Dem
47
GOP
53
Some readers may be familiar with a pretty popular eX-Twitter account with the name "Modern Seinfeld." The basic idea (and note, some content is pretty risqué) is the elevator pitch for Seinfeld episodes if the show was being made today, as opposed to the 1990s. For example: "Jerry and George compete to pick up the same woman on a plane. When Jerry sneezes, George jokes about Ebola and gets them both quarantined."
We mention this because the Senate campaign of Graham Platner (D), who hopes to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), has a very similar feel to it—He keeps getting enmeshed in scandals, but scandals that could really only happen in the 2020s. There's already "The Ill-Considered Tattoo," "The Indecorous Tweets" and "The Vulgar Reddit Posts," all of which could be episode titles if Platner was the central figure in a sitcom called Yes, Senator, instead of being an actual candidate for the U.S. Senate. And, over the weekend, we added Season 1, Episode 4, namely "The Sexting."
The details are a little complicated, and most of the coverage has been a little clunky, so we'll try to lay things out clearly. Early in Platner's marriage to his wife Amy Gertner, they had some issues, including some conflict and some problems with infertility. During that time, Platner exchanged explicit text messages with some number of women (more than one, but it's not clear how many more). His wife discovered them, confronted Platner, and they apparently worked things out.
As Platner's campaign was getting serious, and as campaign operatives began doing "self-oppo research" (in other words, trying to figure out what's out there that the opposition might find and weaponize), Gertner disclosed the existence of the texts to staffers on the campaign. Sometime in the past few weeks, right-wing media got their hands on the story, which was then confirmed by a now-former campaign worker named Genevieve McDonald, whom Gertner had confided in, and then had a falling out with. It is not clear if McDonald was also the original leaker, though she might have been.
Platner, and even more forcefully Gertner, have come out and condemned this reporting. While both acknowledged that the sexts are real, the both say they have moved beyond this problem, which they insist is their own personal business. Here is the statement that Gertner released:
I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.
It is no secret that Graham and I have struggled on our fertility journey. We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling. We were honest with each other in ways that weren't easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we've been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we've built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.
I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn't changed, and it won't.
Incidentally, the couple is still on their fertility journey; they attempted in vitro fertilization earlier this year, and that effort ended in a miscarriage in April.
Speaking in terms of ethics and morality, we do not see an issue here. Yes, Platner was unfaithful, at least on an emotional level. His wife found out. They dealt with it. It's their marriage, and if they say they are OK, then they are OK, and it's nobody else's damn business.
Speaking philosophically, there are certain kinds of stories that are basically verboten because they are unethical. For example, it's generally not OK to out someone, even if you have incontrovertible proof. This sexting story is a little trickier because, of course, Platner is a candidate for a major political office. At the same time, Gertner is very clearly a victim here. She did not deserve to have this paraded across the front pages, particularly since she is undoubtedly still in mourning over her lost pregnancy. One wonders if the harm to her is great enough that it should outweigh the public's "right to know."
Finally, speaking politically, we just don't know what the impact of this news will be. Again, Platner keeps getting enmeshed in 21st century stuff that doesn't quite have an analogue in past generations. Yes, it's a sex scandal, but we would guess that most voters do not draw an exact equivalence between sending naughty texts and fully consummating an act of adultery. Plus, in the Era of Trump, there's clearly a much greater tolerance for dalliances than there once was.
On top of that, Platner has proven to have a pretty thick coating of teflon, as his other scandals have largely bounced right off of him. If we had to guess, we would guess that the ideas that Platner embodies (e.g., "throw the bums out," "time for a new generation," "time for a new way of thinking") are ultimately more important than the candidate himself, and that this newest scandal won't meaningfully change the calculus in the Maine Senate race. But that's just our best guess. (Z)