The Democratic Party, including even its progressive left wing in recent years, has become fixated on recruiting hypermasculine candidates—particularly military veterans—to counter Republican narratives portraying Democrats as effete coastal elites. This strategy aims to project strength, patriotism, and relatability to working-class and swing voters. A stark illustration of the risks of this strategy emerged with Graham Platner, a Marine Corps and Army veteran, oyster farmer, and progressive-backed candidate who won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary with 72% of the vote. Platner, who emphasized his combat tours and working-class background, suspended his campaign in July 2026 after facing sexual assault allegations.
Breaking: Soldiers Can Be Violent
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The TMI Show" talk show. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
3 Comments. Leave new
It appears the DNC is channeling the turn-of-the-century Bush II administration’s, necessarily almost continuous, response to the outcomes of its proud and aggressive stupidity: “Who EVER could have imagined THAT??!!??”
Note: more and more of the Dem candidates who manage to make it to the general election are ALSO former CIA, so they can effectively hide the kind of stage 4 peccadillos that have, e.g., disrupted the male AOC-like media darling, Graham Platner.
Why does so much of culture in America want hyper masculine, military action stars? Is it because of popular media like movies? Do we secretly like and want to be alpha males? Was the bully jock of the 80s losing status and that part of the population rallied and began voting? Was there a campaign of tactical military crap that swept through some marketing channel we didn’t realize was out there?
I fear that lefties are choosing hypermasculine military action stars out of the belief that they will be more electable in a general election. To get out of this cycle may require having ranked-choice voting of all candidates in a single general election — that way we can vote for our favorite rather then guessing at “electable”; if our favorite doesn’t make it then our vote shifts to another candidate and isn’t wasted.