On Wednesday, the waters finally rose too high for Graham Platner. Two days after a rape allegation came his way, he suspended his campaign once he realized no Democrat could keep making excuses for him. It is hard to come out of Platner’s short-lived political career with any respect for the progressive caucus of the Democratic party. Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna kept supporting Platner through earlier accusations of prior volatility. It was not until the sexual assault story broke on July 6th that Sanders and Khanna rescinded their endorsements. Why it took them so long to see the writing on the wall is a mystery; they need to be held accountable for standing behind Platner until the very end. However, there is some solace taken in the fact that most, if not all, of Platner’s significant endorsements were eventually withdrawn. It means that, relative to the Republicans, who continue to saddle themselves with Donald Trump, the Democrats are a marginally healthier party when it comes to dispensing deviant candidates. 

In an era where Trump has spun his own criminal convictions and indictments, it is easy to forget that we, Americans, have laws. After a pattern of allegations, Platner needs to be investigated by the state of Maine. If that investigation were to lead anywhere, he must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Justice for his victims would be a sufficient enough reason to warrant this, but there is an additional benefit. Namely, the whole political ecosystem of our country could benefit from seeing Platner behind bars: a warning for other politicians who continue to live unprosecuted.

Platner tried to end his political saga with a plea for self-preservation, claiming that he was brought down by a systematic effort against him. In many ways, he sounded very similar to Trump. Right-wing or left-wing, populists will always try to make any of their troubles a story about an abstract conspiracy devised to keep down the “people’s man.” Platner cannot be allowed to preserve himself in this way, especially after Trump already has. Rather, he needs to rot in a prison cell and of which be made an example. In an orange jumpsuit, Graham Platner would show politicians across the country that political support does not make you immune to the law. When prosecution is the just and natural consequence of your own actions, it is not persecution. It is merely holding politicians to the same legal standards and accountability as citizens. After all, shouldn’t all be equal in the eyes of the law?