In recent days, many of us have been left angry, heartbroken and disillusioned by the way this Senate race has unfolded. But the bigger point is that this was never just about one candidate.

The Platner campaign tapped into something real here in Maine. Thousands of people gave their time, money and hope to a campaign that spoke to a hunger for progressive reform, authenticity and a politics that answers to voters, not party insiders. People rallied not because they were told to, but because they believed in the fight for universal healthcare, reproductive freedom, economic justice, an end to forever wars and a Democratic Party willing to actually act like democracy belongs to voters.

That is why the decision to take this process out of voters’ hands and hand it to a 600-person delegation feels so profoundly alienating. At a moment when the party should be listening to the energy and frustration of its grassroots, it is instead reinforcing the worst fears many voters already have: that their voices matter only when they are convenient.

The people who poured themselves into this campaign are not wrong for feeling furious right now. They are not wrong for feeling shut out of a process that was supposed to belong to voters. And they are not wrong for looking at this moment and wondering whether the party learned anything at all from the movement it helped crush. If Maine Democrats want people to stay engaged, they should understand what is being damaged here is trust.

Alesha Coffin
Brunswick