I wanted to open this piece by drawing a parallel between Graham Platner and someone from my personal life. I thought of an acquaintance I knew who once had an abusive, manipulative, serially adulterous boyfriend, but that didn’t quite fit. I thought of another acquaintance born into immense family wealth who oozes charisma but just can’t seem to get their scattered life together. That didn’t quite fit either. I even considered a high school burnout from my youth, who joined the military and remained rough around the edges after. The reality is that Graham Platner is like a composite character of some of the most frustrating people I’ve ever encountered, all mixed into one singular disaster. I couldn’t hone in on any one example to properly make the point. Much ink has been spilled about Mr. Platner, and I myself had about five different columns from every different angle I considered writing about him. But I think the thing that stands out to me the most is how the fail-son liberal class tried to pawn him off as an everyman. Democrats claimed we all know a Graham Platner. They’re exactly right, actually. There are just two problems. The first is that nobody likes Graham Platner. We all loathe the sh*tty excuse for a man that our female friend or sister or daughter dates. The one that we can all spot from a mile away, who lies as easily as he speaks, who you know ends in disaster but somehow has the charm to prolong the trainwreck as long as possible. We’re all annoyed by that friend who may be good at heart but is a serial bullsh*tter, always with some new scheme they’re working on or hustle that’s going to change the world, but never has the follow-through to do anything with their life. It’s especially annoying if that person doesn’t have to succeed because they’ve got dad’s money to fall back on. We’re all uncomfortable around that edgelord friend who takes every joke too far, who can’t speak like a normal person around women, who still makes quips at age 33 that the rest of us left in the middle school bathroom. By a certain age, he becomes less of a friend and more of a nuisance. Nobody likes this guy, including the Democrats who endlessly excused Graham Platner’s behavior and pretended they do. That leads us to their second mistake: they pretended they liked this guy because they think you like this guy. The Ro Khannas and Morris Katzs of the world are not regular, everyday Americans, and have limited contact with them. In their warped head, they think Graham Platner is the everyman. He’s a vulgar brute, just like the middle-American truck driver. He treats women badly? Well so do all those religious husbands down south Democrats need to try to win over, don’t they? Oyster farming? The fellas down at the John Deere dealership will love this guy! Being so out of touch with reality is what allowed the elite liberal class to make this second mistake. While normal people saw immediately what Graham Platner is, his backers projected all of his flaws onto their fellow Americans. “He was in the military! Of course he jokes about veterans deserving to die and has a few screws loose!” “He isn’t a career politician! Of course his entire digital footprint is filled with heinous comments!” “He’s working class! Of course he does a little rape and woman-shaking!” I’ve known plenty of military veterans. Most of my family is what you would call the “rural working class.” I’ve got friends from back home who aren’t involved in politics. Newsflash: none of them behave the way Graham Platner does. That progressive elites think they do exposes a deep contempt in their souls. And just as an aside, I don’t think any of those people I know, despite being much better humans than Graham Platner, belong in the United States Senate. The body that was once home to our most impressive intellectuals and statesmen is not where broken people go to heal on their journey to find themselves, as Democrats tried to argue with the absurd Platner redemption-arc storyline. Take that nonsense to your priest or your therapist. The Platdenburg’s mid-air implosion was entirely foreseeable months ago, but somehow Democrats’ elite class fell into a trance of their own making. Despite the death rattle we are currently witnessing in Maine, his time is over. It remains to be seen if there will be any course correction from the menaces who tried to foist him upon our body politic.