General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)The hard reality: Our Democratic Senate Candidate from Maine is likely a rapist [View all]
If he doesn't drop out and endorse somebody else, he is still the best funded and most established candidate who can defeat Susan Collins and shifting the race to another candidate will make defeating her even more challenging. But anybody who votes for him will do so knowing he is probably a rapist. And that doesnt need to happen.
Because he can still drop out. And our futures are not written in stone.
It kinda sucks being in a reality and side of the political chasm where truth and evidence actually account for something; because denial sounds so much more appealing right now. Refusing to believe the things happening right in front of me? Even more tempting.
I can't mince words: The signs were there about his stability, and I for one didn't want to believe he would actually have sunk so low in criminal conduct. This really fucking sucks for taking back the Senate majority. But frankly it sucks more for the women involved. Not only were they fucking raped, they were met with such a high profile and consequential decision. They knew what the stakes were and still did the right thing. They will undeniably receive death threats, harassment and cries of probably something like "killing democracy blah blah blah (along with whatever other nonesense is filling the social media voids right now)." But they are also heroes: People who risked even more than what they already lost to bring to light an uncomfortable and horrible truth about a clearly flawed individual. And it is for the greater good. They did prevent one more rapist from holding a seat of power. And there are few things more honorable than keeping dishonorable men from power.
While this had to come out (for all the very reasonable and understandable circumstances discussed by the victim) after the primary, Democrats cannot in good faith support a credibly alleged rapist while an adjudicated rapist sits in the white house. If they can think fast and move on from Platner, Maine Democrats have a solid claim to the moral high ground and can still flip the seat.
Collins has no credibility to say she doesn't support a rapist. Trump is a rapist and she voted for Kavanaugh who was also very credibly accused of rape. There is no place where Republicans can claim the moral high ground on any of these issues, and Maine voters aren't idiots. I strongly hope that a solid candidate can quickly take his place, and I hope he doesn't prove to be even more a shitbag than he clearly is, and make that transition difficult.
To hell with Platner. Let him retire quietly and deal with his mental health recovery and clear behavioral issues, in private. With his oysters.
We have a Senate seat to flip.