Despite it being a foregone conclusion, Graham Platner’s victory on Monday in Maine’s Democratic State primary represents an alarming escalation in the widening fracture between the Democratic Party, its Jewish voters, and Israel.
Platner won the primary after his initial opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out of the race following a wave of momentum for the energetic, sometimes oyster-farmer outsider to politics. He will now face off in November against Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who has served as Maine’s senior senator since 1997.
Platner, a progressive populist who has garnered grassroots support for promising to focus on the economic woes of the US middle class, is also virulently anti-Israel.
Not in the sense that he thoughtfully opposes the nuances of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s policies in defending the country against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran – opposition, which, by the way, aligns him with more than half of Israeli citizens. But rather, Platner has thrown his lot in with those Israel haters who haul out the “genocide” and “baby killers” trope in any instance they can.
His campaign seems to be obsessed with Israel. Platner’s first online ad, released in August, promised that he would never seek or receive the endorsement of the giant Israeli-American lobby group AIPAC because he believed Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Platner accused his opposition of being funded by Israel
Last week, at the end of the primary campaign, he had shifted the focus to Collins, suggesting that her campaign was “bought and paid for by Benjamin Netanyahu” and claiming that a third of her campaign funding came from AIPAC.
According to JTA, Federal Election Commission data showed that a third of donations to Collins in the previous quarter were gifts from individuals who used the pro-Israel lobby as an intermediary. Collins also received a small donation directly from the group’s super PAC.
However, Platner’s broad, anti-elitist statement reeks of animosity toward Israel and toward his views about the existence of a Jewish lobby that controls Washington.
The Anti-Defamation League said the remark about Collins “invokes classic antisemitic rhetoric” and added, “Such accusations call up the age-old dual loyalty trope that casts Jewish Americans as more loyal to Israel than their own country.”
And if these were normal times, the revelation that Platner had a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo on his chest for nearly two years, until he drew criticism for it on the campaign trail, would unequivocally answer those questions.
However, Platner’s defenders have doubled down on their support, blaming American supporters of Israel – or Israel itself – for dredging up his past, including recent allegations of misconduct towards women.
Jewish Democrats in Maine must now weigh how to proceed – to vote for a flawed, possibly antisemitic, candidate who will fight against Israel but reflects their core values, from LGBTQ rights to economic issues, or to enable Collins, a supporter of US President Donald Trump, to keep her seat.
For many of these voters, and Democrats in general, the former is the more acceptable option, and they’ll reluctantly decide to forgive his past indiscretions. But for others, there’s total alignment with Platner’s views on Israel.
In a viral video from a weekend rally, a Platner supporter said she had no problem with the Nazi tattoo, which Platner removed earlier this year. However, she stated that if the tattoo had been of the Israeli flag, she would have dropped her support of him.
Jewish Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey reacted by tweeting:
“Are you kidding me? A tattoo of the Israeli flag is worse than a Nazi symbol? This should not be welcome in the Democratic Party!”
Alas, it is becoming the prevailing sentiment.
Hatred of Trump and the damage he has done to the US, and support for a candidate whose views they mostly agree with, who has a good chance of ousting one of the president’s allies, outweigh the glaring warning signs about Platner’s character and past. More so, it reflects the growing mainstream view in the US that, yes, Israel committed genocide and that sporting an Israeli flag is more offensive than proudly displaying a Nazi insignia.
In November, voters in Maine will have to decide if that’s how they feel. The repercussions will be felt 6,000 miles away.