The Platner Dilemma
Hello Substack Friends,
I know it has been awhile and I appreciate all of you who have stuck with me. Life has just been life-ing lately.
I’m not entirely sure if life in Trump’s America is moving fast or slow, but here we are, almost to the midterms. From the name of this Substack, as well as my past posts, I’m sure it will come as no surprise to all of you to learn that I do, in fact, live in Maine. And that only means one thing: I have been subjected to an utter deluge of Graham Platner content, almost all of which is negative. I can’t scroll through social media without seeing a news article or ad imploring me not to vote for Platner. My personal favorite was the op-ed published in a widely circulated out-of-state newspaper telling me that Democrats have built their platform on feminism and supporting women so Democrats in Maine should now vote for a Republican woman who has allowed women to be stripped of their rights because *waves arms around*.
Forgive me for being a bit cheeky, it’s been a long few months.
Do I know what will happen in the Collins/Platner race? Of course not. But I do know a lot of Mainers are struggling and feel forgotten.
Most people forget that Maine is one of the most rural states in the country and is a solidly purple state (we split our electoral votes in presidential elections, often resulting in some going to the Democratic candidate and others going to the Republican candidate).
When people outside of Maine think of Maine, they often think of southern Maine. Large old houses and yachts and lobster bakes. Days spent drinking wine by the ocean. The is not the Maine most Mainers can afford to live in. The real Maine is small, old factory towns and working class people just trying to put food on the table. Many Mainers want a candidate who is willing to meet with them (Susan Collins has not held a town hall meeting for her constituents in over 20 years and has stated she does not like meeting with large groups of constituents), listen, and acknowledge that yes, things have been hard. They are looking for someone young and outside of the political establishment (Susan Collins is 73, has held her seat since 1996, and comes from a Maine political family). They are looking for honesty, someone who genuinely listens to their constituents and votes that way (Susan Collins has doubled-down on her support for Brett Kavanaugh). Over the last ten years, Susan Collins has not demonstrated that she can do these things.
I also know Graham Platner has done bad things. Cheating on your wife and having a Nazi tattoo are bad, there is no way around that. I am also aware of the abuse allegations against Platner, however, because they are just allegations at this point, I am not comfortable speaking extensively about them.
But there is also a more systemic failure going on here. It feels clear that the Democratic establishment has been quick to tear Platner down. But if they are going to do so, they need to offer Mainers a viable alternative candidate. Seventy-eight year old Janet Mills is not a viable, long-term alternative candidate. Senate races aren’t secrets and there has been talk of flipping Susan Collin’s seat for years. So why haven’t they cultivated talent here? Why haven’t they tried to develop a single candidate who can compete against Susan Collins? If they hate Platner so much, why have they done nothing to present us with any other viable options?
At this point, I do think Platner is still the only candidate who can seriously challenge Susan Collins. And I still think Mainers like him. So, if you had any questions about what it’s actually looking like from the inside, here is the answer: many Mainers are ready to move forward with Platner. Only time will tell what that means