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I am writing in response to Rachel Trainer’s letter to the editor in the May 23 edition of the BDN. She says she is unable to vote for Graham Platner because of his past indiscretions and she finds him unfit for the U.S. Senate because he is “totally out of touch with the dignity of the office he seeks.”
Granted, as Julia Terruso wrote in the Time magazine article about Platner, he’s “a newcomer carrying enough baggage to sink an oyster boat.” But this Time magazine article also shows me that Graham Platner has evolved, and that with a lot of therapy, hard work and the support of his wife, family and community, he has been able to fight his way out of the dark hole he was in after serving three tours as a Marine Corps infantryman in Ramadi and Fallujah and then a fourth tour in Afghanistan with the Army National Guard.
I am supporting Graham Platner because he is resilient and a fighter. I think most people would have quit running for office when their past mistakes came into the spotlight. But Graham is not a quitter. I believe he is honest about his struggles and has said he regrets things he said in the past and has apologized for them.
I believe him and I believe that he would represent the everyday people in Maine who struggle every day to hold their lives together. That’s why I am voting for Graham Platner.
Karen Jo Young
Corea