Dennis Camire, a poet, lives in West Paris.

Let me be clear about two things: first, I voted for Gov. Janet Mills twice; second, I’ll not vote for her in the Democratic primary for Senate in Maine. Why?

I don’t support what I see as a DNC hit job on Platner, something the Mills campaign certainly has to be aware of. 

Additionally, so much of what is being exploited, now, by the Mills campaign is completely insensitive to the issue of mental health.

In sum, I believe the Mills campaign is exploiting a time when Platner was clearly suffering from PTSD. For a party that champions care of mental health, it is disappointing to see a challenging period being stigmatized by Democrats.

The message is clear to those who are dealing with a mental health issue: whatever unwise things you might say (not even do) during your time of crisis will forever disqualify you from service. That, simply, is lacking in the compassion and in the enlightened thinking that underlies our country and tells us humans can evolve, grow and become model citizens and leaders, regardless of their past.

In the last two national elections, Democrats have lost the House and Senate, in part because they continue to nominate the party’s moderate and mainstream. Repeatedly we’re told that we shouldn’t vote for the outsider who wins our hearts and speaks the hard truths “we feel in our bones.”

Instead, we’re asked to nominate the polished politician with the great resume. That’s proving to be a losing strategy and one that’s implemented more by Chuck Schumer and the Democratic National Committee than by state Democrats.

Psychologists have found that emotion trumps (pun intended) logic in predicting who one votes for. Indeed, the journal Frontiers for Political Science found that one’s emotional reactions to candidates were more important than rational evaluations of the candidates’ positions and policies.

What’s more, they found many voters evinced an “affective primacy” whereby, if they feel a positive emotional pull toward a candidate, they’ll then find the logic needed to align with their policies and philosophy.

Why does this matter? Of the two major contenders in the primary, Graham Platner is by far the one who most inspires one to feel hope, a sense of togetherness and empowerment. His honesty, too, about the absolute dysfunction of our health care system, wages and housing markets makes us feel validated — heard! — and that, my friends, is one of the most powerful and satisfying feelings one can experience.

That emotion alone creates the intimate bond that’s needed to expand the party. Indeed, Donald Trump’s success was, in part, a result of him validating so many voters’ feelings of discontent whereas many Democrats continually invalidated voters who felt the same.

Between the two candidates, then, Platner clearly has the Greeks’ “pathos appeal,” as he repeatedly touches your heart in his brief speeches. Though his positions on issues are well detailed and he’s great at expressing the logic of his policies, this emotional appeal — this ability to touch our hearts — is what’s needed if we’re to build a larger coalition, forge a common bond and rebuild our politics to address our dysfunctional institutions.

I see the primary, then, as a choice between head and heart.

So please, Mainers, don’t fall for the current attempts by the monied, corporate interests to destroy Platner’s character.

When you’re asked by the establishment to go with your head and choose the purported safe, experienced incumbent over the inspiring oyster farmer and harbor master, don’t ignore your heart.

The heart still feels Platner’s good intentions and commitment to social and economic justice. I still suspect that, despite the recent friendly fire he’s received from his own party, we just might have a pearl in this hardscrabble oyster farmer.