Democrats should feel heartened that Troy Jackson’s U.S. Senate campaign dominated the Democratic caucuses held in each county over the weekend.

I never doubted that Jackson, who grew up in the woods of Aroostook County, would be his party’s choice to replace Graham Platner on the Nov. 3 ballot once Democrats make it official at their Bangor convention Saturday.

But I didn’t expect Jackson would put the pieces together so swiftly and effectively. What we saw in recent days was an impressive display of political skill.

Jackson’s political savvy and wide support should alarm supporters of Maine’s longtime senator, Republican Susan Collins.

Jackson is a much better candidate than the Democrats offered Mainers in their 2020 quest to end Collins’ long tenure, when Sara Gideon fell well short after a long and costly campaign.

To make sense of Jackson’s promise in that context, I’m going to call up the old political analysis of an unlikely commentator: Graham Platner.

Platner, who opened the door for Jackson, offered a reasonably astute (if rather mean-spirited), analysis of what went wrong for the party the last time it tried to to send Collins into retirement. 

Shortly after Gideon lost by a wide margin to Collins, Platner took to Reddit to declare the former state House speaker from Freeport a “garbage candidate.”

“She was a rich lady from out of state and who lives in what lots of Mainers consider northern Massachusetts,” Platner wrote. “If your candidate can’t have a conversation with a lobsterman, they probably aren’t going to win in Maine.”

He continued: “Just the thought of her connecting with a lobsterman is laughable. …The national and state Dems really need to get their shit together on choosing candidates that these constituencies like, not necessarily candidates that look and sound like them,” Platner said.

He noted that Gideon did well “with the southern Maine liberal types who run the party, but she’s a wealthy, run of the mill politico type who ISN’T EVEN FROM MAINE. That last bit doesn’t matter much in some places, but we’re still pretty provincial around these parts.”

Though Platner said he “voted for [Gideon] happily,” he didn’t get his hopes up.

He added that a substantial portion of Collins’ support came from Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which backed Trump, while Gideon’s base was in southern Maine. A different candidate, a candidate more like U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, would have done better than Gideon in that district, Platner insisted.

Platner’s analysis of the 2020 race explains why Jackson poses a greater threat to Collins than Gideon did.

Nobody’s going to confuse a tongue-tied guy from Allagash with Gideon, a very bright woman who, to my mind, just didn’t trust her own instincts enough. Jackson can appeal to blue-collar Maine, lobstermen included.

The Republicans will spend a lot of money trying to make Mainers think less of Jackson, but he knows who he is — and so do a lot of voters. 

Jackson’s simple message will resonate with many: that while Collins may deliver some dough to worthy Maine projects, she is too often a tool for President Trump and a bevy of his billionaire buddies.

Jackson doesn’t offer eloquence or much formal education, but the man has heart and a common touch. In the end, that may be all he needs.