John M. Crisp: Let's bring character back into our politics. You first

John M. Crisp, Tribune News Service on Jun 17, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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The air is thick with schadenfreude in the wake of Graham Platner’s impressive victory in the Democratic primary for U.S. senator from Maine.

Columnist Bret Stephens, writing in The New York Times just before the election, said that Maine Democrats who choose Platner while continuing to object to President Donald Trump’s putative moral failings and character flaws are accepting, at best, a double standard or even “outright hypocrisy.”

Brett Kavanaugh’s name comes up often, as well. Stephens and others criticize Democrats who made a big deal out of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court in light of his alleged misbehavior as a teenager and college student, while appearing to be unconcerned about the allegations against Platner.

Stephens said that Democrats could choose integrity and embrace the standard that “no election is so important that they’re willing to discard the things they once fervently claimed to believe in order to win it.” He suggested that Democrats vote for Janet Mills, the incumbent governor who was still on the ballot, even though she had suspended her campaign weeks earlier and would almost certainly lose to Sen. Susan Collins in November.

In fairness, even though Stephens is a genuine conservative, he’s not shy about expressing his objections to Trump’s character flaws. But he argues that if Maine Democrats choose Platner—which they did with 72 percent of the vote—then “the differences between him and Donald Trump are mainly of degree, not kind.”

Maine Democrats face a tough choice in November: Do they choose Platner, who is burdened by a raft of unseemly allegations? Or do they choose Collins, a long-time incumbent running for her fifth term?

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure how I would vote if I were a Mainer.

On one hand, the allegations against Platner—the Totenkopf tattoo, the reports of his treatment of women, the recent sexting—immediately raise the question: Can’t we do better than this?

On the other hand, the difference between Platner and Trump may be a matter of degree rather than kind, but degree does make a difference.

I have no interest in mounting a defense of Platner, but it’s worth noting that much of the defense he makes for himself is, at least, feasible, while Trump has bragged openly about sexually assaulting women and actually been found civilly liable for sexual abuse.

Further, Platner would be one senator among 100, while Trump is a president who—so Democrats, and some Republicans, believe—represents a genuine threat to American democracy if he continues to be unconstrained by a compliant legislature.

Who is more likely to stand up to Trump? Platner, with his sketchy character allegations? Or Collins, who has occasionally shown signs of spine and independence, but who generally, in the end, enables Trump?

What a dilemma!

Texas, my home state, has the opposite problem: In May, Republicans kicked out John Cornyn in favor of Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, who has been indicted for several securities felonies and was impeached by his own party for obstruction of justice, bribery, misuse of office and retaliation, among other things. In July 2025, his wife divorced him “on biblical grounds,” alleging adultery.

His opponent is James Talarico, a former school teacher, current seminary student and state legislator who isn’t shy about expressing his commitment to Christianity. In fact, his character appears to be so unassailable that Republicans have had to reach to the bottom of the allegation barrel to accuse him of being transgender, low-testosterone and, worst of all in meat-loving Texas, a vegan! (None of these allegations appear to be true.)

Maine, let’s make a deal. Maine Democrats, vote for Susan Collins. You can thereby make a stand for character and elect a senator who has given indications that she might resist Trump if he goes too far—and he will.

Texas Republicans, vote for James Talarico, whose character is unquestioned. Ken Paxton will only embarrass you, and Texas, in the Senate.

What do you think, Republicans? Are you ready to restore character in American politics? You go first.

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