The Graham Platner Dilemma

**Abby Livingston** (0:01)
What is coming from the Republicans is going to be the kitchen sink on a level that, you know, he's got to get prepared for, because this is just the beginning.

**Peter Hamby** (0:14)
Welcome to The Powers That Be Daily, Puck's podcast focused on the intersection of Wall Street, Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood, and the players who run it all. I'm Peter Hamby.
It's Friday, June 5th. Today, I'm joined by Abby Livingston to talk about Graham Platner, who isn't just running for Senate. He's running from his messy past. Platner has become a progressive folk hero running as a blue-collar outsider against Republican Susan Collins. But seemingly, with each passing week, he finds himself explaining some new scandal from his past about his drinking, his behavior with women, inflammatory Reddit posts, and yes, that Nazi tattoo. Democrats are putting their faith in Platner to capture a must-win Senate seat. But is it becoming harder to trust him? Abby and I dig in to the questions, and we explain why that Senate race matters so much. Because if they lose Maine, Democrats are going to have to steal wins in red states like Texas, Ohio, Alaska, and Iowa to take back control of the Senate in November.
We'll discuss all that and much more on today's episode of The Powers That Be.
This episode is brought to you by Universal International Studios, presenting the critically acclaimed series All Her Fall, for your Emmy consideration. Sarah Snook stars in the Peacock Original Limited Series, where a seemingly perfect family's world is shattered when their young son goes missing. NPR calls the series a gripping thriller with exceptional performances, and Collider praises Dakota Fanning and Sarah Snook, calling them incredibly charismatic on screen together, and both delivering powerful performances. All Her Fault is streaming now only on Peacock.
This podcast is brought to you by The Madison from Paramount Plus and executive producer Taylor Sheridan. Michelle Pfeiffer shines in this epic drama about resilience, transformation, and the family ties that bind. Variety proclaims Michelle Pfeiffer gives a powerhouse performance and a show rogerebert.com touts as gripping. Emmy eligible in all categories including drama series. Michelle Pfeiffer, outstanding lead actress, Kurt Russell, outstanding supporting actor, and Will Arnett, outstanding guest actor. All episodes available for Emmy voters at www.paramountfyc.com.
Happy Friday everybody and welcome to The Powers That Be. I'm joined today by my colleague Abby Livingston to talk not just about politics, but the biggest story in politics this week. Graham Platner, the progressive Democrat running for Senate in Maine, drowning in scandal, but still narrowly leading in the polls in his race against Susan Collins in November. But first, he's got to win a primary on Tuesday. He only has token opposition, but there is a drumbeat of negative stories about his past, his treatment of women, including a new story that dropped on Thursday about women, three women specifically that the Times spent months talking to, describing unsettling behavior on Platner's part in the past when they were dating, drinking heavily. He cheated. One woman, we should say a Republican operative now, said that Platner at one point grabbed her arm and shoved her against a wall. Platner also apparently said, flip things about rape. The campaign did not deny that he said those things. That's a notable part of the story as well. Look, there are probably some more stories to come. There are rumors, I will say, that I have heard that there are more stories that reporters are chasing, and it's only June. Of course more stories will come, but this is also Graham Platner, who has said there are no more stories to come, and then stories keep coming out. We're gonna place the Maine Senate race, though, and why everyone cares about the Platner race so much in the context of the larger Senate map, and why this race matters so much for Democrats. Because if they don't win Maine, then they have to go somewhere else and pick up a very hard seat in a state that Trump won by a lot, somewhere like Iowa, Ohio, Alaska, and Abby's favorite state, her native state, Texas, which we're going to talk about. But first, Abby, this Platner story, man, this just will not go away. Abby, both of us heard the rumors this week. They were flying around that The New York Times was chasing a story. You know, some, I, multiple Democrats text me on Wednesday throughout the day saying, the story's coming, the story's coming. Multiple people said the story was going to be about sexual assault or domestic violence or something like that, I should say. I'm pulling back the curtain here. Those rumors have been flying around but not confirmed. So people were waiting to see what was next with Platner. This didn't have those accusations in there, to be clear. But the Times spent months talking to these women. The campaign was trying to muscle the Times away from running this story.