by Jonathan Reisman

It’s been a difficult and challenging year on both personal and political fronts, but there is much to be thankful for...

Still here. In August, I was driving home from Bangor with my son. One moment, we were climbing eastward up Day’s Hill in Wesley. The next time I woke up in an ambulance headed for Calais Community Hospital. I had had a seizure, and my son had been able to save us both. He brought the car to the shoulder, called 911, and followed the ambulance to Calais. A seizure while driving on the Airline has changed almost everything, but it’s a miracle we’re still here.

A Republic, if you can keep it. Benjamin Franklin’s response to a query as to what the Constitutional Convention had wrought remains relevant and cautionary for Maine and the nation. In my opinion, keeping our constitutional republic requires an engaged and informed citizenry, an honest and transparent press/media, and a common cultural commitment to individual rights, liberty, and the rule of law. Our polity is polarized and the public square is partisan and sometimes poisonous, but the Republic is not lost...and I think and hope an increasing number of Mainers and Americans are stirring to fight to keep it. Contentious candidates and elections are a consequence.

Equity: We don’t need no stinkin’ definition. Over the last year, I discovered that the Maine State Government and the University of Maine System promote “equity” as part of the Climate Action Plan (Maine Won’t Wait) and numerous “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) initiatives, but there is no definition of equity. Promoting an undefined policy goal is pure policy malpractice. A recent Freedom of Access request confirmed that the University System still has no definition of equity, and apparently has no intention of developing one. Instead, they have dropped “equity” and rebranded DEI as “Belonging and Inclusion.” An honest definition of equity would run into racial discrimination problems. The determination to continue to promote “equity” without defining it is running into both national and state headwinds, showing up in Maine in the gubernatorial primaries, which brings me to...

Bobby Charles. Candidate Charles visited Washington County last week and gave a rousing 45-minute speech and Q&A to an appreciative crowd in Machias. Charles demonstrated an understanding of Maine’s economic, political, and cultural challenges and advocated for liberty and constitutionally based solutions. The Republican gubernatorial field is crowded, and ranked choice voting, which is not particularly popular with Republican voters, will decide the outcome. There are a number of good candidates. I’m thankful that Mr. Charles has stepped up to keep the Republic.

Graham Platner. Platner’s advocacy of socialism is wrongheaded in my opinion, but at least it’s more or less out in the open and thus there is potential accountability (although not much with a sympathetic legacy press). Platner’s U.S. Senate primary candidacy is likely to be the biggest state-wide driver of Democratic turnout next June. Platner voters, already voting against Janet Mills, seem unlikely to vote for Hannah Pingree, her endorsed successor, in the gubernatorial primary. Shenna Bellows could well be a Platner adjacent beneficiary. I’m mindful of being careful what I wish for, but I’d prefer Bellows and Platner as the honest face of the Democratic Party.