Recently I attended a political event for Troy Jackson in Portland. There were about 65 people there and Jackson was relaxed, approachable and friendly. He gave a reasonable speech, putting forth middle-of-the-road Democratic positions that the audience approved. Although he did not have the rousing delivery of Graham Platner, there was a hopeful, enthusiastic feeling at the meeting.
After his comments and several topical questions about AI, campaign financing, etc., an audience member asked (I am paraphrasing) why we should trust him. If elected, would he not turn into a politician on the take, concerned with pleasing the powerful people in D.C. as so many before him have? Jackson’s answer was so moving and well delivered that I regret that I did not film it.
He talked about why he got into politics. In 1998, believing that our politicians cared, he went to see Sen. Susan Collins about the mistreatment of logging workers and found her mostly concerned with being sure that the forest industry business had enough cheap labor.
Disillusioned that she did not help — and after seeing what united workers could achieve — Jackson said he ran for office to fight for the rights of the working class. He stayed in office more than 20 years doing just that. He knows our government is not working for everyday citizens and he always wants to be able to look people in the eye and say he did his best for them.
I think the crowd believed him. I certainly did.
Nancy Hasenfus
Brunswick