It isn't clear what effect, if any, Graham Platner's multiplying personal scandals will have on his chances in the Maine Democratic primary that's occurring as I write this, to say nothing of November's general election against Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican senator. But there are at least two good if contradictory possibilities.

The first is absolution--not only for Platner, but for every nominee or candidate, Republican or Democratic, with a blemished personal history--on the grounds that we elect or install people in high office to achieve the results we desire, not to serve as paragons of moral rectitude. If nothing else, this could make our politics less repellent to talented if imperfect people who steer clear of public service because they don't want to put themselves or their families through the inevitable media inquisition that comes with every campaign.

The second is consistent judgment of anyone, Democrat or Republican, who falls far short of clear and unyielding standards of moral conduct. Perhaps this will finally re-erect the political barriers that formerly prevented shameless people, our current president not least, from degrading our politics and setting a putrescent example of what is--and what........

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