Passion AND Professionalism
Becoming the next Senator from Maine requires both
I’ve been loosely involved in politics since I worked on my first campaign in 1975 as a senior at Tufts, going door to door for an unknown candidate to be our local Medford, Massachusetts Congressman, Ed Markey. Fifty years later, Ed is still running, now to retain his Senate seat as the senior Senator from Massachusetts. I’m not working on that campaign this year because, among other things, I live in Maine.
In fifty years of trying to be what Tufts calls “an active citizen,” I’ve never encountered a candidate with the instant, electric charisma of Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for Senator from Maine. There is no need to introduce him here because anyone reading this will already know about his meteoric rise – and subsequent controversies. It is not surprising that in today’s America, anyone crazy enough to want to seek any public office (and I do mean ANY public office like dog catcher) exposes themselves to an absurd level of scrutiny and attack. It is literally impossible to rise to any level of public notoriety without every crazy person feeling entitled to take a shot at you. As with social media or masked ICE agents on the streets, when you are anonymous, or when you are attacking a public figure, there seem to be no holds barred. While lamentable, there appears no way out of this and indeed, as my favorite American History teacher Heather Cox Richardson will probably be able to document, it has probably always been thus.
So, on the theory of living within prevailing realities rather than tilting futilely against them, it appears that what the moment calls for is, yes, electrifying charisma to be sure (people seem to vote on what they “feel,” not what real policies are), coupled with the professionalism and experience that only comes from having been around the political track before. There will be no change in the current American political quagmire if we keep returning the “same old, same old” folks to Congress. This means not only “old” in terms of age but also in terms of background. This is also part of the reason I am so excited by Platner. Sure, he’s young, and yes, he is politically inexperienced (though I bet he’s learning fast thanks to his orientation by fire), but he has the prospect of bringing together left, right and center in a State (Maine) that is purple. Even more importantly, however, 5 seats are required to shift the balance of power in the US Senate from Republican to Democratic. One of the most vulnerable is widely agreed by the cognoscenti to be the seat currently held by Maine’s Susan Collins. I’m not one who is rabidly anti-Collins. I simply believe that voting with the Republican majority 95% of the time (set aside stage-dressing comments and votes) is what has brought us to a moment where we have the least qualified, most corrupt, and perhaps above all, most heartless, Administration in my 71-year lifetime. It is imperative that at least one chamber of Congress becomes a guardrail on an Administration that has already deeply damaged many institutions (not to mention architecture) of American life – not just the Government.
Which brings us to the moment at hand. The Maine Democratic primary is June 9, 2026. The General election is November 3, 2026. Both are a long time from now and while much is unknown, one thing is certain: much more vitriol and surprises are in store. Given the importance of Maine’s Republican-held current Senate seat and thanks to the Supreme Court’s opening of the flood gates to unlimited, anonymous political donations, there will be a firehose full of money pouring into our small, stunningly beautiful State. To withstand this, whoever ends up facing Senator Collins, a great, successful and deeply experienced politician, will need to have commensurate experience. 41-year-old oyster farmer Graham Platner with the electrifying charisma will thus need a campaign manager, and other senior staff who know the game. As he announces his second (or third, depending on how one counts) campaign manager in six weeks, who that person is and what kind of experience they have will be key. As one of his earliest and most fervent supporters, I pray this will be the case.