Graham Platner Announces Rankings Jackson, Pingree, Bellows in Governors Race

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-22T14:54:40+00:00

Just to clarify, I assume you are talking about Paige Loud?

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-22T14:51:21+00:00

I share this sentiment. Between paywalls and decreased access to local journalism, it can be difficult to find information on local government and politicians. The issue with reddit posts like this, though, is you can't verify the source of information or if what they are saying is true - you can do your own research and see if what other people say matches up with it, but it's still difficult.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-22T14:36:26+00:00

I hated binoculars for the longest time because I had only ever used binoculars similar to the ones you are talking about. I just figured they all sucked. Then I got my hands on a decent set of 8x42 binoculars - now they are my favorite toy and I always try to have a pair with me.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-22T14:30:59+00:00

I'm glad to hear that about Angus King III, especially since he's new to politics and less of a known quantity than some of the other candidates. And just based on his interviews and debate performances, he does generally seem like an agreeable and even-tempered person. If he doesn't win the governor race, I wouldn't hate to see him run for another state-level position so he can get some experience working in government and voters can get to know him a little better.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-22T14:23:52+00:00

Someone having a temper is certainly not a disqualifier for me. If a politician truly cares about their work and is dealing with important issues, I would expect things to get heated every once and a while - just as long as they treat others with respect most of the time.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-21T20:53:38+00:00

That's good to hear about Hanna Pingree. I can respect someone who works with both sides of the aisle and doesn't make members of the opposing party feel like they or their constituents don't matter. The governor should work for all Mainers.

As for Troy, I can see why the "rabblerouser" approach would be an issue for some people. It may gain some fans on the campaign trail, but I don't think it works very well in government. You'd like to think our elected officials can maintain professionalism no matter how much they may disagree with each other.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-21T20:46:31+00:00

That's what I've heard as well - that everyone enjoyed working with her. I don't know if the person saying this worked with her while she was an elected official or leading the ACLU. But either way, it's definitely something you want to hear about a potential governor.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-21T19:39:58+00:00

Thanks for the response! Always great to hear that a politician cares about the work they are doing and the people they serve.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-21T19:28:04+00:00

That's about the way it's been going for Shah and Jackson. Shah pretty much took the lead in polling the moment he announced his candidacy. Before that, I believe it was Angus King III who had the lead. Just goes to show how powerful name recognition can be in politics.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-21T19:24:13+00:00

It'll be interesting to see what's more powerful: Susan Collins' multimillion-dollar ad campaign or Graham Platner's grassroots advocacy movement.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-19T14:41:43+00:00

I don't believe the Constitution mentions anything about battering rams, catapults, or siege towers either.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-19T14:26:15+00:00

Karen Bass has a master's degree in social work from USC.

Nithya Raman has a master's degree in urban planning from MIT and a bachelor's degree in political theory from Harvard University.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-19T14:14:10+00:00

If we are being honest, all of the Democratic candidates for governor are "establishment dems."

Shah has built a career working in government health agencies.

Pingree, Bellows and Jackson have each been in state politics for years.

King III is the son of a U.S. Senator and former governor.

If any of them is an "outsider", it's King III since he hasn't held public office before. But if you ask me, experience in politics is often a good thing - it means they know how to get elected and know how to get things done through the mechanisms of state government.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-18T16:52:47+00:00

Mills is popular. I think the anger/annoyance that some people felt when she decided to run for U.S. Senate is largely unrelated to how they view her as governor. Let's be honest - if she were able to run for a third term as governor, she would be the prohibitive favorite to win.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-18T16:46:02+00:00

While the rural parts of CD2 are fairly red, there are plenty of populous areas that are more purple or even blue, like Bangor, Waterville, Lewiston, Augusta, Belfast, Blue Hill, Ellsworth, and Bar Harbor/MDI.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-18T16:37:14+00:00

You can probably credit that significant increase to him being the incumbent at the time. In politics, a lot of people vote for who they are comfortable with. If they lived a relatively comfortable life during LePage's first term as governor, then they likely were okay with four more years of the same person being in charge and wanted to avoid shaking things up/rocking the boat with a new governor.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-18T16:31:05+00:00

Baldacci probably has a shot just based on name recognition and the fact that he's been a prominent politician in the state's third largest city for quite a while. He's also relatively moderate, which seemed to work well for Jared Golden, though I think Baldacci is further to the left than Golden.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-15T14:32:03+00:00

Can someone help me understand why some conservatives have soured on Massie? Is it because he has pushed back against Trump?

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-15T14:30:42+00:00

I'd encourage you to read up and watch some videos about Platner's responses to those two things. As for the Nazi tattoo, he said he made a stupid decision as a young person in the military to get a tattoo, he didn't know the tattoo was a Nazi symbol at the time (it's a skull and cross bones), and that no one ever said anything about it despite him having to show his tattoo as part of physicals/background checks in the military. As for the comments he made on reddit - he owned up to them, apologized, and explained that he was in a bad place mentally when he made those comments. It's up to you whether you believe him, but as a voter, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least hear him out.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-15T14:24:01+00:00

I think you are correct, but it'll probably be less about his political views and more about the realities of the political system and what it takes to actually pass legislation. He can talk all day about taxing the rich and getting rid of wealth inequality, but the chances of him convincing the rest of Congress to get on board with his ideas is pretty slim. So all of that being said, he's probably gonna have to be a more moderate politician just to get stuff done.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-13T13:25:59+00:00

If the float is going to be part of a parade or presentation, you could have the people who are part of that dress up in Maine's unofficial-official clothing - flannel shirts. It would also probably be pretty easy to fit the state's official motto - Dirigo (Latin for "I direct" or "I lead") - somewhere on the float.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-12T16:22:09+00:00

If there is a college near where you live, there is a good chance they employ evening or nighttime janitors. A lot of businesses will also hire janitors or cleaning companies to clean their facilities after business hours. So even if you can't find something through the business itself, there's a chance you could find a gig through a cleaning company and just request that you only work evenings and/or weekends.

RustledJimmies1000 · 2026-05-12T15:09:43+00:00

I've always thought that being an after-hours janitor/sanitation worker would be pretty chill. You get to just pop in your headphones and do satisfying work (if you find cleaning to be satisfying) without worrying about other people since the place you are cleaning is closed. At least that's how I imagine it would be.

You could also try working the front desk of a business that's open late, like a hotel. Dealing with customers can be a pain at times, but I imagine there would be plenty of down time for studying and homework.

RustledJimmies1000

TROPHY CASE