#maine-politics

#maine-politics

It's not that Golden, a three-term incumbent and Marine veteran, doesn't deserve a primary from the left. He certainly does. (Golden is one of those Democrats that the elite political press love to call "moderate," as though there is no such thing as a conservative Democrat, which is what he is.) But, dammit, this whole thing doesn't have to get self-destructive right from jump.

Across the bay from Bar Harbor lies the small town of Sullivan, Maine, population twelve hundred and nineteen. On August 16th, Graham Platner, the bearded, strawberry-blond co-owner of the Waukeag Neck Oyster Company, brought his Carolina Skiff over to the Sullivan Harbor launch. It was three days before a video titled "Platner for U.S. Senate" would drop, catapulting this local oyster farmer, harbormaster, and former marine onto the national stage.

"Running establishment candidates who are chosen or supported by the powers that be in D.C. - in Maine specifically - has been a total failure, certainly in attempts to unseat Susan Collins. It is time for us to try something new."