“Honest oysterman” is a phrase that must enter the lexicons of political reporters and consultants. It will refer to an appealing but deeply flawed candidate whose limitations are temporarily obscured by nonstop counterprogramming about his other, less troubling qualities. Like fresh oysters themselves, the tactic has a short half-life, and yet it never loses its appeal to eager candidates.
Katie Porter was the honest oysterman of the California gubernatorial primary; she was known for her whiteboard and straight talk about family budgets, but anyone even tangentially connected to her state’s politics knew that her treatment of staff makes 2016 Amy Klobuchar look like an Earth Mother. It was only a matter of time until someone came up with a video.
Kamala Harris was the honest oysterman of the last presidential election. There were so many good things to say about her: former U.S. senator, former California attorney general, vice president of the United States. But even at the height of Brat Summer everyone knew that she couldn’t answer a tough question to save her life, and eventually someone was bound to ask her one.
And now, we have Graham Platner, the literal oysterman, who the Democratic Party was hoping would flip a Senate seat in Maine, but who became the butt of scandal after increasingly dreadful scandal, most recently on Monday, when we learned that a woman had told Politico that he had broken into her house in a “blackout” state of drunkenness and forced nonconsensual sex on her while they were in a relationship. Platner says any claim of nonconsensual sex is “categorically untrue.” He’s holding all calls and taking a couple of days to “reflect” on his campaign.
