This is like a movie where the villain (in this case Susan Collins) gets the upper hand in the middle of the third act. Graham Platner now has an accusation of sexual assault against him. He made a video to address it and vaguely alluded to pausing his campaign but he didn’t speak of suspending it outright. He ends his piece with, “As goes Maine so goes the nation.” As goes Maine so goes rulership of the Senate. This snafu on Platner’s part is very troublesome. Democrats cannot retake the Senate without Maine. Plus, the idea of Susan Collins sticking around is appalling.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
A lot of Democrats are ready to throw Platner overboard. Let’s not do another Al Franken on this, shall we? I agree that a report of sexual assault is egregious. I also find it interesting that oppo research only just now unearthed that particular allegation. I’m not saying the woman is lying, I’m saying we don’t have enough facts yet.
And the irony of it all is that we have a sitting president who has been convicted of sexual assault and defamation. So on the Republican side of the aisle these allegations don’t carry the weight that they reasonably should. So is this another case of It’s Okay If You’re A Republican?
If Al Franken had been a Republican he wouldn’t have been aced out of the Senate for a years-old photograph showing him horsing around, back in the days when he was a comedian. Show business is a sexualized atmosphere. Franken’s actions weren’t out of line at all for that milieu but were deemed unacceptable years later for a sitting senator.
Which way will Platner go? It’s a big question because control of the Senate lies in the balance.
Hmm. Interesting that we’re giving Platner all sorts of chances but, just a couple of months ago, the accusations against Eric Swallwell were IMMEDIATELY accepted (as I recall, even from contributing writers on the site) and calls were swift for him to drop out of his gubernatorial bid AND his immediate removal from the US House. With little more than accusations against him, but “Oh, this is the result of a solid investigation that’s been ongoing for a year” and, yet, the timing of the accusations never seemed to raise any suspicions.
IIRC, I was a voice trying to remind folks of the Al Franken situation and how a good progressive voice in the Senate wasn’t even given a chance–BY HIS OWN PARTY–to defend himself (IIRC he actually welcomed hearings into the allegations but was denied) and all because the Party felt a need to show “Democrats don’t accept sexual assailants” as a “dig” towards the GOP’s continuing defense of Drumpf’s well-documented behavior. A dig, by the way, which led to nothing. Drumpf stayed in office. Drumpf faced civil court suits while out of office and was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting E Jean Carroll and ordered to pay a huge sum that got reduced to a fairly paltry $5 million (which Drumpf has STILL not paid–although, that could be changing since the judge in the case denied a request from Drumpf that he’s got a “new” lawyer).
So, Platner managed to weasel his way out of the fascist tattoo he had (by convincing people he didn’t know what it was–hey, if you’re getting a tattoo, check out a meaning before doing it unless you want Chinese characters that look really cool and you’re told they mean “Sexy Beast” but it turns out they actually mean “Won ton soup”) and now, he’s trying to escape accusations of sexual assault.
Got an idea. Pretty radical one too. VET your candidates before just buying whatever they say that you get the tingles over. If a candidate has one red flag (fascist tattoo), he may have a few other red flags.
And if we have to suffer Susan Collins for another 6 years, well, maybe Democrats–especially the progressives and the “Democratic Socialists”–will be a bit more cautious about “populist” candidates. We got screwed over with Fetterman in Pennsylvania. And Drumpf started his 2016 campaign as a “populist” and a “man of the people.” (Our side knew better but he managed to pull the wool over a lot of GOPers and won over the hearts of racists across the country.)
This is nothing like Al Franken. Firstly, he was never accused of rape, and secondly, he was forced out by Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren getting together to persuade all the Democratic women in the Senate to follow them. Together, they all forced Al out before he could get due process via a Senate Ethics Committee investigation. In Gillibrand’s case it was pure envy. I don’t know what the other women were thinking but I know I’ll never forgive any of them.
Platner is completely different. I agree with Joseph. He’s in the same category as Eric Swalwell. He should drop out immediately so Maine Democrats can replace him with David Costello, who always was a far better candidate.