HUGH HEWITT: California Democrats dumped Porter, but Maine’s Platner gets a pass for now

Former Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter smoked during Tuesday’s “jungle primary” for the California governor’s race, whose runoff will be held in November. It currently looks like Steve Hilton will face Xavier Becerra in the general election, but that won’t be certain for days — but we do know Porter won’t be in the final. He fell from his position as the progressives’ front-runner and favorite last year when questions arose about his temperament and he never left.

Readers knew her campaign was over when ABC News published headlines like this one last month: “Katie Porter battles temperament questions as the only woman in crowded California gubernatorial race.

“Experts are confused about whether to bring up explosions that have gone viral.”

Porter wasn’t the only casualty among the former members of Congress who were measuring the curtains of their Sacramento offices just months ago.

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PBS congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins spoke about former Congressman Eric Swalwell’s collapse and exit not just from the race but from public life:

“Rumors have been rife on social media over the last few days, but starting Friday and over the weekend we saw bombshell news, first in The San Francisco Chronicle and then on CNN, with specific accusations against Congressman Swalwell.

Four women accused Swalwell of misconduct, CNN said. Most were anonymous. Someone was named. “These accusations now range from unwanted explicit messages or nude photos to unwanted touching and a rape charge.”

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Porter and Swalwell thus fell out of favor among Democrats when problems with their personal conduct stifled progressives’ endorsement of their far-left policy positions.

Nothing like this has yet happened to Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner in Maine. Since the northern primary was on Tuesday, June 9, it wasn’t until later in the day that Democrats replaced Platner with someone more acceptable. Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign, but her name is still on the ballot, as is David Costello; but Democrats proudly stand behind the troubled candidate with his Nazi tattoo and a growing list of scandals.

This drama must have left Porter at least struck by the extent of the left’s double standards. He lost his temper with employees and suffered the cold shoulder of far-left California Democrats; They immediately turned to either Xavier Becerra or Tom Steyer. On voting day in California, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer held a brief news conference, recounting former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s legendary “We’re going to Cincinnati” moment from a dozen years ago.

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On Tuesday, reporters pressed Schumer about his support for Platner in the wake of the latest dire headlines about Platner’s increasingly chaotic campaign.

Schumer responded to Platner’s first question by saying, “I spoke with Graham Platner today. We will defeat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” More questions about Platner followed. Schumer repeated his refrain about beating Collins and taking back the Senate four more times, and then Schumer, frustrated that reporters were following Platner after every detour, ended the press conference — but not the questions.

Why are Democrats standing behind Platner while abandoning Porter and Swalwell?

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We can’t compare apples to apples just yet, as the details of Platner’s many questionable decisions are torturously emerging, and there are surely more to come.

But a fair observer must conclude that Porter’s problems pale in comparison to Platner’s problems.

And while Platner fell in love with the SS symbol and more, Swalwell is believed to have fallen in love with “Fang Fang” (alleged Chinese spy Christine Fang), though note that the failure of resolution did not undermine the congressman’s ambitions. https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-poetic-justice-in-eric-swalwells-relationship-with-a-chinese-spy/

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Swalwell had apparently survived the tawdry affair, and was even sending “cease and desist” letters to the FBI when it was reported that her manager, Kash Patel, was trying to release the “Fang Fang” files on their relationship.

Swalwell was playing offense and leading in the polls, until he wasn’t.

Whatever drove Swalwell out of Congress (the details of the four women’s allegations against Swalwell are unknown) there is a standard by which to measure Platner’s many bad choices: Too much bad behavior in too little time and you’re over the side of your political ship.

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Democrats know this, of course, and their weak support for Platner reflects the fact that their candidate is seriously damaged. This is why most Democrats are not commenting on Platner now and are engaging in Schumer’s infinite loop response.

The explanation for Democrats’ 2026 double standards is simple: They have no plans for a comeback in Maine. They overcommit. Governor Mills announced the suspension of his campaign at the end of April. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined Platner in his parade in March, along with Sens. Martin Heinrich, Ruben Gallego and Bernie Sanders, and Mills must have concluded there was no conflict with the far left of his party.

Some of Platner’s nasty Reddit posts had come to light when Warren joined, but not his attacks on soldiers, both living and dead, or the disturbing messages he wrote to women other than his wife.

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The attempt to oust Mills was successful, but there was no one to turn to when Platner’s peccadillos emerged in May. California Democrats had a long backup list for Porter and Swalwell. This was not the case in Maine. If Democrats give up on Platner, they would give up their chance to gain a net four seats in the Senate and have Schumer’s title changed from minority leader to majority leader next year.

“Sunk costs” have paralyzed many business and life decisions and plagued politics, too. Sunk costs are expenses or investments that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Rational decisions focus on future costs and benefits, not past expenses. Sunk costs can lead to emotional decisions regarding business and personal finances. And politics.

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Continued support for Platner will lead to more embarrassment like the one Schumer experienced on Tuesday. With each new story about Platner, reporters scramble to get answers from high-profile Democrats. Republicans have been through this political nightmare before and have learned that there is no advantage in staying with a candidate whose campaign is unlikely to be successful and who is likely to generate more bad stories about him.

We’ll have to wait to see what Katie Porter has to say about this double standard.

Hugh Hewitt, Fox News contributor and “The Hugh Hewitt Show” weekday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh takes Americans home to the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on more than 400 affiliates nationwide and on all streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest of Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier on weekdays at 6 p.m. ET A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he started his eponymous radio show in Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has appeared frequently on all major national news television networks, hosted television programs for PBS and MSNBC, written for all major American newspapers, and authored a dozen books. He has moderated multiple Republican candidate debates, most recently the 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 Today Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush.

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