Jared Golden for Congess in Maine ?????

Thanks to ranked-choice voting, Jared Golden, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine’s Second District in 2018, beating the incumbent, Bruce Poliquin, by a hair when votes were redistributed. Golden was an attractive candidate with Marine Corps service in Iran and Afghanistan and as a graduate from one of Maine’s fine liberal arts colleges. He was reelected in 2020; but with fewer votes than polling had predicted. The District, however, was carried by Donald Trump which provided him with an electoral vote under Maine election law.

 

Wise to his constituency, Golden chose to show that he was no garden variety Democrat. The first thing he did upon arrival in Congress was to cast a vote for Speaker of the House other than for Nancy Pelosi. I haven’t been following his voting record closely until he emerged this week as one of nine Blue Dog Democrats. This group insists that the House vote on the “hard” infrastructure bill and uncouple it from the Biden’s “soft” infrastructure bill. The effect may be to cripple and sink Biden’s plans to meet people’s needs. 

What is included in the “soft” or “human” infrastructure bill? Expanded Medicare to include dental and hearing benefits, universal pre-kindergarten, community college paid for, paid family leave, care for the disabled and elderly, clean energy and environmental initiatives to address climate change. To be paid for by moving tax rates on high-incomes and corporations toward what they were recently. What’s not to like, especially in the rural, underserved Second Congressional District of Maine? It would bring us in line with the social service offered in most of the Western democratic world. 

On his website, Jared Golden makes all the right noises about a multiplicity of issues including labor unions, Maine industries and small business, health care, national security and veterans, clean elections and [hard] infrastructure. Why would he join the group of so-called “moderates” to jeopardize the goals expressed in his website? 

In Maine, we’ve been down this road before. Sarah Gideon’s Senate campaign offered no reason to vote for her other than her name wasn’t Collins. In attempting to defend his right flank in the Trumpian Second District, if Jared Golden’s group manages to sabotage the “soft” infrastructure bill that contains much that he supports, then the only reason to vote for him is to organize a Democratic majority in the house. But don’t count on him to advance the Democratic agenda or even to vote for the Speaker of the House.