(RNS) — “I cannot donate to a candidate with a Nazi tattoo.”
That was my response to a Democratic fundraising email beseeching me that my funds were the best hope to change the composition of the Senate come November. Graham Platner would never gain my support — financially, as I don’t live in Maine — particularly after his claim that he did not know what the symbol inked permanently on his chest meant (a claim a former acquaintance said was false).
I find it even more disqualifying that a person would be so ignorant as to mark himself permanently with a symbol that celebrates death in a way that did not mean anything to him or he did not fully comprehend.
It did not seem like a complicated choice to me. No matter what fantastic agendas a candidate might promote, as someone whose family has faced violent white supremacy in a Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, I would never want to grant power to someone who harnessed the values of Nazism to his flesh.
Platner is now finally facing universal calls from Democrats for him to drop out of the race, as a woman came forward this week and accused him of rape — an allegation he denies. But it shouldn’t have taken that. Platner’s wife had already alerted his campaign that he was sending sexually suggestive messages to other women, and news outlets reported on his “intimidating and disturbing” behavior toward women he dated in the past. Too many people averted their eyes because, as one former classmate of his wrote in the Maine Monitor: “This race has become perhaps the country’s clearest referendum on how Democrats should be responding to Trumpism.”
Ironically, now if he were to defeat Republican incumbent Susan Collins for the Senate seat, another person accused of rape would replace the woman who provided a decisive vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court seat — another man accused of sexual assault, and nominated by a president who was found liable of sexual abuse by a jury. In fact, just today (July 8), President Donald Trump was ordered to promptly pay $5 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, his accuser, after his last-minute attempts to change the outcome of the case.
If we want leaders we can trust — not ones busy enriching themselves and their families to the tune of over a billion dollars in a mere 18 months, while creating inflation they don’t care about since they are insulated from the problems they foment — we need different criteria for selecting them. Which brings me back to the Nazi tattoo.
The Totenkopf is a skull/crossbones symbol historically used by Hitler’s SS police. Promoting such a symbol that espouses the murder of Jews, those differently abled, homosexuals and others is beyond dishonorable. And I fail to comprehend why any politicians — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders come to mind — or columnists (Michelle Goldberg, among others) needed to sacrifice their values to justify a candidate.
Whether Platner knew that his tattoo is a Nazi symbol, or just thought “Totenkopf” was the German word for “skull,” as my German-speaking friend, Tobias, explained to me, is not relevant to me. Sources told CNN and Jewish Insider that Platner had called it a Totenkopf. An adviser to his campaign who resigned, Genevieve McDonald, also said that Platner was a military history buff and was well-aware of the meaning of the symbol. He also posted on a Reddit group about the tattoo, according to news reports.
I blame those who purportedly vetted the candidate to begin with, like Daniel Moraff and Morris Katz. They and the progressive political organizations they represent were so desperate for a win that they were willing to ignore Platner’s obvious and egregious character flaws.
But nothing about Platner’s biography appears fully true. Despite portraying himself as working class, he went to a boarding school for a year, and then a school in Maine that he had to pay tuition to attend, according to news reports. He claimed the high school in his town was not accredited, leading him to pay tuition elsewhere, but his hometown school always had accreditation, according to the June reporting in the Maine Monitor. He is actually an oyster farmer, but his only client appears to be the high-end restaurant his mother owns. And his father bought his house for him. This is not exactly the resume of a self-reliant business person.
Why is this guy still in the race? The Maine Bangor Daily News compiled a timeline of scandals around him. Will the woman accusing him of rape be enough? Why didn’t the Nazi tattoo oust him from the race?
It is disheartening that the focus so often now in American politics is not on issues, but on the candidate’s persona. Yes, it’s nice to think about having a beer with a politician we can chat with, but I would rather ensure the candidate knows how to think about governing and evaluating information to make decisions. And, if they are not qualified on a particular issue, that they surround themselves with (and retain) a staff who is able to do the work necessary to enable all of us to flourish.
The Talmud points the way toward better candidates. The sages state that “Any Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside (whose outward expression of righteousness is insincere), is not to be considered a Torah scholar,” (Yoma 72b). If we extrapolate this from a Torah scholar, seen as a leader in the rabbinic world, to a politician seeking to lead ours, it is a pretty good standard. Don’t we want someone who is trustworthy — not just who might be able to win?
Perhaps the guideline in the book of Samuel for selecting David as king is clearer: “A man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”(I Samuel 16: 7). Choosing someone who looks and seems like a leader, without qualifications for the job, has been a problem, too.
Currently in this country, people who should be given asylum here are being deported, gun laws are being weakened, inflation is rampant, the earth is warming, higher education is being gutted and research stopped and vaccines are being questioned despite their widespread effectiveness. We need leaders who will get us back to sanity.
We need politicians who can perform the feat that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of in 1968, referring to historian and activist W.E.B. Du Bois, that “the supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.”
I hope that Democrats can field a candidate who can win in Maine — but one with qualifications, a vision and without a Nazi tattoo.
(Beth Kissileff is co-editor of “Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy.” The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)
