Harold Herschlag lives in Bryant Pond.

Because Graham Platner has very little in the way of accomplishments, he is being judged more on what he says than what he does. As with any job interview, the focus is more on the reality of one’s past than on promises of future achievements. He hasn’t done much, but he certainly has said a lot.

While Platner does not have an impressive list of achievements, he has racked up a growing collection of offensive statements.

The Platner team appears to deal with his vitriol with two basic approaches. The first is everything he said before he announced his candidacy. Cops are “bastards,” Black people don’t tip, raped women should drink less. These all happened when he was in a dark place, largely connected to his military service. But he is mentally and emotionally stable now, enough so to be elected to one of the most powerful political positions in the world.

As the campaign continues, more incidents — like his recent use of the slur “retarded”— are likely to occur or surface. For this category of bigotry, the explanation is that he is growing and will continue to improve. Clearly, he has room to grow. I believe the state of Maine deserves an actual grown-up representing us in the U.S. Senate.

There is one issue on which he is silent — and that silence is deafening.

Despite efforts by his team to scrub his past, bits and pieces find their way out. Recently, a Reddit post was uncovered in which a U.S.-designated terrorist group distributed a propaganda video of an attack during which it beat an allied soldier to death.

Platner’s words in response were chilling: “Pragmatically I have little problem with killing an enemy combatant … From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid … I dig it.”

That is not commentary, it is professional admiration. It is the rhetorical equivalent of praising a school shooter for their marksmanship. For every other despicable thing he has said, there is an apology and an explanation. When it comes to Hamas? Crickets.

Platner’s campaign has presented his high school activism as evidence of his longstanding commitment to social justice, showcasing “Most Likely to Start a Revolution.”

I will note that they’ve left out the “adage” used in a 2002 op-ed a teenage Platner co-authored on media coverage of terrorism in Chechnya with seven other students: “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” A United States senator needs to understand that designated terrorist groups are not “freedom fighters.”

From day one, Platner has espoused a commitment to the well-being of the Palestinian people, mentioning Israel hundreds of times with not one mention of Hamas to be found. Not after the Oct. 7 atrocity. Not when Hamas held U.S. citizens hostage. Not when Hamas employed a human shield strategy, sacrificing Palestinian children for good footage. Not even when Hamas publicly executed the Palestinians who Platner claims to care so much about. It takes a herculean effort to make this conflict a pillar of your candidacy and completely ignore the perpetrators of the atrocity who ignited it.

Platner has paid millions to D.C. firms to create the character he plays in this campaign. He and they have evaluated every unburied remnant of his past. His refusal to address his praise of Hamas tactics isn’t a PR oversight — it is a disclosure.

Platner has stood by his praise of Hamas tactics. Apologizing would risk alienating his base. But to win in the state of Maine, he will need more than his base. He needs the swing voters and the undecided. Hamas is an Iran-backed terror group, part of a movement committed to destroying America. Believing “death to America” is mere rhetoric is an act of suicidal ignorance.

Graham Platner’s silence on Hamas speaks volumes. He has told us who he is, and we should believe him.