JONATHAN TURLEY: Democrats ditched their morals for Maine.Graham Platner left them empty-handed

This week, Democrats are fighting to keepMaineafter shedding their morals.

The controversy in Maine over Democratic Senate nomineeGraham Platnerwas a modern remake of the scene from “A Man for All Seasons.” That’s the scene in which Sir Thomas More confronts Richard Rich, a former protege who lied in court to secure his conviction in exchange for being named attorney general for Wales.As Rich passes by, More asks: “For Wales?Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world… but for Wales!”

For Democrats, they might not even have Wales to show for their “profit.”

DEMOCRATS ARE ‘COMPLETELY STAINED’ AFTER BACKING PLATNER THROUGH MULTIPLE SCANDALS, REPUBLICANS CHARGE

Platner withdrew from the race Wednesday night.Even with that decision, Democratic politicians will be wearing the mark of Platner for the rest of their careers after dismissing earlier allegations in their quest to take backpower in Congress.

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Of course, Platner’s withdrawal from the Senate race could well prove to be an upgrade.After all, it is hard not to improve on an allegedly Nazi-tattooed, Hamas-praising, veteran-bashing, sex-texting, communism-embracing accused rapist.However, politicians such as Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen.Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen.Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Rep.Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and others will long wallow in a post-Platner party.

These Democrats led the mobagainst now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in September 2018, insisting that women had to be believed.Whitehouse said he was “not impressed” by the allegations from multiple women as reported by the New York Times, calling them “a lot of nothing.” He also reminded voters that one of the alleged victims is a Republican.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

Warren was equally undeterred, bouncing on the stage with Platner while proclaiming that he was “my kind of man.” It did not matter that he was accused of rape and other abuse.Platner would likely have helped deliver a major committee chair assignment for Warren if Democrats retook power in the Senate.

As with disgraced Democrat former California Rep.Eric Swalwell, the establishment moved to destroy Platner only after some polls began to show him slipping with voters and unlikely to beat Republican Sen.Susan Collins.Suddenly, the same pattern emerged as in the Swalwell episode.

Former U.S.Rep.Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.(Getty Images)

CNN and The Washington Post suddenly ran stories aboutnew allegationsjust days before the deadline for Platner to voluntarily withdraw.The same candidates and media that downplayed the allegations of abuse earlier in the Platner campaign suddenly became a convention of “Casablanca” Claude Rains types, claiming to be “shocked, shocked” that another woman, who had previously spoken with the New York Times, was now sharing deeply concerning allegations.

DAN BONGINO SAYS DEMOCRATS DUMPED GRAHAM PLATNER OVER ‘POWER’ NOT ‘PRINCIPLE’ AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION

For Whitehouse, the woman had the benefit of being liberal, since apparently the alleged encounters previously detailed by the New York Times, including an accusation by one woman who was a Republican, seemed like “a lot of nothing.”

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg at least acknowledged her role in the early press push for Platner while calling for his withdrawal.Gone now is her gushing account in The New York Times of how he proved “nothing like the edgelord caricature I encountered online.” At the time she added, “Onstage, Platner is magnetic.Like Obama, he seems to promise a politics that is fundamentally progressive while going beyond debased partisan sniping.He shows his audience the respect of at least seeming to level with them.”

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Graham Platner, Democratic Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Maine Democratic Party has announced that it will choosePlatner’s replacement.After an anti-establishment primary in which Platner won by more than 70% and crushed the sitting governor in fundraising, the Democratic Party announced, “We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S.Senate.”

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PLANTER CALLS IT QUITS, DROPS SENATE BID AMID MOUNTING SCANDALS

For many, it sounds like aKamala Harris2024 redux by the Democratic establishment, though in this case about 600 selected people will hold an ad hoc “convention.” The rhetoric could backfire.

The irony is that these politicians are drawing distinctions that would have been unthinkable just months ago.Ro Khanna insisted, after withdrawing his support and after previously appearing at a rally for Platner, “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line.”

Graham Platner and Rep.Ro Khanna(Getty Images)

The problem is that women had previously accused him of such violence, but Khanna endorsed him anyway.For Democratic politicians, the bar kept rising for women who came forward, until an alleged rape involving a liberal woman finally became the red line.

The actual red line appeared to be polling that showedshifting support for Platnerand concerns that he could not deliver his side of the Faustian bargain.He could not deliver Maine.Suddenly, again, women had to be believed, and the party had to choose his replacement.

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The greatest irony would be if Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who attracted national attention in 2024 by pushing an unconstitutional effort to block Trump from the state’s presidential ballot (the move was later overturned by the Supreme Court), emerged as the new Democratic Senate candidate.Her disregard for constitutional values would be highly appealing to many in the party who want to take over the Supreme Court by packing it with an instant liberal majority.

Bellows previously campaigned on her unconstitutional actions as the ultimate “win by any means” Democrat.After being roundly defeated this year in a run for governor, garnering just over 20% of the vote in the June primary, she could now compete in the general election as a Senate candidate without having run a true primary campaign.

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It is all part of achieving real power.Just ask Richard Rich.Of course, it may profit these politicians nothing to give their souls for the whole world, but they may not even get Maine in the bargain.

  

He is the author of the new book “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution” (Simon &Schuster, Feb 3, 2026), on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

He is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal history to the Supreme Court.He has written over three dozen academic articles that have appeared in a variety of leading law journals.

Professor Turley also served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, former cabinet members, judges, members of Congress, and a wide range of other clients.

Professor Turley testified more than 50 times before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues, including the Senate confirmation hearings of cabinet members and jurists such as Justice Neil Gorsuch.He also appeared as an expert witness in both the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

Professor Turley received his B.A.at the University of Chicago and his J.D.at Northwestern.In 2008, he was given an honorary Doctorate of Law from John Marshall Law School for his contributions to civil liberties and the public interest.