One of Graham Platner’s high school yearbooks shows him babyfaced with a buzzcut, holding a sign proclaiming, in part: “Free Palestine.” The image is accompanied by a superlative his classmates bestowed upon him: “Most Likely To Start A Revolution.”
“Well see!” Platner wrote on X Thursday, posting a photo of the yearbook page, in a post that’s been viewed 4.5m times. Now bearded, burly and tattooed, with a sweep of dirty blond hair above a sunburnt face, Platner still believes in a free Palestine. He also thinks it’ll take something revolutionary to save the US, so earlier this week, when the oysterman announced his candidacy to be the next US senator from Maine, he pulled no punches.
“I did four infantry tours in the Marine Corps and the army. I’m not afraid to name an enemy, and the enemy is the oligarchy. It’s the billionaires who pay for it, the politicians who sell us out,” he said in a campaign launch video, showing him chopping wood and at the helm of a small fishing boat.
“And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins. I’m not fooled by this fake charade of Collins’ deliberations and moderation.”
This is refreshing. I wish him luck.
Hell yeah! We need people who believe in progress at their core, not just when they start running for office.
Truth is, nearly everyone is a progressive at this point. People just don’t realize that fact. That’s it
Honestly, if I believe you will go hard against fascism, you pretty much have my vote regardless of your position on a lot of other issues. That’s unfortunately how bad this problem has become.
I am really excited to see how my less progressive fellow Mainers respond to this guy. He has the look, the gruff voice, I bet he drives a truck, lots of things the hordes of fragile men in this state need to feel legitimate as a man. And his competition is your nasty mother in law that only wins because ®. Basically I think he could be another Jared Golden but not a (not so) secret asshole.
We need more of this!
