Organized Effort National Democrats have tried to orchestrate the Maine U.S. Senate campaign from the start. They flocked to a perceived outsider candidate, Graham Platner, and forced a long-time state officeholder out before the primary. Every time stories came out challenging Platner’s background or behavior, they were tamped down before the spark became a flame. Even Smokey Bear would be proud of how effective they were at snuffing out those embers.