What are Maine Democrats Doing?

Susan Collins sucks. And yet it does not look like Democrats have any plan to defeat her except relying on Janet Mills to run–who is a mere 77 years old, making her the perfect candidate for the Democratic Gerontocracy. A bit young perhaps. After all, she’s only 5 years older than Collins. And Mills may well not run. There are cases where this might make sense–Ohio with Sherrod Brown is an obvious example. No one could win in Ohio right now and Brown might not be able to either. But while Maine voters are obviously dupes for Collins’ bullshit, Democrats can quite clearly win a statewide race there. And yet the Democratic establishment hope is someone nearly the average age of death for American.

There is however a grassroots candidate, Graham Platner, who is a 40 year old veteran. I know nothing about him from a policy perspective, but boy goddamn howdy do Democrats need to take this to heart:

“We need to stop using the exact same playbook that keeps losing over and over and over again,” said Mr. Platner, a political unknown who serves as the local harbor master in the tiny town of Sullivan. “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.”

I mean, if Mills ran, maybe that would be better, I don’t know, but a 77 year old is not exactly the clear message of change–a sentiment which has little to do with policy–that clearly defines the American electorate today. I’d vote for Platner based strictly on him not being 77 years old.