HOW IT STARTED: Rivals Attack Dean for Wooing ‘Guys With Confederate Flags.’
Howard Dean’s rivals for the Democratic nomination roundly attacked him on Saturday for telling an Iowa newspaper he wanted ”to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks” in defending his opposition to some gun control legislation.
—The New York Times, November 2nd, 2003.
—The Atlantic, today.
Platner has received extensive criticism for the revelations. The podcaster and writer Wajahat Ali wrote, “It’s time to drop Platner.” The Wall Street Journal published an editorial with the headline, “Oops, I’ve Had a Nazi Tattoo for 18 Years.” Zach Schwartz, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, denounced Platner’s tattoo, along with his refusal to take donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which Schwartz said “plays into familiar, harmful tropes that Jews or organizations like AIPAC control the government.” Jordan Wood, another candidate in the Maine race, said, “Graham Platner’s Reddit comments and Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo are disqualifying and not who we are as Mainers or as Democrats.” Republican incumbent Susan Collins, said last week that she was “appalled” by what he had written online. “These were not comments that he made when he was in high school,” she said. “These are comments that he has made quite recently.”
But for now, at least, the Democratic party is not calling on Platner to step down. Ken Martin, the head of the DNC, said that Platner’s online comments were “hurtful” but not “disqualifying,” and that the choice is up to primary voters. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who is neutral in the race, said, “Everyone has a right to grow and grow out of their stupidity.” Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said, “Graham has made a lot of mistakes in his life. He’s had a very long journey to the place where he is today, but he’s owned those mistakes, owned up to them, and he’s evolved.” Khanna called the tattoo “horrendous,” but said: “Do we want our political governing class to be like the classmates I had at Yale Law School, some of them who dreamed of being president of the United States from the age of twelve?” He continued, “Or do we want normal people also having a chance at these offices?”
Wait, do Democrats actually believe that “normal people” get Nazi skull tattoos? Has Mitchell and Webb’s viral “Are we the baddies?” sketch not crossed over to the other side of the aisle, yet?
I would assume choosing to run for the Senate isn’t a spur of the moment decision; it’s something carefully appraised and planned before the initial public announcement is made. “Readers, I just want you to ask yourself, if you realized you had accidentally gotten a tattoo that was the symbol of the Nazi SS… how many speed limit laws would you break on the way to the tattoo removal service, and/or a tattoo artist to cover it up? How long would you want a mark of the Nazis on your skin? Would getting that tattoo removed be something you’d jot on your to-do list, and get around to doing at your leisure? Or would it be something you’d want to take care of immediately? You know, when you’re running for a U.S. Senate seat?”