Graham Platner is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Maine, running to unseat Susan Collins. Platner has all the progressive bona fides I look for in a candidate. He speaks plainly and avoids cringeworthy political platitudes that I’ve heard from Democratic politicians for the past twenty years. His words sound less like talking points filtered through a Democratic Rube Goldberg machine and much more like the words of someone who’s had to live in a system run by an out-of-touch political class. He’s a Marine combat veteran, an oyster farmer, and a refreshingly honest, authentic human being.

Months ago, I wrote Platner off because I believed he had a Nazi tattoo problem and a documented history of troubling social media posts. At the time, I wasn’t convinced he was remorseful enough or willing to disavow these things to a satisfactory degree. Additionally, they were liabilities that Democratic primary opponents and the GOP could easily use to tank his campaign. In recent weeks, though, he’s grown on me. I’ve heard him speak about the tattoo, which he’s now covered up, as well as the social media posts. I take him at his word and believe he’s in the best position to send Susan Collins, who’s actually spent the better part of a decade enabling a fascist, aspiring autocrat. I’m left with two possibilities: Platner is genuinely sorry and has grown as a person, or he’s a secret Nazi who will reveal his true Nazi self once he’s elected and, to boot, evolve into Fetterman 2.0. Occam’s Razor (and basic common sense, really) compels me to adopt the former position.

Current polls are telling. He has a significant lead in the Democratic primary, which includes current Maine Governor Janet Mills. The general election polls are also encouraging, showing that he beats Collins by a comfortable margin, and he appears, at the moment, to have a better chance of beating Collins than Mills does.

Of course, November is eons away, which gives Platner plenty of time to implode or be buried by an establishment that is sure to escalate attacks on him. I’m optimistic he can weather the storm, though.

If you’d like to get a good sense of who Graham Platner is, there are a couple of interviews worth watching. Mehdi Hassan did a 30-minute interview with him, and Jon Stewart has him as a guest on his Weekly Show podcast. Both have helped me get better acquainted with Platner, and I now can see myself writing get-out-the-vote letters on his behalf as the general election nears.