SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 5.30.2026
Americans are so prudish and puritanical.
If this was taking place in a tolerant European nation there would be a big shrug of the shoulders and a, “So, what?”
America can bomb, maim and kill people all in the name of patriotism.
But let an individual, let alone a candidate for the US Senate, engage in a bit of sexual banter and the person is proverbially burned at the stake.
Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal 5.30.2026
Days after Graham Platner announced his Maine Senate bid, his wife informed the campaign about a potential political problem she had previously discovered on the oyster farmer’s phone: sexually explicit texts with several women, according to people familiar with the matter.
The previously unreported deliberations over sexually explicit texts discovered on Platner’s phone comes as the former veteran has exploded onto the national political scene, kindling Democratic hopes that they can unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins and gain control of the Senate.
The revelations about Platner’s past have provided fodder for Republicans and stirred debate within the Democratic Party about his character and judgment. Platner is a political novice. Some in the party fear they have attached themselves to a candidate who didn’t undergo thorough vetting and could undermine their hopes for the midterm elections in November.
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