I really wish someone would pay more attention to what kik, the site where Platner had a shirtless pic posted, is. It's really quite damning for a middle aged man to be on there.
- 70% of Kik users are aged between 13 and 24 years old.
Thank God we only have another two weeks of Platner discourse.
Both cheating and being a Nazi are bad. But Americans only have a vague idea of what facism/National Socialism means, and calling someone a Nazi is so oversaturated and unfalsifiable that the term has become meaningless.
On the other hand, everyone knows what cheating is, why it's bad, and why you shouldn't do it. Not surprised that moved the needle more.
This may be asking a lot but are you all going to do any polling on the Texas race specifically? Ken Paxton is guilty of a lot of bad things, including cheating. I’d be curious to see what effect that has.
I really appreciated this breakdown because, as you alluded to, it’s so tempting to like zero out “scandal” along a single axis and treat its presence or absence as a binary. But in fact the type, texture, and timing don’t just matter - they can prove definitive. As always, appreciate the willingness to dive into empiricism here.
I'm not a Maine voter, but since the cheating scandal is indeed what pushed me to "we need to get another guy", I can explain my trajectory:
1. Totenkopf: I doubt he knew what it was when he got it, because I sure didn't recognize it and he's about my age. When he found out what it was, he was probably too lazy to try to really do something about it until his run for Senate, since I doubt anyone who saw it ever told him it was offensive. Made me think he was a jerk, but I've never had a problem voting for Gavin Newsom even though I think he's a jerk.
2. Reddit posts: even the most "inflammatory" posts that were dug up expressed pretty common opinions. Not PC opinions, to be sure! But very common ones, especially among douchey guys. Again, still thought he was a jerk, but I've voted for plenty of jerks in my time.
3. Cheating scandal: I thought he said he was redeemed, isn't he pretty recently married? And he's sexting? And 2 scandals was a coincidence, 3 is a trend. If this is the last thing, he's salvageable, but is there more?
4. Rape: well shit, it really was a trend, and it was the worst kind of shoe to drop. Screw this guy.
And Ken Paxton, and, well, the dude in the White House who cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star, paid her hush money to cover it up, and falsified business records to cover up the hush money.
I'm sure there's truth to the willingness of the average Maine voter to buy into a semicredible redemption narrative, but my primary takeaway here is that a substantial portion of the Democratic base is happy to overlook or otherwise excuse blatant antisemitism.
I really wish someone would pay more attention to what kik, the site where Platner had a shirtless pic posted, is. It's really quite damning for a middle aged man to be on there.
- 70% of Kik users are aged between 13 and 24 years old.
- "Kik chat app 'involved in 1,100 child abuse cases'" https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45568276
Some comments from: https://www.reddit.com/r/OlderGenZ/comments/1j25ax9/is_kik_still_a_thing/
"Every adult who sent me unsolicited messages on that app deserves jail. Unspeakable fucking horrors on that stupid app."
"Ah yes my first memories of getting groomed"
"It was filled with creepy old men being “eating disorder” coaches. I probably lost a few brain cells and year off my life because of KiK"
Many, many more.
Whooooooa that's the kind of context I saw 0 articles provide.
Thank God we only have another two weeks of Platner discourse.
Both cheating and being a Nazi are bad. But Americans only have a vague idea of what facism/National Socialism means, and calling someone a Nazi is so oversaturated and unfalsifiable that the term has become meaningless.
On the other hand, everyone knows what cheating is, why it's bad, and why you shouldn't do it. Not surprised that moved the needle more.
This may be asking a lot but are you all going to do any polling on the Texas race specifically? Ken Paxton is guilty of a lot of bad things, including cheating. I’d be curious to see what effect that has.
Enough to make the race 50/50 which are the current projections.
I really appreciated this breakdown because, as you alluded to, it’s so tempting to like zero out “scandal” along a single axis and treat its presence or absence as a binary. But in fact the type, texture, and timing don’t just matter - they can prove definitive. As always, appreciate the willingness to dive into empiricism here.
I'm not a Maine voter, but since the cheating scandal is indeed what pushed me to "we need to get another guy", I can explain my trajectory:
1. Totenkopf: I doubt he knew what it was when he got it, because I sure didn't recognize it and he's about my age. When he found out what it was, he was probably too lazy to try to really do something about it until his run for Senate, since I doubt anyone who saw it ever told him it was offensive. Made me think he was a jerk, but I've never had a problem voting for Gavin Newsom even though I think he's a jerk.
2. Reddit posts: even the most "inflammatory" posts that were dug up expressed pretty common opinions. Not PC opinions, to be sure! But very common ones, especially among douchey guys. Again, still thought he was a jerk, but I've voted for plenty of jerks in my time.
3. Cheating scandal: I thought he said he was redeemed, isn't he pretty recently married? And he's sexting? And 2 scandals was a coincidence, 3 is a trend. If this is the last thing, he's salvageable, but is there more?
4. Rape: well shit, it really was a trend, and it was the worst kind of shoe to drop. Screw this guy.
Ds hate cheating. Rs not so much. Gary Hart vs Newt Gingrich.
And Ken Paxton, and, well, the dude in the White House who cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star, paid her hush money to cover it up, and falsified business records to cover up the hush money.
All of those Republicans are serial underperformers.
Underperformers, but they don't get drummed out of public life for it.
Yeak, Ken Paxton underperformed himself into being the AG of Texas for 11 years now.
I'm sure there's truth to the willingness of the average Maine voter to buy into a semicredible redemption narrative, but my primary takeaway here is that a substantial portion of the Democratic base is happy to overlook or otherwise excuse blatant antisemitism.
Do Americans or Mainers hate cheating? Trump is president, and though it was decades ago, the Lewinsky scandal only dented Clinton’s popularity