Mainesplaining The Primary

National media, consent, and misplaced outrage

After weeks of the national media descending on Maine to ask us inane and annoying questions, only to have them turn around and tell us how we don’t understand - I’m exhausted and it’s only June. The national media is not letting up on this, which is becoming more annoying by the minute, especially when I look at other races throughout the nation that should be getting these same questions. I’ve seen multiple attempts to put Platner in the same category as Roy Moore & Eric Swalwell – 2 predators that have an issue with consent to put it lightly. Platner sent (we can only assume) some dick pics to some adults on a platform where that is part of the exchange. It might not be your thing, it would seem it wasn’t Amy’s thing and when she voiced that to him, he stopped (I’m taking each of them at their word here because it doesn’t matter to me). Open and Poly relationships don’t work for me, but they work for a lot of people I know. As long as there is consent – IDGAF.

What national commentators are missing about Maine

I’ve also seen a LOT of national level content creators – ones I usually admire – getting on their platforms and spewing a bunch of things about Maine that tell me that they have likely only visited in the summer and don’t know how we roll up here. What’s worse is that I don’t see many of them even trying or listening to us when we do try. (How many times have I seen someone point to blackgirlinmaine’s brilliant pieces only to be effectively told “not the marginalized people that actually LIVE in Maine.”) I’ve seen Mainers drop into the comment section with respectful explanations only to be told we don’t really know what we’re talking about (implied: we are rural hicks that don’t know how the real-world works). Respectfully, fuck you. Platner didn’t win because of the issues raised by national pundits– he won because after more than 80 town halls, plus many community events, Maine met the guy in person. We confronted him in person. We (many of us) also learned in 2016 to trace news sources. We lived through these same types of smears against Bernie and after a decade of it, many of us have learned to do our research. (After the horrendous coverage of the Depp v Heard trial, I learned to ALWAYS trace the reporter’s history when reading a NYT article. If the reporter has an issue with facts or a clearly stated agenda, I need an independent source before I’ll put it anywhere above Page Six in a legitimacy ranking.)

Maine is purple, not neatly blue and red

We keep trying to explain how all of Maine is pretty purple. I know the national media likes to portray us as the “blue south (Portland) and red north (most of the rest of the state)” but the reality that is just not true. I was raised in more conservative South Portland and now I live in Auburn. Both places are purple. Portland skews a blueish purple and up here there are plenty of houses adorned with MAGA décor, but when talking to most of those folks, they are purple, too. Back in 2016 a LOT of the folks up here that voted for Trump did so because they wanted him to break the system so that we would be forced to rebuild it. Most of the MAGA voters that I know agree with a progressive platform but have no idea that is what they agree with because of the propaganda they are fed by the media and the conservative algorithms.

Why 2016 still matters here

What? Yes. In 2016 Maine probably would have gone for Bernie. He had the overwhelming majority in most places from what I remember. He wanted to help the working class, and he didn’t care if you had 27 guns at home. (Many Mainers have a lot of guns and hunt.) Hillary Clinton was hated – and I do mean HATED by just about everyone that I knew, including myself. I didn’t like how she ran on a platform in NY only to throw her constituents under the bus when it suited her lobbyists. I didn’t like how she helped Bill get out of all his accusations of SA (and that was before the Epstein Files were known widely). I didn’t like how she spoke down to voters. Back then Maine had a caucus system. So, in 2016 I registered as a Dem for the first time and caucused. Bernie won rather conservative Windham in a landslide. There were maybe 10 people on the Clinton side of the room and the rest of us were on the Bernie side. I ended up being chosen as a delegate to go to the state convention which was a shit-show from my perspective. Clinton won because her people wore many of us down until we gave up and left. “It’s her turn” “You don’t know what’s best for the country.” “Bernie is too radical.” “You don’t know what you need – Clinton must win.” “Why don’t you just leave, and you’ll see we are right.” Well, in the years since (and right after) a LOT of polls indicate that a Bernie/Trump match up would have had Bernie winning for exactly the reason Clinton lost. “I’m voting for Bernie to fix the system or Trump to break it, so it HAS to be fixed.” That was the sentiment up here in Maine among my now MAGA neighbors. (Many of whom probably voted for Platner.) But this doesn’t fit the national narrative, and it sure doesn’t suit the establishment political class, which wants to not work, not change anything, but take their dark money and send strongly worded letters to a man that probably doesn’t read.

On Collins, independence, and voting for Maine

I’ve heard the “but he voted for Collins” line a lot. Yeah, and? I did, too. In 2002 Chellie Pingree was not the known politician she is now, at least not to 20-year-old me. Maybe I was more conservative back then – I probably was. It was before Trump, right after 9/11 and the record we were voting on was one where Collins fought hard for our state. We didn’t know much of what we know today about the war in Iraq and we voted for our state. Maine is independent and purple. We (as a rule) don’t really care about the party – we want to know if you are one of us and will do right by the state. We sent Bill Cohen and Margaret Chase Smith to DC remember. Angus King is an independent, for example, (though given some of his confirmations I expect he’s going to be primaried to a fare thee well when he’s up for reelection). That is the part national commentators keep missing when they try to flatten Maine into a neat little partisan map. We vote according to what will be best for us, our neighbors, and our families. We only recently care about the D vs R issue because Trump so broke the system that we are paying attention. We don’t generally live in little echo chambers around here. We are fiercely independent in everything we do – just ask anyone “from away” that has moved here. We are used to flatlanders coming through and telling us how things “should be” but y’all are usually buying lobster rolls and putting something in our pockets, so we let you. This is about us though. The saying is, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” Maybe, if we are tired of corporate media, have figured out how to do our own fact checking, and our voter turnout blew past previous years, the question should not be: “Did Maine make a mistake?” Maybe the question should be: “How can other states bring this same energy to their own races?” Because, the paths being taken in a lot of places so far? Well, you can’t get there from here.

Sending any politician to Washington is a gamble. Will power corrupt them? Maybe. Are they already corrupt and you find out once they get there? (Looking at you Sinema). Will Platner need to continue to hold up his end of the bargain to keep his job? Definitely. This race ought to show you what happens when you’ve gone and pissed off Maine. We WILL throw you out of your job and we WILL find someone we like to replace you.