Dear Editor:

Graham Platner has been direct, clear, and, in my estimation, a man of character who both admits and has learned from past mistakes, as well as a man with ideas and positions we desperately need to be implemented here in Maine and across the USA.

Currently, Mainers in Lincoln County and everywhere else in the state are being subjected to a series of commercials on broadcast TV and YouTube spuriously asking, “Who is the real Graham Platner?” and painting him as a hateful person. A far more compelling, telling, and critical question Mainers should be asking themselves is, “Who is the real Pine Tree Results PAC?”, the group behind these ads. The short answer is that Pine Tree Results PAC is a dark money PAC funded almost entirely by extreme right-wing billionaires, multi-millionaires, and corporations, including, among others, “Stronger America, Inc.”, based in Arlington VA and led by Paul Cooksey, a longtime Republican operative; private equity colossus, Blackstone co-founder and CEO Steven Schwarzman; and Lexington Fund, another out-of-state entity, tied to the conservative activist, Leonard Leo, owner of a vacation home in Bar Harbor and a major influencer on President Trump’s Supreme Court picks.

Graham is blatant and explicit in his pledge to fight the oligarchs who are currently running (and destroying) The United States of America as we know it. “Pine Tree Results PAC” wants to maintain the oligarchs, who are supported by the actions of Senator Susan Collins, despite her claims to be “centrist.” Unlike Platner, she has not held a single Town Hall in years. Who is the real Graham Platner? He’s the guy who is fighting for restoration of the middle class, uplifting of the working class, universal healthcare, elimination of the cap on Social Security contributions, and dozens more policies that will benefit all Mainers and all Americans. If you want to know who the real Graham Platner is, go and listen to him, speak to him, and judge for yourself. Meanwhile, Susan Collins is in hiding from any direct interaction with citizens and voters of Maine.

Lenny Shine

Bremen