The Trump slippery slope

My postdoc mentor used to say “We don’t compare ourselves to the worst, we compare ourselves to the best.” Does that aphorism apply in politics?

“POLITICO REPORTED ON MONDAY AFTERNOON that Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriend said he “forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections.” Immediately after the story was published, Platner, the Democratic nominee in the race for Maine’s Senate seat, posted an uncomfortable video denying the allegations without making clear whether he would drop out of the race.

 

“He should, and not just on moral grounds. Because before this story was published, Maine voters in our focus groups told us that they would likely abandon Platner over this exact type of scandal.”

*snip*

 

“There had already been months of talk about Platner’s bad behavior at this point, including about his Nazi tattoo. But many in the group were still planning on supporting him. So we asked them what would make them change their vote.

 

“The answer: sexual assault.

 

“There’s no way I would be able to vote for him if, if something came out that it was substantiated that he had sexually assaulted somebody,” said Nancy. “No. Because then in my mind he should be in jail. He shouldn’t be in Congress or in the Senate earning a paycheck off of taxpayers.”

 

“I’m looking at the long game. I want Collins out,” said Sharon. “It’d have to be pretty bad. It’d have to be pretty bad.” When asked to clarify, she specified: “Maybe sexual assault.”

 

“Probably sexual assault,” Danielle agreed, adding, “If that was the case, we would hope that our justice system was taking care of that, and we wouldn’t be in this situation where they’re able to run.”

 

So rape/sexual assault is a red line?

 

But even before the June 4 allegations were reported, some voters were already starting to smudge their red lines. Some participants indicated that they might still be able to get to ‘yes’ on Platner even if it were revealed that he had sexually assaulted someone. They rationalized it by pointing to how Republicans rallied behind Donald Trump.

 

“If he was really accused of sexual assault and that was a true thing, would that take him off the option to vote?” Kim, one focus group attendee, asked the others.

 

“It didn’t take Trump off of the ballot,” noted Nancy.

 

“It would have to be worse than the stuff we’re hearing about President Trump,” said Jen. “And that’s a hard one to imagine, honestly.”


This is Trump’s achievement. He is the new baseline. 

Shame.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/graham-platner-crossed-the-voters-red-line-sexual-assault-allegation-maine-senate-election-midterms?r=2133ns&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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