Getting a regrettable tattoo while drunk does not necessarily prove that you are an antisemite—or at least it didn’t to Platner’s Jewish relatives, who he claims knew about the tattoo for years and never said anything about it. It does, however, suggest that you might be a guy who made an egregious mistake without thinking about what the political consequences might be in 20 years, rather than a neurotic careerist who’s been ruthlessly plotting his rise to political power since grade school, which is worse. If voters liked ambitious robots, we’d be halfway through a second Pete Buttigieg administration by now....I give Page credit for pointing out that voters are responding to Platner's political views, and acknowledging that those views are popular.
In some sense, the [sheer] scale of Platner’s Reddit-related controversies—which run across the political gamut—do actually suggest that he was, as he claims, more of an internet troll than a hardened ideologue.... On the whole, from his Reddit to the regrettable tattoo to that video of him getting wasted and dancing shirtless at a wedding, Platner comes across as a bonehead, and maybe even an asshole—but never a schoolmarm, careerist, or self-righteous hypocrite. Most politicians do, and that’s why people don’t like them.
... when it comes to ideas, people seem to like Platner’s—if they didn’t, perhaps the attacks on his character would have worked better. Proposals that are ostensibly radical by Washington standards, like Medicare for All, are actually supported by a majority of Americans—including Platner. Similarly, like most Americans, Platner wants to tax the rich. And so forth.Do you remember the moment, about a year ago, when Democrats were talking about the need to find a "liberal Joe Rogan"? Many Democrats felt that the party lost the 2024 election because Donald Trump and other Republicans were eager to sit down with podcast bros who aren't "woke" and don't self-censor. Kamala Harris has expressed regret because she didn't appear on Rogan's show during the campaign. Personally, I never wanted Democrats to cozy up to podcasters who demean women or gleefully use slurs, but many very smart people thought the party should embrace them.
Even what might be considered one of his most controversial positions—that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza—is not a fringe belief by polling standards. Half of registered voters believed this to be the case by the end of last year, including four out of 10 American Jews....
Platner’s willingness to support bold ideas and run against the Democratic Party establishment, despite the skeletons in his closet, makes him look like he’s interested in enacting genuine political change. At the end of the day, this is all people really want. And the fact that, despite his upbringing, he genuinely does seem like a guy you could meet at a dive bar doesn’t hurt either.
Well, now there's a candidate who, in the past, demeaned women, Blacks, and others on Reddit, and who thought it was badass to get (and keep) a Nazi symbol tattoed on his body -- and polls say the voters of his state are embracing him. I hope they're embracing him because they like his politics (I like his politics), and because they think he's sincere about wanting to be a better person than he was when he was a Reddit shitposter and Nazi tattoo acquirer.
And now we have his bad behavior early in his marriage to contend with, although his wife's video response over the weekend seems like a sincere plea for voters to let the two of them work it out.
Platner has not been well behaved for much of his life -- but not being well behaved is what a lot of Democrats seemed to like about the podcast bros, or at least what they thought their fans liked about them. Now there's a badly behaved candidate in a statewide race, and he's leading in the polls. Draw your own conclusions.
