The leftwing defense of Graham Platner is rooted in a false Democratic vision | Moira Donegan

Tolerance for behavior like Platner's is tied to a wrongheaded theory of the male working class. Zohran Mamdani illustrates a different path

A young political outsider with a fairly scant record becomes a sensation in a Democratic primary, capturing hearts and minds with a populist message and a disarming charm that translates well into vertical video. His success surges him to the head of the race, and as election day nears, he seems poised to pull off an upset victory that topples one of his district's most hated and entrenched political machines.

It's a tale of two primaries: the New York City mayoral race, in which the 33-year-old state assembly member Zohran Mamdani defeated the disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo, and the Maine Senate race, where the political outsider and oyster farmer Graham Platner attracted national attention with a viral campaign.