Sorry guys, I do think this is a case of “The most terrible person you know just made a great point”, re: NYTimes timing of oppo research releases. Having serious accusations of rape in his past isn’t just an ethical black mark among a whole closet of other black marks we’ve already decided to look past, it could also mean he gets charged with rape while in office. And if it’s actually credible, you know for sure that they’ll indict him. Even ignoring the simple fact that we shouldn’t have rapists in government, Platner’s goose is completely cooked at this point in terms of the large pile of personal issues. Who knows, maybe he doesn’t drop out and Maine votes him in anyway and he ends up being a fantastic rep while in office. But he also still has time to swap with another equally-progressive candidate. A true leftist coalition has all types of people in it, but a true leftist coalition also needs to be honest with itself about sexual violence. We’ve racked up so many Ws this summer, I think we can bare one L if it means keeping a hard stance against sexual violence. This is for better or worse the exact sort of thing a democratic process is meant to filter for.