Editorial: Stop the Gaslighting. The People Who Broke It Want Another Chance.

By Jon Fetherston

Wait.

What?

Are we seriously expected to believe this?

Democrats like Graham Platner, Hannah Pingree, and Chellie Pingree have settled on the same campaign message: Donald Trump is the problem. Everything is terrible. Elect us, and we’ll fix it.

The audacity would be impressive if it weren’t so insulting.

Who exactly do they think has been running Maine?

Who has controlled the Governor’s Office?

Who has dominated state government?

Who has been writing the policies that have shaped this state for years?

Now they want you to believe they’re riding in on white horses to save you from the very problems their own party helped create.

That’s not leadership.

That’s gaslighting.

Mainers don’t need another glossy television commercial. They don’t need another polished speech filled with buzzwords and carefully rehearsed outrage. They need someone willing to acknowledge reality.

Reality looks like families wondering how they’ll pay the electric bill.

Reality looks like young people leaving Maine because they can’t afford to build a life here.

Reality looks like housing costs squeezing working families.

Reality looks like government waste and fraud making headlines while taxpayers foot the bill.

Reality looks like communities like Lewiston struggling with escalating youth violence and asking whether anyone in Augusta is paying attention.

And after years of this, we’re supposed to believe the answer is…more of the same?

No thanks.

Hannah Pingree wants voters to see her as fresh leadership. But many Mainers see something else: Janet Mills 2.0, wrapped in newer packaging.

Listening to her recent interview on WGAN Morning News, I heard plenty about Donald Trump. What I didn’t hear were convincing answers for the problems Maine families are living every day.

Blaming Trump may energize a political base.

It doesn’t lower anyone’s electric bill.

It doesn’t make housing affordable.

It doesn’t make communities safer.

It doesn’t improve struggling schools.

At some point, governing has to replace campaigning.

Then there’s Graham Platner.

Campaigns are built on image, and Platner has certainly worked to build one. But voters should look beyond the speeches and campaign videos and carefully examine his public record, his own public statements, and the questions that have surrounded his campaign. Every candidate asking for the public’s trust should expect that level of scrutiny.

As for Chellie Pingree, hearing lectures about fighting “the oligarchy” rings hollow to many Mainers. After years in Congress, she isn’t running against the political establishment.

She is part of it.

The strategy seems obvious.

Talk endlessly about Donald Trump.

Convince voters every problem began somewhere else.

Pretend the last several years never happened.

Hope nobody notices.

Maine deserves better.

The people asking for another promotion are the same people asking voters to ignore the report card.

Don’t let slick advertising rewrite history.

Don’t let campaign consultants convince you yesterday never happened.

And don’t let politicians who helped create today’s problems market themselves as tomorrow’s saviors without first answering for the record they already own.

The record exists.

The results speak for themselves.

The commercials can’t change either one.

Pay attention, Maine.

Look beyond the slogans.

Look beyond the commercials.

Look at who has been making the decisions.

Then vote accordingly.