but I will reserve my harshest judgement for those in power who endorsed him. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Mastery of the art of apology has gotten me far in my academic career.

The tricky part is building a statewide campaign on the run.

Think about the amount of ego and self involvement it takes to gather signatures to get on a ballot, and then ask other adults for money to run a campaign. You really have to love the smell of your own brand to make that leap. Most people aren’t in that camp for a variety of reasons. My biggest and only real political regret is John Edwards. It’s been a minute since his comeuppance but I still beat myself up over it. Live and learn. Anyway I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much over this guy.

You're quite right that politicians are very high on their own supply.

🙄🙄🙄🙄
that’s always a red flag for me, and it’s got nothing to do w qualifications for the job.

test these ppl in lower level offices.
it works for the rw.

therir way up and having an excellent resume for leadership and Democracy.

I read somewhere on DU early on that he was recruited by someone who apparently didn't check his history.

It's easier to cover-up a tattoo than it is to cover-up one's past... alleged past, I mean. I think the warning signs were there, but were ignored.

the man was flawed. Seriously flawed.

And yet, still far better than the guy currently roosting in the white house.

Also I need to clarify that it’s was Edwards 2004. I was all in on Obama in 2008 from Day 1. Never even considered any other candidate.

You were also not alone in your support of Platner.

So I posted to air it out, and give others the space to feel what I feel.

I did switch allegiances a bunch of times in that race, which makes me feel a little dizzy.

All the stuff the OP routinely dismissed demonstrated Platner's disregard for women.

You don't get to ignore Platner blaming women for rape, admitting he mistreated multiple girlfriends, sexting a bunch of women right after getting married, and dismiss claims of physically abusive behavior because the accuser was a Republican and say there's no way you could know Platner mistreated women. That the OP regularly belittled people (including me) for bringing that up means they absolutely was aware of it, they just chose to not acknowledge it because they liked what Platner was selling.

I first thought that Graham Platner was a firebrand gadfly that would be defeated by Janet Mills.

Janet Mills ran a horrible campaign, including town halls I watched and realized she was ill equipped for this moment.

I listened closer to what Platner had to say and liked his message.

I was motivated by a desire to defeat Susan Collins, who is a concrete problem. I desired to extend Graham Platner grace because he was fighting on our side.

Then it became more about personal demons, and actual sexual assault. And I cannot vote for that.

If you felt regularly belittled, idk, wasn't the intent.

of a serious crime didn't report it?

No legislative experience, sexism, racism and a Nazi tattoo.

the SS Totenkopf tattoo had my mind reeling at how so many people sought to justify or excuse it.

Sickening.

He was sucking all the oxygen out of the room. She has a proven record of being elected statewide.

Put it a different way -- she couldn't beat an accused rapist.

We need someone other than Mills.

Then she didn't.

Then she did even worse.

Then she dropped out.

Then she, very cravenly, suggested she was "undropping out"

Then she lost 80-20.

No on Mills. I'm on the draft Stephen King boat now.

Same may be for general, however, Collins is never going to receive platners vote. Are you stating that Platners voters will withhold their vote from Mills?

I don't think Mills will mobilize voters.

Age, energy, etc. etc.

I still think she is best shot.

She doesn't have it.

I present facts and numbers and you have what, a hunch. Well your last hunch had you backing Platner, that worked out real well.

Your numbers are old news.

but I disagree that we need a 'compelling candidate' in Maine---

I think a mostly-unknown Democrat without some scandalous
back-story can do it, with a (D) after their name ----

AND, such a mostly unknown should concentrate on making
SUSAN COLLINS the ISSUE !!!!!!

I believe I read he got the most votes in the primary in the state's history

Don't feel "embarrassed" though. You and those voters did nothing wrong. You got behind a message and a powerful hope for real change.

Platner's the only person who should feel embarrassed here

It does.

It makes it harder, but not impossible.

must be overwhelmingly credible for Dems like Ro Kanna to retract their endorsements.

And Planter to lay out his conditions for withdrawal so soon.

Hopefully, all is not lost, and the Maine Dems will find a great replacement if he does withdraw.

endorsement. As you might know.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221356316

We'll see what tomorrow brings forth.

Technically, though, he hasn't withdrawn his endorsement, AFIK.

As I posted elsewhere, Platner is now going through the stages of grief.

And as I posted before I was a supporter, he has 10-20 years of good works to do before he can ask for redemption. One of the perfects of being a "youthful" candidate.

He privately talked to Platner and he described HIS recommendation that he drop out. From that and the article of the Platner discussions with his staff, it sounds like Sanders was sounding him out and giving him a path.

Knowing absolutely nothing, it may be that Sanders was listening and suggesting ways that Platner could drop out and feel he did it for "his movement". At this point, though he might have no path to becoming Senator, he may want his champaign to be seen as more than his crashing and burning .. now or in November.

As annoying as his arrogance and ego are, crediting him with winning an overwhelming primary victory and realizing we need him to do something he very likely absolutely does not want to do, we may need to consider what he would accept.

Given 70 percent voted for him, it would disenfranchise more than half the primary voters to pick Mills because she was second. However, if they had quickly set up caucuses across Maine, if she or any other candidate won, it would reflect the voter base better.

If something like that would be seen by Platner as allowing his movement a voice in picking the nominee, it seems better than having the TPTB picking someone.

Disenfranchisement is when the system strips away your legal right to cast a ballot.

Primary voters cast their ballots freely and had them counted. The fact that the winner turned out to be personally unfit and had to drop out doesn't mean voters were disenfranchised; it means the candidate they picked disqualified himself.

Moving to the second-place finisher when a winner abdicates is how standard succession works... it isn't a subversion of democracy, it’s a necessary contingency plan.

Platner ran on false pretenses and disqualified himself. He shouldn't be rewarded with the "kingmaking" power to name his own replacement. A candidate who showed such incredibly poor judgment has zero business dictating the party's standard-bearer going forward.

Besides... treating a collapsed campaign as a 'movement' that "needs a voice in the succession" process sets a terrible precedent. Platner isn't exiting over a policy disagreement... he is stepping aside (we presume) due to disqualifying personal misconduct that he hid from the electorate.

When a candidate disqualifies themselves, they lose the right to dictate the party's future.

Letting a compromised campaign name its own successor undermines the entire concept of accountability. The party leadership's job right now isn't to appease a failed candidate's inner circle... it is to field a clean, vetted alternative who can protect the seat in November.

Many people a lot smarter and more knowledgeable about politics went all in on Planter despite his numerous red flags.

My credibility is a non-renewable resource and I expended some by being pro-Mills, then very pro-Platner -- somewhat, I suppose, as an overcompensation due to flipping sides.

And now, I am flipping again.

I have the luxury of not being a Maine voter, so this is just academic.

Thank you for the words of support. I'm not beating myself up, but I want to publicly acknowledge that I am embarrassed that I stridently supported someone so damaged, and that my logic - that we MUST win Maine - is very much undermined.

I'll survive, with a bruised but healthy ego. And lots of meds. And a symbiotic relationship with alcohol.

an expert. No one here is a professional politician or political consultant. We're all just like a bunch of sports fans commenting on the up and downs of our favorite team.