HUGH HEWITT: California Democrats dump Porter, but Maine’s Platner gets by now

Former Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter called out Tuesday’s “primary jungle” in the California governor’s race, which will continue in November. Right now, it looks like Steve Hilton vs. Xavier Becerra will face each other in the general election, although that will not be confirmed for many days – but we know that Porter will not be in the final. He stepped down from his position as the first runner-up and favorite of the developing players last year after questions arose about his behavior and did not leave.

When ABC News ran headlines like this one last month, readers knew her campaign was over: “Katie Porter battles attitude questions as only woman in crowded California race.

Experts are mixed on whether he should have talked about the outbreak.”

Porter is not the only casualty among former members of Congress who have been weighing the drapes of their offices in Sacramento for the past few months.

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PBS correspondent Lisa Desjardins reported on former Congressman Eric Swalwell after his ouster and exit, not just from the race, but from public life:

“Rumors have been circulating on social media for the past few days, but since Friday and over the weekend, we’ve seen first reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and then CNN, the bombshell, the allegations against Congressman Swalwell.

CNN said four women accused Swalwell of misconduct. Most were unknown. Another was named. Now, those charges range from unsolicited graphic messages or nude photos, to unwanted touching, to another count of rape.”

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So Porter and Swalwell both fell out of favor among Democrats when their personal ethics problems frustrated progressives’ approval of their far-left policy positions.

That hasn’t happened to Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner — yet. With the northern primary on Tuesday, June 9, it’s too late for Democrats to trade Platner for someone more palatable. Gov. Janet Mills has temporarily suspended her campaign, but her name is still listed as David Costello, but Democrats stand proudly behind a candidate with a Nazi tattoo problem and a list of scandals that continue to grow.

This drama must have made at least Porter wonder about the average left-handed double. He was angry with the workers and had a shoulder to the California Democrats, who quickly turned to Xavier Becerra or Tom Steyer. On voting day in California, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer held a brief press conference in which he filled in former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s “We’re on our way to Cincinnati” twelve years ago.

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On Tuesday, Schumer was pressed by reporters about his support for Platner after a flurry of shocking headlines about Platner’s tumultuous campaign.

“I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” was Schumer’s response to Platner’s first question. More questions about Platner followed. Schumer has repeatedly refused to beat Collins and retake the Senate four times and, frustrated by reporters following Platner after each deviation, Schumer ended the press conference – but not the questions.

Why did the Democrats stand behind Platner while condemning Porter and Swalwell?

WARREN HAS ‘MY KIND OF PERSON’ PRAISE FOR PLAYER AFTER TIME WISHES KITCHES TO DEATH INJURED.

We can’t compare apples to apples just yet, as details about Platner’s many questionable decisions are coming out in a frenzy, and there’s more to come.

But any serious observer must conclude that Porter’s problems pale next to Platner’s.

And while Platner crossed the SS sign and much more, Swalwell is believed to have crossed the name “Fang Fang” – Christine Fang, a Chinese spy called a spy – but remember that the failure of the judgment did not interfere with the congressman’s ambitions. https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-poetic-justice-in-eric-swalwells-relationship-with-a-chinese-spy/

VIDEO STATEMENT FROM GRAHAM PLATNER’S WIFE RESPONDING TO CRITICS’ BREAKING ALLEGATIONS OF INFAILITY.

Swalwell seemed to have survived that critical episode and was sending “cease and desist” letters to the FBI while its director, Kash Patel, was reportedly working to release the “Fang Fang” files related to their relationship.

Swalwell was playing badly and leading in the polls – until he wasn’t.

Regardless of what drove Swalwell from Congress – the details of the accusations of four women against Swalwell are unknown – there is a standard somewhere where you have to measure many of Platner’s bad decisions: Very bad behavior in a very short time, and over the edge of your political ship you go.

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Democrats know this, of course, and their wavering support for Platner reflects the fact that the candidate is badly hurt. That’s why most Democrats won’t comment on Platner now and why Schumer is getting into his endless response.

The explanation for the Democrats’ 2026 double standard is simple: They have no plan to go back to Maine. They are over-committed. Gov. Mills announced his campaign suspension at the end of April. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined Plattner in March, joining Sens. Martin Heinrich, Ruben Gallego and Bernie Sanders at Plattner’s show, and Mills must have concluded that there was no fight on the far left of his party.

Some of Platner’s offensive Reddit photos have surfaced since Warren joined, but his attacks on fellow soldiers, living and dead, have not, and his disturbing texts have never been seen on women other than his wife.

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The drive to force Mills out was successful, but when Platner’s peccadillos mounted in May, there was no one to turn to. California Democrats have had a long list of candidates to replace Porter and Swalwell. That was not the case in Maine. If Democrats give up Platner, they give up their chance to pick up four Senate seats and flip Schumer’s title from minority leader back to majority leader next year.

“Cost overruns” have crippled many in business and life decisions, and are plaguing politics. Sunk costs are costs or investments that have already been made and cannot be recovered. Rational decisions focus on future costs and benefits, not past costs. Overblown expenses can lead to emotional decisions in business and personal finances. And politics.

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Platner’s continued support will lead to more disappointments like Schumer’s on Tuesday. Every new story about Platner will see reporters swarming behind top Democrats for answers. Republicans have lived through this political crisis before and learned that there is nothing wrong with sticking with a campaigner whose campaign will not succeed, and about whom bad news may emerge.

We’ll have to wait and see what Katie Porter has to say about this double standard, if she says anything.

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show“Hear weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh calls Americans home on the East Coast and lunch on the West Coast to more than 400 embassies across the country, and on every broadcast platform where SNC can be seen. He is a regular guest on Fox News Channel on the Brett news program at 6 pm. Ohio and graduation from Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. of television, MSN has also written for MSN television writers and moderated Republican debate scores, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in 2015-16 Hewitt focuses his radio show and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians on and tens of thousands of Trump Republicans and Donald Bush’s 40 years in broadcasting.

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