The next senator from Maine...

One thing that I hope was really clear from last week's posts was that honesty matters.

On one level, that is part of a wider set of beliefs where lots of things matter, like knowledge and expertise and how we treat each other. I don't take many things lightly. Yes, that can be a lot of pressure and very frustrating, but trying to wave away the importance of inconvenient things has its own problems, I assure you.

One of my frustrations with leftists is what they consider important and what they don't; honesty is a big part of that. We can see a lot of that focused around the current Senate primary in Maine. This is specifically for Democrats, as Republican sitting senator Susan Collins is currently unopposed. (Two earlier contenders are now showing as withdrawn or disqualified.)

I have not been following the race closely because I will not be voting in it. That doesn't mean it doesn't matter to me; just that it makes more sense to focus on where I have an influence. 

I had to look because of something that surprised me.

Leftists have been focusing all of their strength on supporting Platner, which meant focusing their opposition on Janet Mills, who is now still on the ballot but unofficially withdrawn.

After her withdrawal, it changed to how you have to support Platner because Collins is so evil and there is no other choice.

Then I saw ads for David Costello.

There is also a write-in candidate, Andrea LaFlamme. 

If they felt safe ignoring Costello, I assume that he does not have a lot of recognition. It does not look like he has previous governmental experience, though he has consulted on environmental policy.  

Normally I would consider the lack of governmental experience to be a drawback, but he is not worse off than Platner there, and probably better in some respects.

Costello probably has a better chance than LaFlamme, whose experience is as an adjunct professor. 

I am not sure that Mills should be discounted. She is experienced as the 75th governor of Maine, state attorney general, and member of the Maine House of Representatives. She was attacked as old and it was probably pretty sexist, and yes, she did withdraw, but she is still on the ballot. If people voted for her, could she be persuaded to campaign in the general? If I were in Maine, I would want to know.

Beyond that, could Costello beat Collins? I don't know, but I don't know that Platner can either. 

Collins votes pretty consistently Republican, but gives lip service to having a conscience. Could she be pushed hard on that, and would anti-Trump sentiment help? Again, I don't know; Maine is pretty white and it shows. 

Still, they might respond to someone speaking passionately and sensibly about the environment.

With Platner, would standing firm behind him be worth it? Once more, I don't know.

He is morally repugnant and that keeps getting worse. That is a problem. He would probably end up being most like a Fetterman, compared to a Sinema or a Manchin. It does still help to have more registered Democrats seated, but some are more helpful than others.

My biggest point from this is that if you only get your information from the people shouting loudest, there is going to be a lot that you don't know.

Much of that loss will be important.

And I will have more examples of the dishonesty.