Democracy’s somewhat of a strange unfulfilled bedfellow in a country which really prefers the reverie of individual sovereignty above all else. The notion of personal autonomy is also somewhat of an irony given how rarely our society exhibits true individualism. Most of us, most of the time, behave more like sheep who like to imagine they’re assuming a lone-wolf posture but remain largely self-corralled by perpetuating one side or the other of a singularly bottom line aligned dominant Establishment. We’re prodded along year after year through the restrictive confines of a two-party system, separated left and right and systematically shorn of any serious thought of jumping such traditional fencing’s limitations on the possibility of ever actually following one’s own independently chosen path.

Democracy’s supposed to be all about self-rule, self-determination and the freedom a majority consensus provides over the tyranny of a small powerful elite. Representational democracy should ideally provide even more freedom by having an elected proxy attend to the day-to-day rigors of participatory governance. Someone who’ll do the heavy lifting in overseeing the collective good so those represented can go about their personal pursuit of individual betterment. Trouble is, representational self-governance isn’t actually democratic if individuals elect to let others be sole arbiters in determining who’ll be one’s ultimate proxy.

On April 2 voters in Bath’s District 52 will elect one of three candidates to the office of Maine House of Representatives to replace a sudden vacancy in that position held since 2012 by an overwhelmingly favored Democratic. The Republican challenger in the last two races has decided to sit this one out after garnering only 28 percent and then 35 percent of electorate support in those failed outings. The Republican candidate this time around has never previously run for office, nor has the Libertarian entry to the race.

Given that track record, it’s likely that another Democrat will again be favored to represent Bath at the state level. The recently crested Blue Wave still has major momentum even though its Blaine House honeymoon period’s gone adrift as Maine’s first female governor’s flirtation with CMP’s hydropower controversy now turns into a full embrace. That this was her mucho macho predecessor’s much-derided conservative-corporate energy initiative only underscores how red and blue are hardly clearly black and white when it comes to the matter of political positioning regarding a Green New Deal.

Fortunately, Janet Mills isn’t kindred to LePage’s overall aversion to almost anything green. Fortunately, most Mainers prefer a more progressive blue approach on environmental policy, ditto myriad social concerns, so any possibility of District 52’s blue stronghold suddenly turning red in this upcoming special election would be a major political curiosity indeed.

That may well explain the trickle of interest in last week’s Democratic caucus held at Bath’s City Hall. Apparently, either of the two well-known Bath City Council members vying for the Democratic slot in an election that most assume is an already done deal was fine with those not in attendance as long as one ultimately carries the blue flag to Augusta. Party participation deferred until an actual blue vs. red showdown. Partisan support in its most generic armchair form.

In the Democratic primary run-up to the recent general election the incumbent nominee ran unopposed in receiving 100 percent of 1,101 votes cast. At last week’s gathering of the party faithful far fewer of the blue wave’s base bothered to show up. Given that the actual election will most predictably go to whomever the Dems put forth, at Tuesday’s caucus less than 100 people, in a 54-39 vote, essentially decided who’ll represent all the people of Bath in our state’s governance.

Even worse, according to some observers, Tuesday’s Democratic caucus was actually an unusually large turnout as such things typically go. Those present weren’t proxy voters. This wasn’t representative democracy as practiced in Augusta but on a smaller scale. This was pure one-person-one-vote democracy, as direct as it gets. At least there were two candidates from which to choose. The Republican caucus elected the best candidate out of a field of one.

Of the two Democratic contenders, one was revealed as surprisingly well credentialed with both a political science degree and a stellar resume of practical experience of the statehouse and its legislative process. The other lacked both, as well as having no previous affiliation with the Democratic party. That the outcome wasn’t more lopsided is tribute to both candidates’ familiar likeability and the often nebulous interface between voting with one’s head and one’s heart. Big-town-small-city drama of the first order, and a nail-biter for sure.

The Democratic dice have now been cast. Whether the winner in April will indeed be another affirmation of blue dominance in Midcoast politics nevertheless remains to be seen. The unexpected but decisive skillset gap established between two well known Democratic contenders previously assumed to be politically interchangeable proves the value of an informed vote over a presumed judgment. Hopefully, an all-party public forum will be provided at least once before April, allowing comparison of the other two possibly equally surprising entrants in what now stands as a presumably forgone concluded three-way race.

Gary Anderson lives in Bath.