The Poll That Explains the Platner Debacle

A new poll from the Associated Press disclosing how far and how fast support for Israel has fallen among Democrats could explain the emergence of candidates for office like Graham Platner. His outsider bid to represent Maine in the Senate is teetering under an avalanche of sexual assault claims. It was turbocharged, though, by his hostility toward the Jewish state, which he accused of genocide. About half of Democrats, per the AP, agree with him.Mr. Platner’s hostility to Israel was a feature rather than a bug of his campaign It garnered him the support of Democratic grandees like Senators Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. All of these solons supported Mr. Platner despite his having, say, a Nazi SS insignia, the Totenkopf, or “Death Head,” tattooed on his chest. Their support did not waver even after his praise of Hamas came to light, among other unsavory commentary.That the Totenkopf, the meaning of which Mr. Platner pleaded ignorance — unconvincingly, in our view — failed to disqualify him shows just how far the Overton Window has shifted among the party that has been for decades the political home of the majority of American Jews. Now, according to the AP, the story is one of “dramatic erosion.” Nearly six in ten Democrats reckon that America is too supportive of the Jewish state.So alarming is the speed of this shift that Congresswoman Rebecca Balint — a Jewish Democrat who accuses Israel of genocide and is an acolyte of Mr. Sanders — tells CNN that “I know at some point there will be a day of reckoning, because I still believe that Jews should have a homeland.” Adds she: “There will be people, I think some of my own supporters, who will turn on me.” Her sin is that she does “not believe Israel should be dismantled.” A Michigan lawmaker, Noah Arbit, tells CNN that “after I leave office, I’m not sure I’ll ever call myself a Democrat again. I don’t know how Jews can feel like you can align yourself with any political movement when the grassroots are so hostile to who you are.” He reports that his party, which could nominate an anti-Israel candidate for Senate in Michigan, is witnessing the “unmasking of American antisemitism under the guise of criticism of Israel.”Which brings us back to Mr. Platner, who is part of the wave of politicians — along with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s cadre of congressional candidates — channeling the Democrats’ rage at Israel to electoral wins. In May, the Times’s Michelle Goldberg praised Mr. Platner as “militantly anti-fascist” and asserted that his hatred of Israel had “nothing to do with its Jewish character.” It was “easy” for her to believe him about the tattoo.Now Ms. Goldberg — and the rest of Mr. Platner’s erstwhile supporters — are singing a different tune. That Mr. Platner got so much run, though — even after reports of sexual malfeasance came to light last month — speaks to the grace Democrats extend to candidates in sync with its base’s rage in respect of Gaza. Opposition to Israel is becoming a Democratic litmus test that if passed permits patience for nearly any other peccadillo.

The Poll That Explains the Platner Debacle

The Poll That Explains the Platner Debacle

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