National Democrats, stay out of it: Let Mainers pick Platner's replacement

Graham Platner's Senate bid imploded fast enough that the national Democratic apparatus barely had time to finish its opposition research before it started making calls to Maine trying to steer whoever replaces him. That's the tell. These are the same people who spent years insisting local voters know best, right up until local voters are about to pick someone the DC consultants haven't vetted and approved.

Maine has its own political culture, its own primary voters, and its own sense of who actually represents the state. That's true whether the seat is held by a Republican or a Democrat. The moment a national party starts working the phones to install a preferred successor before Mainers have even had a real conversation about it, they're telling the state's Democratic voters their judgment doesn't count for much. It's the same instinct that gave us parachute candidates and top-down primary "guidance" in cycle after cycle, and it never ages well.

We don't have a dog in who wins a Maine Democratic primary. What we do care about is whether voters in that state, or any state, get to make their own decision without a Washington thumb on the scale disguised as helpful advice. If national Democrats think their preferred pick is so obviously right, they should make the case in public and let Mainers decide for themselves. Anything else is just admitting they don't trust the people they claim to represent.