The most recent controversy with Graham Platner (sending sexts to women when he had just gotten married) has me the most concerned of all of it. And I think the Graham Platner defenders and critics are missing something glaring.
To be honest, everything that came out before didn't give me a lot of pause. The reason this instance does freak me out is very simple.
Before I tell you the reason, I will tell you what it isn't.
The reason is not that he sent sexts while married, although I find it a bit pathetic.
The reason is not that I care about what (what's the phrase that gets used a lot?) "consenting adults" do.
It's definitely not his stated policy positions, or that his brain was apparently quite messed up after Iraq and Blackwater and he went off on screeds on Reddit.
It's that he is apparently willing to betray the person he says he cares about the most: his wife. And he's willing to do this very recently.
Graham Platner has put the person he supposedly cares about the most in a horrible position. Now I am left to wonder.
He says he cares (deeply) about taxing the rich. He says he cares (deeply) about the fact that there is no housing and banks are making off like bandits. He says he cares (deeply) about the negative effects of Christian Nationalism. Etcetera.
Honestly, he probably does care a lot about these things. He has also just proven that he lacks the wisdom, discipline and vision that would help him avoid putting the things he cares about in the path of serious harm for no good reason.
For these reasons, I don't believe this is just a "personal matter."
I believe I will still vote for him, but I don't think we want to become Graham Platner apologists. Almost everyone in office that I can think of has shown they are in need of a much higher degree of accountability than they are currently getting.