AdvertisementThe story parallels the plot of the 1957 movie, A Face In The Crowd. Written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan, A Face In The Crowd follows the rise and fall of a media-created Everyman named Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, played by Andy Griffith. Like Rhodes, Platner was plucked from obscurity by people looking for a fresh face, in his case, Dan Moraff and Leanne Fan, two DSA operatives tasked with finding a Senate candidate to represent the DSA. Like Rhodes, they propelled him to the heights of a U.S. Senate race, but where Rhodes was a puppeteer manipulating a senator, Platner was the candidate. It seems like Maine Democrats have settled on just another face in the crowd.