The Leftists Debasing Themselves to Defend Graham Platner

The strategy: Blame the victim, blame AIPAC, blame neoliberalism, blame "hysteria."

There is not much to say about the Graham Platner debacle that hasn’t already been said. In Slate this week, I argue that the problem wasn’t just Platner; it was the fetishization of a certain white working-class guy stereotype, and the conflation of misogyny with that man. And it was the way that a certain kind of progressive — usually a man, but not always — clearly enjoys the transgression of misogyny at least as much as leftist politics. Democrats and progressives have largely rejected the Michelle Obama “we go high” ethos. But we probably shouldn’t go quite so low.

And yet, there are still too many prominent and influential left-wing writers, thinkers, politicos and activists who would take us even lower.

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last 48 hours, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner was credibly accused of rape by an ex, who says he came to her house despite her asking him not to, and had sex with her against her will. Platner, for some reason, has not yet dropped out — proof to me that this entire disaster is at least partly the fault of a person with extreme narcissistic tendencies and tremendously bad judgment. Maine is winnable for Democrats. If Platner actually cared to unseat Susan Collins, he would have already tendered his resignation. He has not, and I think that tell us quite a bit. It’s not even party over country; it’s Graham Platner over country.

More than Platner’s stubbornness, though, I am shocked to see a number of leftists defending him.