Why did Elizabeth Warren 'kosher' Graham Platner?
Looks like she saw a chance to build a fifth column and it blew up in her face.
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Yesterday, I was telling you we deserve some answers. Among Graham Platner's supporters in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, what did they know and when did they know it? On Monday, a woman credibly accused Maine's Democratic Senate nominee of rape. On Tuesday, another woman credibly accused him of another form of rape. ("He would pull condoms off," she told the Post. "He would do it in a sneaky way. He wouldn’t tell me.”) It's Wednesday. How many more by the end of the week? How did a dirtbag get this far?
This morning, journalist David Bernstein proposed a theory. He suggested that some of what we are seeing from the implosion of Platner's campaign is fallout from a failed attempt to overthrow Democratic leadership in the Senate. Basically, it boils down to Chuck Schumer, he said. While Senators Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, and Bernie Sanders also supported Platner, it was Platner's willingness to oppose Schumer that attracted Elizabeth Warren and "allied groups, such as Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and March On PAC."
With Graham Platner, they had a chance to knock Schumer out of the leadership, and score a victory for the party's progressive wing, Bernstein said. They "were willing to betray their ideals and risk the balance of power for that, up until it became politically nonviable to do so."
John Stoehr
It's fair to single out Warren. She "koshered" Graham Platner. In Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf uses his reputation as a Jewish leader to make presidential candidate Charles Lindbergh's antisemitism seem respectable. ("Koshering Lindbergh for the goyim," a character explains.) Warren pursued a similar goal with her reputation as a high-profile female progressive. With it, she softened the impact of reports about Platner's misogyny. In other words, she was koshering him for the women with doubts about him.
Warren did so at key moments before Maine's June 9 primary. She endorsed him in March regardless of controversies including online posts blaming rape victims for the crime against them and a Nazi tattoo that he knew was a Nazi tattoo, despite repeated denials. Along with those of other progressives, Warren's endorsement helped stall momentum for Maine Governor Janet Mills, who everyone knew was recruited by Chuck Schumer. Warren stood in front of him as Platner weathered the storm, vouching for him in terms that were not that subtly gendered. "I am here because Washington needs fighters and Graham Platner is the fighter we need," she told a rally in April. "I said to myself, 'That's my kind of man.'"
"That is a man who not only has the values, but a man who believes in accountability," Warren said, "and we need a little accountability coming out of Washington right now."
"An unspoken but obvious theme of the rally was support for Platner by Maine women," reported the Maine Beacon, a progressive outlet. "All of the speakers were women, as were the front row of audience members standing behind Platner and Warren on stage. Warren is currently the second-most well-known and popular female politician in the country."
Yet by June, Warren was apparently worried. A week before the primary, she and other supporters in the Senate, in a private meeting, demanded assurances that no other scandals would come out to humiliate them. Warren seemed to know something and addressed it specifically. "Platner, in response to a question from Massachusetts's Elizabeth Warren, denied more serious allegations, like sexual assault, would surface," according to one report.
On Tuesday, when it was no longer possible to continue koshering Graham Platner without jeopardizing her reputation as a standard-bearer for the progressive movement, Warren revoked her endorsement, saying that "there can be no tolerance for sexual assault." "With so much at stake," she said, Platner should step aside. "Now more than ever, we need leaders in Washington who reflect our values. Working families are counting on Democrats to win the Senate election in Maine to unrig our economy and hold Donald Trump accountable."
John Stoehr
But if there's so much at stake, why did Warren risk her reputation in the face of mounting evidence of Platner's dirtbagism? If we need leaders "who reflect our values," in order to fight for "working families" who have been victimized by the rich and powerful, why did she take the side of a man who pretended he didn't know – for nearly 20 years – that his Totenkopf was a Totenkopf? More importantly, as "the second-most well-known and popular female politician in the country" who believes democracy means a commitment to gender equality, why did Warren kosher Platner knowing about the explicitly gendered trouble he was in?
I think there's a case to be made that Elizabeth Warren actually believes that the American people are progressive by nature, and that they are waiting for and are willing to support strong leaders who will deliver progressive policies in their name. From that point of view, what she did for Platner she did for the right reasons, however bad the outcome may be.
I think that argument is somewhat naive. Warren is a politician. She pursued an objective and the effort blew up in her face. Envisioning Platner as a colleague who owed her a favor, she saw a chance to build a fifth column from within the party that would seize power. (Chuck Schumer should go to pasture, but that's beside the point.) That objective was so attractive that she traded her values in pursuit of it. If Platner wasn't so radioactive, all would be well. But as it is, Warren is now scrambling to rehab her standing among progressives, especially women, and she's probably hoping no one holds her to her own words about accountability.
