That's valid. Voters in Maine find outsiders untrustworthy, and I'm sure there are many vocal leftists in Maine who will abstain from the Dem primary because they'd rather participate in the Green Party primary. Coming at this from an electoral standpoint, Platner's politics are much better than those of Mills or Collins, even if his politics are worse than some of the other theoretical alternatives, none of whom have a prayer because if they did we'd already have heard of them.
Don't like him because he probably did bad stuff while deployed? I can respect that. No disagreement from me, there, just as I wouldn't criticize someone who refused to vote for Harris due to her weak position on the genocide in Gaza. Murder, war crimes, and genocide are simply a bridge too far for some people, and that's ok.
Don't like him because he used to say the f-slur and had questionable views on race? I respect that as well, but I disagree with the mentality behind refusing to allow people to shed their prior bad opinions. This is especially counterproductive in the face of so many people (especially men under 50) who were reliable Democratic voters in their 20s and 30s but who moved away from the party around the same time as #MeToo. The opposition is actively recruiting converts. Hell, even Donald Trump himself had been a self-identifying Liberal Elite for much of his adult life. So, it stands to reason that if the right is willing to forgive people for their prior progressive views and embrace converts, the left should be willing to forgive people for their prior regressive views and welcome ex-chuds. Better late than never, and we truly need all hands on deck. TLDR, unlike murder and war crimes, I don't think having had bad opinions in the past should be categorically disqualifying.
Don't like him because he's too dumb to realize he had a Nazi tattoo? I find that uncharitable to him and strategically short-sighted. I'm not a history buff by any means, but even in the areas where I consider myself to be more knowledgeable than most people, I still learn new things on a regular basis. Until more evidence comes out, I'm going to allow him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he told anonymous strangers online that he studied history, that doesn't automatically mean he downloaded encyclopedic knowledge of Nazi iconography or that he was shirtless around someone who would have known that. And according to him, the people who should have known that, the ones responsible for verifying that he was eligible to serve in a different branch of the Armed Forces and to have whatever security clearance he needed for his stint with Blackwater, seemed not to have noticed, either.
Calling him a secret Nazi, on a day like today where no other evidence of his supposed Nazi views has been publicized, is not something I would take seriously. If Mainers disagree, let them be the ones to say so. As has been mentioned before, if he's as dumb as some people think he is, then it's more likely than not that future and more damaging oppo will come to light that would disqualify him for other reasons.
This does seem very coordinated, and the reason I believe they're coming after him with so much firepower is because they are terrified of another Mamdani (whom they arrogantly believed would lose the primary) and want to take him out now before his support and profile have grown beyond a certain point of no return. It's intended as a warning shot to any other working class candidates who would ever dare to run on a similar platform. The message is that politics is only for Type-A, Student Government, social climbers like Pete Buttigieg who were grown in a lab to become politicians. Working people with checkered pasts need not apply, unless they embrace MAGA.
We'll see what else comes out about him. I think it's a mistake for the left to treat veterans as irredeemable, but I respect and understand the opposing viewpoint.