Graham Platner is out of the Maine Senate race, burdened by controversies that include a troubling rape accusation, which he denies. His departure is no doubt a good thing that will make it easier for Democrats to win back the Senate.

But progressives should pay attention to the discussion around Platner. His collapse is being turned into something larger, supposed proof that people from outside politics have no business being in it.

“Say what you will, but the establishment vets candidates,” the Center for American Progress president, Neera Tanden, wrote as the allegations broke. The Atlantic mocked the “beer test” that elevated Platner and noted that the movement behind him prized “an intensity of commitment” over “a mastery of policy detail”. The implicit message is that governing is a job for professionals, and that the amateurs should sit back down.

The establishment vets candidates, we are told. And yet Bill Clinton was vetted. So were Andrew Cuomo and Eric Swalwell. The professional class produces its own share of predators and grifters, and plenty of them slip through into elected office anyway.

The most important vetting that goes on in electoral races screens for something else: whether a candidate can largely self-finance a race,........

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