and he was also stationed in Europe. There was also something about his having been a State Dep’t Security Contractor in the Middle East. I don’t know if there are any missing chapters in this story, except education at George Washington University (“attended,” whatever that means about why there wasn’t a degree, and why he was there at all: there was some mention of his having returned to ME for attention to PTSD “and other military-related injuries”), but his next, recent, or current adventure is as an oysterman in ME.

Although I think it’s worth noting that his high school yearbook declared him as “most likely to start a revolution,” and he was demonstrably very critical of wars, including the one in Iraq where he had three tours, having joined the Marines. Per Wikipedia, “Asked why he served in the Iraq War after protesting it, Platner said, ‘I thought I could do some good. And I wanted to play soldier. I might have read too much Hemingway.”

There was a stint as a bartender.

His parents, by the way, are restaurant-owner Leslie Harlow and attorney Bronson Platner. The genders are ambiguous from the names, and it’s not clear why Platner did not want to own a restaurant or become a lawyer. (Although both of my offsprings’ parents are medical doctors, and neither of my offsprings felt that calling.) Platner reportedly had a friend who was an oyster farmer in ME, so he worked with his friend.

Wikipedia contains this short paragraph:

“Local government and community involvement

“Platner is Sullivan [ME]’s harbormaster and the chair of Sullivan’s planning board. He has also been involved in grassroots organizing, leading political efforts with the Acadia Action activist group.”

And this one:

“In July 2025, a coalition of labor and community groups approached Platner to suggest he consider running for Senate. In an interview, he said his first reaction was to reject the idea: ‘My wife and I, quite honestly, told them to fuck off because that was the weirdest, most random thing.’ But, he said, when the group returned with a detailed plan, he and his wife reconsidered.”

Two things are worth noting about this paragraph, and the yearbook prediction, and Platner’s reliance on his wife’s input. One is that it’s not entirely clear if Platner understands why his high school classmates thought he would be most likely to start a revolution, or why the townspeople of Sullivan ME had such great confidence in him, that they really wanted him to challenge Collins. They really didn’t want to take “no”, or “fuck you,” for an answer. It’s unclear if Platner’s high school classmates meant to insult him or were showing great respect, but the people of Sullivan appear to have thought the world of him. The other notable thing is that some of the recent criticism of Platner, in the context of his candidacy for US Senator, includes what is presented as disdain for and mistreatment of women. That’s on the basis of what some women in his past have said about their interactions with him. It sure doesn’t sound like it, from his connection to his wife. Although there’s also a reported history of excessive drinking, and if that’s true, then who knows what went on in the past, and who was intoxicated?

So, setting aside what amounts to she said/he said stories about Platner and his former girlfriends (although we’ll revisit this topic for another reason), one of the very big issues of portrayed concern about Platner is his tattoos. One in particular was said clearly to have been suggestive of Nazis, and even some Democrats say it’s impossible Platner wouldn’t have known that. Platner says 1) he didn’t, and 2) he was sometimes intoxicated enough that he didn’t know what tattoos he agreed to have applied to his skin. One of the people who expresses great concern about this is John Fetterman. John “I had a stroke, but I still think I can be a US Senator,” John “whatever you say is good enough for me, uncle Donnie,” John “yeah, so my uncle Donnie says that some people who say ‘Jews won’t replace us’ are ‘very fine people,’” John “oy, who can be bothered to wear a jacket and tie? I think I’ll wear a hoodie and shorts to the US Senate,” Fetterman. And that’s one of the people complaining about Platner’s tattoos? Many of the other people who have very deep concern about Platner and his tattoos are Fox News hosts. Oy.

I do want to come back to one issue about the complaints about how Platner is alleged to have treated women. Apart from the women who allege they were mistreated (I’ve seen no reference to police reports or ER/hospital visits), a number of the other complainers are Republicans. So, you don’t complain about Matt Gaetz, and you don’t complain about the clown/princess/vacuum, but you latch onto unsupported complaints about Platner? It seems almost — I don’t know — blindly and inanely partisan.

I’ve read about Platner. I’ve listened to his conversation with Sirota. I donate to his campaign. He’s unconventional, for a Progressive Democrat. But he’s a lot tamer than Randy Fine or the bizarre creature that lives in the White House. His view of things, like war, and what he should do with himself, changed? Not in the same universe as the one that contains the changes of McConnell, Greene, and others.

Am I rolling the dice with Platner? Are we all always rolling the dice with every candidate? Did Pennsylvanians roll the dice with Fetterman? Did Arizonans roll the dice with Sinema? Sure. I don’t live in ME, so I can’t vote for or against Platner. But what’s the alternative? Collins? Where are those dice?