The Power of Place-Based Politics

Go Local, Fight Polarization

Dear Mainer, 

August recess started early in Congress this year, so members are headed home until early September. I’ll be glad to be back, and I’m looking forward to spending time with my wife, daughters, and our families during Maine’s beautiful summer season. It goes by too quickly. 

While Congress may be in recess, I’m still working on the challenges facing Maine communities. I’m working with a bipartisan group in the House to pass a budget amendment to protect timely mail delivery and USPS jobs in our district, and have submitted another amendment to block new regulations that would put Maine’s lobstermen at a competitive disadvantage against Canadians. 

I’m also leading a push to make the CDC reconsider costly, unnecessary new dog importation requirements that threaten the historic, beloved Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races in Fort Kent. The CDC is feeling the pressure and recently rolled back a portion of the new rules — a good first step, but they need to rewrite the whole thing in a way that’s workable for Mainers. 

Sometimes, people ask me why I’m focused on these issues when there are so many “bigger” things to worry about. Around this time every two years, national politics and debates about big nationwide and international issues take center stage, crowding out local and even statewide issues. 

Those debates are important, and as a member of Congress it’s my job to represent Mainers’ interests in discussions about lowering prices and creating jobs, America’s foreign policy, the federal budget, or protecting our fundamental and constitutional freedoms. 

But just because those issues are important, that doesn’t mean so-called “smaller,” local issues have disappeared. If anything, at a time when national politics take over the public discourse, I feel an obligation to use my power and office to ensure Mainers’ specific concerns and challenges aren’t ignored. 

I firmly believe that members of Congress should practice place-based politics. 

Go local

America is a big country, and while we share a lot in common, the experiences and challenges in any community or state are distinctive. The culture and way of life in a place is unique. Maine’s 2nd Congressional District is a special place not because it is superior to other places, but because it’s different. Our communities have more in common with each other than with places in other parts of the country, but even within our vast district, towns and cities have unique identities that are worth honoring. 

For a member of Congress, place-based politics is about fighting for, and protecting, the things that make your district special. It’s about prioritizing the places you represent.

I have no ideological or partisan qualms with the CDC. And I confess that before the past few months, I had not spent a lot of time thinking about dog importation regulations. But place-based politics means recognizing the importance of the sled dog races for northern Aroostook County, even if other parts of the country — or other parts of the district — may not even know about it. It means listening to local concerns about federal policies and working to honor the singular heritage of Fort Kent and the surrounding communities. 

I also think place-based politics can be an antidote to polarization and hyper-partisanship.  

An antidote to polarization

I have written before about the harms of hyper-partisanship and polarization, but it’s also worth considering how we got to a place where those dynamics loom over every aspect of our politics. 

Our political culture amplifies extreme voices and encourages polarization, especially around election time. Extremists want to push the parties to adopt their positions and each party is always looking for ways to contrast itself with the other. The parties casually flirt with extreme ideas from the fringes of their ranks while pointing out the extremes in the other. So partisan identities harden. If you’re not careful, it can start to feel like your party ID is your entire identity, and that partisan affiliation is a prerequisite for meaningful relationships with other people in your life.

But we share meaningful bonds of place with the people we grow up with, the people whose families grew up next to ours and worked in the same industries, the people we grab weekend beers with. We share common culture with those who have the same local and regional touchstones as us, or who know and participate in the same local high school sports rivalries.

And all Mainers share a history that transcends partisanship. We live in a place and a culture built on the backs of generations who worked the land and the sea. Industries like logging, fishing, and farming fueled secondary industries like shipbuilding, papermaking, canning and food processing. People who earn a living in tourism likewise ply their trade in an economy built on this special place we share. Our tough weather and history as a frontier of our nation created a culture of both self-sufficiency and community interdependence. Even in our globalized world, the things that have made Maine special for generations matter today. 

So even when we disagree on issues — and we do — we still share a trust built on the strength of those bonds. This is how placed-based politics transcends partisanship. Some examples: 

• When I worked with the entire Maine delegation — two Democrats, a Republican, and an Independent — to oppose the Biden administration’s regulations that would harm our lobster industry, we weren’t doing so on behalf of partisan interests. We were fighting on behalf of lobstermen.
  

• On the flip side, when I vote for bills supported by Democrats, I don’t do it because I want to give my party a victory: I voted for the Infrastructure Bill because Maine is a massive, rural state with big infrastructure needs. I voted for the Inflation Reduction Act because ours is one of the oldest states, and lowering seniors’ health care costs will make a big difference. I voted for the CHIPS and SCIENCE Act because so many individual Maine communities are still dealing with the fallout from shuttered mills and jobs shipped overseas — communities that know how important it is to make investments that ensure we are a nation of producers, not just consumers. 

Representation cannot be separated from place

None of this is to say parties don’t matter. I’m a Democrat because I believe in the power and necessity of unions, in civil rights and in equality. Place-based politics is about keeping an eye on what makes our places special, the way of life created and sustained within them, and fighting to honor them regardless of whatever partisan loyalties or affiliation you may bear. 

That’s why I fight for sled dog mushers, lobstermen, and rural mail service, even as I also help craft the national defense budget, push for federal anti-corruption reforms, and work to crack down on unfair trade practices by our international competitors. It’s why you might see me post about a great community project I’m proud of, even if the rest of your feed is dominated by national headlines. 

The job of an elected official cannot be separated from the places they were elected to serve. All elected leaders owe it to their constituents to keep their eye on the unique opportunities and challenges that only exist in the communities they serve. 

Now that summer is finally here and Congress is in recess, I’ll be spending time in the places that make our state special. If you see me out there, don’t be shy. I’d love to say hello, and hear about the places that made you who you are, and what they need to thrive today and in the future.

Until next time,