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Graham Platner welcomes attacks from 'fascists and bigots' over his support for trans rights
(www.advocate.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
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politics
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I understand that Platner can be divisive, but that aside, I seem to recall some unpopular, four-term President declaring that he welcomed that hate from his adversaries. Probably a bad idea to do the same; he might win with that kind of messaging, and winning is against the Democratic ethos.
Only to those with either thin skin, a sense of entitlement about what kinds of people should be allowed access to political power, or who don't have a coherent theory of change.
Look. I'm a veteran. I drank that kool-aid and won the poverty draft lotto. I literally signed up for tacos. Understanding the imperialist machine from the inside changes you. And veterans have been representative in the fight against fascism in the US the whole time. And I've worked with every one in those links. Many of them were raised as conservative assholes. And for some of them it took their buddy getting blown up in the humvee next to them to wake up to the consequences of imperialism. And you should have the grace to allow people to change.
I believe in redemption and I think everyone should. We all grow as people, that should be celebrated.
It is looking good for him so far. Even with the cynics shouting.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/senate/general/2026/maine/collins-vs-platner
The "he deserved to die" outrage over Platners reddit comments literally solidified every veterans vote in Maine for Platner.
It's kinda funny. They (media and the establishment) are so out of touch that they tried to make outrage around a comment literally every veteran would universally understand. Mocking someone in the military for their own stupidity and incompetence that should have gotten them killed.
I'm not a veteran myself. But, I have enough veteran friends to know that that is exactly how they talk about people they served with. It's like military banter 101. The fact that they tried to form a "he wants troops to die" story out of it. It makes literally everything else they bring up useless.
I'll just be happy when I have to stop hearing about this guy. Hope he wins. But, holy shit, he's not worth this much attention.
Anyone who threatens the status quo is going to receive a lot of negative media attention. That's how I know he's the real deal. The establishment is afraid of him. Just like Talarico. They wouldn't put so much effort into manufacturing outrage about him if they didn't know he means what he says. If he was a turncoat, the right-wing media would be quiet about him and the troll farms wouldn't be so desperate to smear him.
Once he (hopefully) wins, they'll try to sweep him under the rug and not give him any attention, because they won't want people to see how much good an elected progressive can do.
If Platner loses, you'll hear the odd "This is why the Left Lost" op-ed for a few more years before he fades into obscurity.
If he wins... It's going to be Scandal of The Month with Platner for six whole years or until they can get him to resign early. Imagine the endless shit Al Franken got and then ratchet that up a peg. CBS is going to reinvent #MeToo just to monster him out of office.
Nah, they'll ignore him once he's in office. Because his personal life won't matter anymore. If he actually follows through on being progressive and anti war they'll basically ignore him like they have anything positive related to Mamdani.
There's always a handful of Congresscritters who become the fixation of media monstering campaigns. AOC, Cori Bush, and Ilhan Omar have been popular whipping girls for nearly a decade. Ted Cruz and Louise Gohmert were another pair of jokers the DC media loved to clown on. Platner is exactly the kind of guy you'll see written about in some Op-Ed or Style Guide, where the professional Mean Girls Club of pundits plaster catty smears masquerading as serious think pieces.
Ross Douthat will be putting up an article every month about how Jesus Wept over the Maine election process. Maggie Haberman will be doing think pieces titled "Does a Senator Beat His Wife?" the first time Platner and Amy Gertner express diverging views in public. We're going to get an Israeli flag background image behind some WaPo piece about New England anti-semitism, fixating on the worst five Platner voters the paper can find.
He'll be in a single-digit minority voting pool most of his career. Which is to his credit. Gotta start somewhere. But the Senate is a naturally reactionary and deeply genocidal institution by design. I hope he wins, but I doubt he'll do more with his time in office than put up a bunch of angry protest votes.
I think that it is okay to be entitled to wanting better representation than him. He's definitely not perfect, not by a long shot, and there are certainly warning signs about him. You're right in that people change. They can be better. He may very well be much better than he was, and he definitely looks like he is so far. But, his changing for the better doesn't have to put him in a position of power, either. Because it is also entitlement that he wants to be Senator with the type of baggage he has. But, I can't say there is currently a better candidate than him right now.
That's the way I see it, anyway. I will hope he continues to be a progressive force, and that my doubts are unfounded!
Hah, joke's on me. I threw that in to head off the complaining from his haters, so we could focus on the good things he's doing. Can't please everybody, I guess.
I mean your not wrong to have included it. But so much of the reaction is from a place of cynicism and bad faith. I think everyones hackles are raised, and legitimately so, around characters like Sinema and Fetterman. But what Planter is doing is clearly different and has been different since they started. I got to meet them when one of my volunteer groups were trying to make the decision around endorsing him. This was back in September & October.
And there has been a lot which has happened between August and now. Anything that can happened in this race basically did. If they had more powder to set off, they needed to set it off weeks ago, because at this pace Platner is looking to schelack Collins.
Its time to coalesce as a party. Schumer and Jefferies just threw the best two years we had to fight fascism to a pit and lit it on fire. But now, now Woke is back baby!, and Woke 2 gonna make your head spin. We need to see Platner, Mandami, Al Sayed (inshalah), Chris Rabb, All three of Mamdani's endorsees on one stage. Schumer and Jefferies spoiled our ability to present a coherent front of resistance against fascism. That changes in November.
MAM-dani!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kobjY6CZJN0
It was a bit weird when we found out FDR had a Rebel Flag tramp stamp. But you can't argue with good policies.