{"id":1350,"date":"2026-06-11T04:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2026-06-11T04:09:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:09:31","slug":"do-maine-results-signal-a-trumpish-turn-among-democratic-voters-three-analysts-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=1350","title":{"rendered":"Do Maine results signal a Trumpish turn among Democratic voters? Three analysts weigh in"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Marine veteran Graham Platner was nominated by Maine Democrats on Tuesday to face Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November\u2019s midterm elections. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump asks Congress for last-minute extension of spy powers as bipartisan deal unravels<\/a><\/p>\n

Although Platner\u2019s 72% victory was a landslide among Democratic voters, nearly 1 in 5 voters still picked Janet Mills, the current governor of Maine, who had stopped campaigning in April after struggling to raise enough funds. <\/p>\n

Given the scandals that have plagued Platner, the 41-year-old oyster farmer, some have wondered: Is his victory emblematic of a larger willingness among Democrats to overlook ethical questions among their nominees, much like they\u2019ve criticized Republicans for doing over the last decade? <\/p>\n

In his victory speech Tuesday evening to a euphoric crowd, Platner sounded a little like President Donald Trump in his critique of establishment media and politicians, who he claimed \u201ckeep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a movement about us,\u201d he said, a framing one columnist suggested \u201chad a whiff of Trump\u2019s timeworn refrain, \u2018In the end, they\u2019re not coming after me. They\u2019re coming after you.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Platner has been called \u201cthe most toxic literally abusive man on earth,\u201d by a former romantic partner, who alleged Platner was physically aggressive toward her, leaving bruises in one case. <\/p>\n

Platner also had a Nazi-related tattoo on his chest, which he recently covered up. <\/p>\n

Yet he also said this week: \u201cEvery day I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, \u201cIf you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is too much being made of Platner\u2019s victory, or are there legitimate issues raised by his unexpected rise? <\/p>\n

Here are three takes from national political observers.<\/p>\n

David Smith, The Guardian<\/h3>\n

In a Guardian analysis of Platner\u2019s victory, \u201cIs he Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump?\u201d correspondent David Smith channeled anxieties among members of the Democratic establishment who are asking, \u201cShouldn\u2019t the party of #MeToo, so quick to \u2018believe women\u2019 and condemn Donald Trump, apply the same standard to Platner?\u201d<\/p>\n

Platner voters, Smith suggested, are showing that Michelle Obama\u2019s 2016 message \u201cwhen they go low, we go high\u201d has \u201cbeen mugged by the reality of the past decade\u201d \u2014 signaling that \u201cDemocrats are hungry for fighters to beat Republicans at their own game and, if that means fighting dirty, so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The days of weak, apologetic Dems are over. Our Tea Party is here,\u2019\u201d he quoted progressive pundit Kyle Kulinski telling Politico. <\/p>\n

Platner is \u201can echo of both Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders,\u201d Smith argued, later calling this decidedly anti-Trump candidate \u201calso a mini-Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe more that Washington Democrats condemn him from fancy TV studios, the more that working people in Maine may well rally around him. And like Trump, allegations about his personal life are quickly dismissed as evidence of a powerful elite conspiring to bring down the anti-politician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith noted how Platner also touts himself as pushing back on a corrupt elite and \u201cthe Epstein class.\u201d While supporters suggest \u201cDemocrats should stop making the perfect the enemy of the good,\u201d he highlighted worry among opponents that in a general election, \u201ceven minor erosion among women, Jewish voters or independents could be enough to save Collins.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is in an election that could decide the control of the U.S. Senate. Yet Smith said, \u201cit is too late to play safe now. Democrats have rolled the dice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more What Pope Leo said during his visit to the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/a><\/p>\n

Philip Elliott, Time magazine<\/h3>\n

Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent for Time magazine, compared the Maine result to a moment in Georgia four years ago when \u201cDemocrats were falling over themselves in delight\u201d after Republicans in Georgia had nominated Herschel Walker, despite accusations of stalking and domestic violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaine Democrats on Tuesday nominated their own version of Walker in Graham Platner,\u201d Elliott claimed, working through various accusations made against the Maine candidate, including abusive behavior against former partners and sexting with women other than his wife. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, if this isn\u2019t a potential self-own, I don\u2019t know what is,\u201d the Time correspondent said. Describing his own conversations around Washington, Elliott described a somber mood among Democrats, who he said \u201cfeel handcuffed to an untested candidate, one who they wish would step aside for the good of the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaine is about to engage in an expensive experiment to answer several thorny questions,\u201d he said \u2014 beginning with this primary one: \u201cWhat are voters willing to overlook?\u201d<\/p>\n

While Democrats may be \u201cdesperately hoping there aren\u2019t more Platner revelations left to come out before Election Day,\u201d Elliott suggested that Republicans are \u201cwhispering that Democrats\u2019 fears of unused Platner (opposition research) are well-founded\u201d and \u201chinting that, when it comes to Platner, there\u2019s more than one shoe left to drop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bret Stephens, The New York Times<\/h3>\n

Writing on the verge of the primary election, columnist Bret Stephens acknowledged that lasting lessons from the Platner candidacy were unclear. But he argued that \u201cinconsistent standards selectively applied according to our political bias\u201d is one concern that should be shared across the political spectrum. <\/p>\n

The columnist described particular dismay at watching \u201csome of the same progressives who thought that Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s alleged misbehavior as a teenager and a college student made him unfit for the Supreme Court suddenly become dismissive of the allegations against Platner.\u201d <\/p>\n

For instance, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who he said \u201conce thundered\u201d over Kavanaugh\u2019s high school yearbook, has responded to serious allegations against Platner by saying, \u201cseems like a lot of nothing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n
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\n
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Dem Sen. Whitehouse says he\u2019s \u201cnot impressed\u201d by the allegations against Graham Platner in the latest NYT report.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems like a lot of nothing. I mean, the only one who had anything to say that seemed \u2018unsettling\u2019 was a woman who works for right-wing political operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 4, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe term for this is \u2018double standard,\u2019\u201d Stephens said, which \u201cmerely fuels the pervasive national cynicism about any moral judgments made about any political leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Platner can pass muster among Democratic primary voters, then the differences between him and Donald Trump are mainly of degree, not of kind,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhat you can no longer do, at least not with any intellectual integrity, is to use moral litmus tests to try to disqualify political figures from the opposing party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The alternative, Stephens said, is this: \u201cDemocrats can operate according to the standards they have set, the ones they\u2019ve sought to apply to Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can live by the view that no election is so important that they\u2019re willing to discard the things they once fervently claimed to believe in order to win it. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can hold themselves accountable so that they can more credibly and effectively hold their opponents accountable. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can cherish the idea that what counts in politics is more than just a relentless quest for a majority, and for power, and that staying true to principle isn\u2019t just a game for suckers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Apple launches new features to improve digital safety for children<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Graham Platner a Hershel Walker-like miscalculation among Democrats, or a Donald Trump-like fighter right for the moment? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nDo Maine results signal a Trumpish turn among Democratic voters? 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