NYT panel debates whether Graham Platner is a ‘dirtbag’ or Democrats’ answer to Trump-era politics
New York Times Opinion panelists on Saturday debated Democrat Graham Platner's Maine U.S. Senate campaign on "The Opinions," asking whether his scandals, outsider image and support ahead of Tuesday's primary show how deeply President Donald Trump has changed voters' expectations for character in politics.
"Obviously, he’s not Donald Trump. I mean, he is the gateway drug to Trumpism. Let’s put it this way: If he wins and [Texas Senate candidate James] Talarico loses, the cry across the land, in that Democratic consultant class, will be: ‘Find me more Platners. We need more Platners. These are the guys who know how to win.’ And where have I heard this before?" columnist David French said.
The discussion on The New York Times Opinion podcast "The Opinions" centered on Platner’s bid to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and the repeated controversies surrounding his campaign.
Columnist Jamelle Bouie argued that Platner should not be compared directly to Trump, even while describing the Maine candidate in blunt terms.
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"You know, I don’t think it’s fair. And I say that because, so far, what we’ve learned about Platner is that, for lack of a better term, he’s kind of a dirtbag. Just a dirtbaggy kind of guy," Bouie said.
Bouie said Platner's flaws placed him closer to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., than to Trump or Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton. Fetterman successfully campaigned on a more working-class image in his 2022 victory.
"That’s versus Trump, who isn’t just a reprehensible person, but is actively engaged in harming other people in his private life, right?" Bouie said.
"And I’d say the same for Paxton: not just a slimy guy, but a guy whose modus operandi, as a human being, is to try to dominate the people around him in really ugly ways. And so, I think Platner is more on the John Fetterman continuum than he is on the Trump continuum, which is just kind of dirtbaggy."
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French said the problem for Democrats was not just the number of controversies but the pattern they suggested about Platner's judgment.
"Yeah. The guy is waving red flags everywhere. It’s like he’s waving flags, ‘Abort, abort. No, don’t do this,’" French said. "Because it’s not just that he has a number of scandals. The nature of them, though, and the way that he’s responded to them, raises the possibility that he’s not the kind of person you would want in the United States Senate, to put it mildly."
French said he did not accept Platner's explanation that he did not understand the meaning of his old tattoo, which has Nazi connections.
"No, the guy’s a history buff. The story has been that he’s gone through a tough time. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing," he said. "He’s come out of the tough time. He’s better now. And then we get the sexting scandal. Well, the sexting scandal takes place after he’s married, relatively recently."
Moderator Michelle Cottle asked whether character issues that once might have ended a campaign still mattered in a political environment shaped by Trump’s own scandals.
"As you’ve noted, with the morality question, Trump has basically blown that up," Cottle said. "When we talk about leadership and character, that’s almost laughable these days."
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Bouie said Platner’s appeal may survive because the controversies fit the candidate’s political image as an unpolished outsider rather than undermine it.
"Unless these scandals or these revelations, or whatever you want to call them, tip into actual illegality or something extremely unethical," Bouie said. "I’m actually pretty confident he’ll weather all of them, because they are the kind of scandal that reinforces the political persona."