I thank and salute Graham Platner for his previous service to our country and his community. I applaud his willingness to step forward once again.

While enthusiasm is necessary, it’s not sufficient. Training in front-line infantry tactics, arranging boat moorings and reviewing local construction proposals for a small harbor town on Maine’s Down East coast doesn’t provide adequate expertise to join the elite 100-member United States Senate, responsible for legislation affecting regional, national and international issues and offering “advice and consent” to assist the president with our governance.

Knowledge and experience must be the criteria for selecting the next U.S. senator from Maine. It’s simply not possible for Mr. Platner to quickly learn enough “on the job” to effectively and immediately serve the citizens of Maine and America as a U.S. senator during our current authoritarian challenges. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders didn’t begin his storied political career at that level.

Janet Mills’ experiences as a Maine state legislator, attorney general and sitting governor provide a running start as a U.S. senator on day one.

As a retired “boomer,” I understand and appreciate the urgency many feel for generational change to elected leadership. My support for Gov. Mills is conditioned on her pledging/honoring to serve only one term (unlike Sen. Collins’ failed 1996 pledge to serve only two terms).

Finally, Gov. Mills’ determination to meet this challenge is clear in her “rugged-coast-of-Maine” reply to President Trump during his funding cut threats last year: “We’re going to follow the law sir. We’ll see you in court.”

Leroy Doucette 
Portland