Texas GOP Senate candidate Paxton has been voting illegally, report suggests
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Kyllä, se on lempeä kesä nyt, kun elämänmaku on kaikista makein. Mieli kuin nuorena tyttönä kaurapellolla, kun saa liihottaa. Nauti vaan ja ota väli pala välissä. We're...
all basically waiting for Graham Plattner to drop out of the race for Maine Senate. It is hard to imagine any other possible outcome at this point. And to be clear, there has been a steady stream of scandal and controversies about Plattner for months now. And through most of it, the voters of Maine and his top supporters have stuck with him. It's been kind of a fascinating political story to watch. But Politico's reporting yesterday on allegations of sexual assault were the final straw for good reason. And then late today, the Washington Post published another accusation from another of Plattner's ex-girlfriends alleging he had removed condoms without consent during sex. Now, I should note Plattner has denied both of these new allegations, but the calls for him to drop out of the race have now poured in from basically every corner of the Democratic Party.
Several of Plattner's high-profile endorsers, like Congressman Ro Khanna and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have now all withdrawn their support for his campaign. Other high-profile progressives who were not involved in the race, but they've also called for him to drop out. People who are Very powerful political forces like New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added their voices to the chorus of people urging Plattner to withdraw. And look, I've worked in politics for a very long time, and I feel pretty certain in saying that Graham Plattner is going to drop out of this race. I mean, to me, the two tells are that he pulled down all of his public events, and he's currently reflecting on the best path forward, and that according to reporting, he thinks he has leverage in determining who replaces him as the Democratic nominee for Senate.
The main Democratic Party has a different view on that, and we're going to talk about that as well. And the thing is, as long as he withdraws by Monday, July 13th, the party can replace him on the ballot. And so now the conversation is turning to how the Democratic Party found itself in this position. And that conversation has gone in a whole lot of different directions. There are a whole lot of takes out there. I mean, for instance, there are a number of people arguing that This was just a failure of Democratic vetting. That if Plattner had been subject to a more rigorous, professionally-run vetting process from within the national party that the national party ran, then he would not have been the nominee.
Well, as someone who's worked on these campaigns, I'm here to tell you it's not quite so simple. I mean, for starters, the vetting process relies heavily on what the candidates themselves are willing to disclose. Also, of course, searches of public records, but also what they're willing to disclose. And anyone who has followed the Graham Platner saga over the last few months knows that he has not been especially forthcoming about things in his past, at least not until after those things become national stories. Also, these latest and most serious allegations involve sexual assault. And we have all seen in recent years how difficult it is for women to come forward and put their name to these allegations.
It is not the kind of thing that reliably comes up as a part of the vetting process because either the candidate would have to disclose, and again, we already talked about that, or accusers would have to be comfortable sharing their very personal trauma with representatives of a candidate's campaign or with the national party. I mean, just look what happened earlier this year when Congressman Eric Swalwell, someone who had been in elected office for years and nearly won his party's nomination for governor of California. My point is processes can always be improved. That is for sure. But there is no foolproof system for vetting political candidates.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–5:39
2
What is the breaking news about Graham Plattner and why is his Senate nomination in jeopardy?
5:39–10:49
3
How did endorsements and party leaders react to the new allegations against Plattner?
10:49–18:14
4
Why do vetting limitations make allegations like Plattner’s hard to detect earlier?
18:14–30:47
5
How could a Plattner exit change Democrats’ path to retaking the Senate?
30:47–43:18
Speakers
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