Ex-logger Troy Jackson set to succeed Graham Platner as Dem pick in Maine Senate race

So Graham Platner is out, and the Maine Democratic Party isn't even pretending to let voters sort this one out. Instead of a real primary fight, the top contenders are quietly clearing the field so Troy Jackson can walk in as the anointed replacement. Funny how that works. When it's inconvenient for the party, suddenly "let the people decide" takes a back seat to "let the machine decide."

Jackson's résumé, an actual logger who spent years in the Maine legislature, is the kind of biography Democrats love to trot out when they need to look like they haven't completely lost touch with working people. Fair enough, he's not a fake populist cosplaying as a fisherman. But that's exactly the point. The party learned the hard way with Platner that vetting matters, and now they're overcorrecting by hand-picking a "safe" guy behind closed doors rather than risk another embarrassing surprise in front of voters.

This is the same old story dressed up in flannel. Democrats talk endlessly about grassroots energy and democratic process, right up until the process might produce an outcome the consultants don't like. Then it's coordinated exits and a coronation. Maine voters deserve better than a candidate who arrives already blessed by party insiders because everyone else got a phone call telling them to stand down.

If Jackson wins the seat, he'll do it having skipped the part where actual Democrats got to weigh in. That's not a comeback story. That's a backroom deal with a flannel shirt on top.