Character does matter

by Regular Joseph , Wednesday, June 03, 2026, 20:28 (7 days ago) @ Flann

I agree with what you're saying and I think there a lot between the lines.

If there were a candidate for Senate somewhere that had built the grassroots popularity of Platner without the baggage of entitlement, machismo and racism (like maybe James Talarico) I would love to support him instead.

I think looking at Platner vs. Talarico offers some insight. They're both voices I'm excited to support for similar and different reasons.

Platner is blunter. He's direct in his criticism of Israel. He's direct in his criticism of billionaires and the concentration of money and power that disadvantages 99% of people. I'm not spending all day listening to his stuff, but he's willing to take stances that remain unorthodox for the leadership of the major parties and make consistent, clear, popular arguments for them. That's really appealing.

Does that "authenticity" of having his own opinions go along with some type of self-centeredness that would make him more likely to be a racist or flirt with women not his wife? I can see how it might.

Talarico appears to be of extremely high character and I love that about him, but his careful political positioning give me less confidence he's going to push for a ton of change. It is also possible his careful clean image will holding back his electability. Will it hurt his electability because he's not the "real American man" who is racist in private or is it just because people suspect someone who uses words carefully is less trustworthy. Probably a little bit of both.

I can't really get behind all the hand-wringing about Platner because he's got political opinions and arguments I wish a lot more politicians were making. If he can win saying the important stuff, I think that's good. If he can win saying that stuff despite having a lot of skeletons, maybe it means those arguments are just really popular.

Still I kind of appreciate the criticism from within the party because I think it does remind us that he's a flawed guy who is just a vehicle for the political arguments and not a hero. Having character is of its own value in politics, and I think it makes the party stronger to maintain our concern about character standards.

At the end of the day, if Platner gains popularity a la Trump for having been, at times, a racist and a misogynist, but he actually apologizes for it and tries to get better, then I think we can maintain a sufficient standard of behavior in our representatives.