On June 29, I wrote that I could not stay silent about Graham Platner. As a Democrat, I argued that character mattered more to me than a Senate majority, that a party willing to overlook it was choosing power over principle, and that Maine deserved better than a nominee whose fitness for office was in serious doubt.
A week later, Platner dropped out. Democratic delegates in Maine replaced him on the ballot. The system worked exactly as it was designed to work: an accusation was taken seriously, a party looked hard at itself, and it acted before Election Day made the right decision.
I did not write that piece because it was easy. I wrote it because if character is going to mean anything in our politics, it has to mean something even when the person under scrutiny is on your own side. I still believe that.
Which is why I cannot watch what is happening in Ohio and say nothing.