Graham Platner’s candidacy is an experiment.

The tough-talking progressive insists that he can persuade rural and small-town Mainers to drop their allegiance to the Republican Party because “working people in Maine all have the same interests and needs.”

And maybe he can. Although I’m dubious about the supposed authenticity Platner projects, I can also see that perhaps he’s got what it takes. I just wonder why he’s running for the U.S. Senate instead of the House.

To regain the seat without Rep. Jared Golden next year, Democrats have to find a way to win over independent-minded voters. Platner may just be the guy to do it.

Nicholas Jacobs, a Colby College professor who studies rural politics, said in a recent op-ed he’s skeptical that Platner “can reach the independents and rural moderates” that his party needs.

However, Jacobs added, he can also see why Platner might be able to pull it off: “He’s speaking to grievances that are real, measurable and decades in the making.”

“Platner represents Democrats’ anxieties about class and geography,” Jacobs wrote, “a projection of the authenticity they hope might reconcile their national brand with rural America. On paper, he’s the kind of figure they imagine can bridge the divide: a plainspoken Mainer.”

Platner can shift his candidacy to a different federal office with his campaign treasury intact. This would immediately elevate him to frontrunner status in a key primary for his party.

If Platner can indeed win the House seat, he goes a long way to proving that his iffy past isn’t a major obstacle and that he resonates with the voters Democrats need to reach.

What’s more, if he secures the House seat, he’s automatically the most likely Democrat to run for one of Maine’s Senate seats in either 2030 or 2032, which is not that long from now, when the state’s aging senators ought to step down or be forced out.

In short, the best route for Platner to win a Senate seat isn’t to seek it this year in a combative primary with Gov. Janet Mills. It’s to win the House seat Golden has held since 2018.

The 41-year-old Platner, whose top public office has been serving as harbormaster in Sullivan, has plenty of time to make his mark and quiet skeptics. Why the hurry?