I’m sure the folks at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thought that endorsing state Sen. Joe Baldacci in Maine’s 2nd District race would boost his chances of becoming the party’s nominee.

What the meddlers in the nation’s capital have done, though, is undermine his campaign in the four-person primary on June 9.

This shows us that they don’t understand ranked-choice voting.

By singling out Baldacci, the party establishment has unwittingly created a terrible scenario for the Bangor senator. I believe supporters of any of the other three contenders — Matt Dunlap, Paige Loud and Jordan Wood — are now more likely to rank Baldacci as their last choice than they are to rank him second or third.

Baldacci, whose brother John once held the 2nd District seat and later became governor, had no choice except to graciously accept the DCCC endorsement. He said he was honored to have it.

His opponents had a different take.

Wood, a hard-charging newcomer who lives in Auburn, was unimpressed “Maine picks our nominees. Not DC. Our state has made that very clear.”

Loud, a social worker and the only woman in the race, called on members of the DCCC “to get with the program” and “stop involving themselves in Maine primaries.”

State Auditor Dunlap said, “It’s undemocratic for national establishment Democrats to put their thumb on the scale in any primary. Just like in certain other races across Maine this year, they won’t decide this one. The people of Maine will.”

It doesn’t take much political savvy to see that saddling Baldacci with the backing of party officials in the nation’s capital isn’t the way to win over Maine’s angry grass-roots Democrats.

After all, we just witnessed Graham Platner chase Gov. Janet Mills, the party’s preferred nominee, out of the U.S. Senate race – a testament to Platner’s campaigning, yes, but also an indication that few of us in independent-minded Maine are ready to take advice from the Capitol Hill crowd.

As “the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House of Representatives and the only political committee in the country whose principal mission is to support Democratic House candidates every step of the way,” the DCCC said enrolling Baldacci in its “Red to Blue” program would give him “strategic guidance, staff resources, training and fundraising support.”

No doubt those things could help in November, but the special treatment in May puts Baldacci in a far less enviable position. He seems unlikely to emerge on top in the primary, where both Wood and Dunlap have raised more campaign money so far.

For Democrats, hanging on to the district captured by Rep. Jared Golden from the Republicans in 2018, when he unseated two-term GOP incumbent Bruce Poliquin, is a national priority. Control of the House, after all, is up in the air.

That former Gov. Paul LePage is the Republican candidate anointed to succeed Golden makes victory even more crucial. Democrats loathe the guy.

As early voting gets underway next week, I’ll be surprised if 2nd District primary voters agree with the DCCC. 

Though Baldacci may well win the first round of voting, when second and perhaps third-round votes are added in, the candidate on top could well be someone else.

This is especially true now that Maine’s unaffiliated voters can choose to participate in the Democratic primary. Those voters are even less likely to give a hoot what the DCCC wants.