Rebuilding the System — Perspectives

“My Dad used to say to me, ‘Have you ever noticed how grateful you are to see daylight again after coming through a long, dark tunnel?’ Well, he'd say, ‘Always try to see life around you, as if you'd just come out of a tunnel.’"
- Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

After my last post, several people responded, “OK, that’s fine, but who are you voting for, Mills or Platner?” It’s a good question, and because I think the Senate race in Maine has national implications, it demands a thoughtful answer.

To cut to the chase: if the election had been held a month ago, I would have voted for Janet Mills; if the election were held tomorrow, I’d vote for Graham Platner. While I think that’s my final answer, things could change between now and the June 9th primary. In fact, I’m intrigued enough by both candidates that my mind could change before I finish this essay.

I have enormous respect for Janet Mills. I do not agree with her on every issue, but she is a straightforward, hardworking, and honorable person, and she has passed her eight years in the Blaine House* with remarkable dignity. She clearly thinks about issues before making a decision, and she stands firm once it is made. An accomplished poet, she chooses words with care. “She doesn’t just read over the top of things,” Maine’s former poet laureate Wesley McNair told Katy Kelleher of Downeast Magazine. “She reads deep down into things.” How refreshing would that be in the United States Senate?

Two points of concern for me are age and current campaign energy. I have absolutely nothing against 78-year-olds (I used to be one), but Mills’ pledge to serve only one term and her so-far lackluster campaign bring back painful memories of Joe Biden’s long goodbye.

Graham Platner came from seemingly nowhere – or at least from the shores of Sullivan Harbor in Hancock County – to captivate a lot of voters: men and women, young and old, liberal and conservative. Along the way he has hit some bumps, from old social media posts in which managed to offend a broad spectrum of people to having a tattoo on his chest associated with the Nazis. He has disavowed those posts and covered the tattoo, saying he was unaware of the Nazi connection. Nevertheless, several members of his staff resigned, and he seemed to be reeling. But he endured. In fact, his candid responses to his transgressions seem to have made him stronger, and six months later, he leads in the polls by a huge margin.

I won’t get into the specific issues, for this is not a state election blog, and voters can visit their websites to see for themselves. But broadly, Mills is a centrist and a pragmatist. Her policy prescriptions focus on reforming, restoring, and expanding things, rather than more radical surgery. Platner resists being labeled, but he stands on the left of his party on many issues, calling for universal health care, opposing war, accusing Israel of genocide in Palestine, and attacking the oligarchy. As for guns, both candidates veer right: Platner opposes banning assault weapons; Mills vetoed a bill banning bump stocks. This is not surprising, as Maine is as pro-Second Amendment as any state in the union.

With Janet Mills we know what we will get in the U.S. Senate. She is experienced; she is straightforward; and she is wise. We can’t be so sure what Graham Platner will bring, and that is both his strength and his weakness. For experience produces a record to be picked apart; inexperience provides an empty slate. But Platner has built a grassroots coalition that has brought together thousands of enthusiastic people from across Maine.

The question we face here and across the country is this: What is the best way to move forward and who are the best candidates to get us there? After my last post, a reader wrote, paraphrasing Platner, “the point of our government moving forward shouldn’t just be to defeat Trump, but to rebuild the system in such a way as to guarantee another Trump can’t happen.” I think that’s exactly right. We once thought we had that system. We have learned that we don’t.

*A birthday present from a more illustrious James G. Blaine to his wife Harriet in 1862, the Blaine House has been the governor’s residence since the family gave it to the state of Maine following the death of Walker Blaine Beale, who was killed in action at Saint-Mihiel, France, Sept. 18, 1918. He was 22.