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If things keep on going their way — i.e., if Donald Trump’s economic policies continue to jack up prices and kill jobs, if Americans realize that they are rather fond of their democracy and don’t want to live in a right-wing autocracy, and if there is a fair election* — it is conceivable that the Democrats will win control of the Senate next year.

To do so, all of their incumbents have to emerge victorious, they have to prevail in a couple of very winnable races in North Carolina and Maine, and they must secure two more seats in states Republicans are currently favored to hold, e.g., Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, and Texas.

It’s possible, but to pull it off, they can’t make any mistakes, and they have to pick the right candidates.

In North Carolina, that isn’t a problem.

Even though Tar Heel State Republicans are experts at rigging elections, Democrats have a good chance of flipping the seat of retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R) after two-term governor Roy Cooper (D) threw his hat in the ring.

Things are much more complicated in Maine, where the Democratic establishment is backing Janet Mills, another two-term governor, to take on Sen. Susan “I’m deeply concerned about the things Donald Trump is doing but will always back him up when it matters” Collins (R).

However, unlike Cooper, she must first win a competitive primary in which Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran-turned-oyster farmer, has emerged as her main opponent.

And that is an understatement because, until very recently, it looked as though the race was Platner’s to lose.

With an anti-establishment message that resonates with independence-minded Mainers, a vow to fight the excesses of capitalism, and a campaign focused on making life more affordable for regular Americans, he became an internet sensation, earned some big-name endorsements, and pulled in huge fundraising numbers.

Over the past couple of weeks, however, Platner’s effort to defeat Mills and unseat Collins hit some speed bumps when comments he made online years ago emerged, it was revealed that he has a tattoo on his chest associated with Nazi Germany’s paramilitary SS, and some key staffers quit the campaign.

Time will tell how Mainers feel about these things.

If you ask us, there are too many purity tests in the Democratic Party, so we don’t find Platner’s social media comments from a decade ago disqualifying, especially because his contrition and explanation following their release seemed genuine.

The tattoo is more troubling, especially in light of Donald Trump’s authoritarian ambitions and the many parallels between the present-day United States and 1930s Nazi Germany.

It’s also not a good sign when staffers not only quit a campaign but also have disparaging things to say about it.

All that being said, we don’t get a vote in Maine’s primary, so it hardly matters how we feel about Platner.

However, we are watching this primary closely because we believe that it reveals a lot about the Democratic Party.

Here is what we know: If a blue-collar political rookie running an antiestablishment campaign fails to defeat a 78-year-old career politician next June, it won’t be because voters don’t like his message.

That’s not how the Democratic leaders and consultants — who hand-picked Mills and are setting the party’s agenda based on focus groups and polls rather than conviction and passion — would spin it. It’s in the interest of the party establishment to make it seem as though Platner lost a battle of ideas… if only to justify its existence.

That’s why it’s really important to remember where the race stood before those revelations surfaced.

A University of New Hampshire poll taken after news of Platner’s online comments broke showed him crushing Mills by more than a 2-to-1 margin. And he did this by running the kind of grassroots campaign that more Democrats should be running.

Voters are actually excited about Platner, his platform, and his vow to take on a billionaire class that seems to run the country at the expense of regular Americans. They listen to what he has to say and believe him when he promises to fight for them.

Compared to all those suits who are regurgitating talking points that have been tested, polished, and tested again, he is a breath of fresh air.

That is why we believe that there is a good chance that voters will ultimately forgive him. Warts and all, he certainly represents the average person more than someone like Mills.

This isn’t to say that all Democrats should be like Platner.

There are some states and circumstances where a “safe” choice like Cooper, who enjoys a positive approval rating and great name recognition in North Carolina, is the right one.

However, what we are seeing over and over is that Democratic voters are telling their leaders that they are tired of the candidates the party elders and high-priced political consultants are putting in front of them.

When given a choice, they want something else, which is why it seems highly likely that Zohran Mamdani, a passionate and eloquent 34-year-old assemblyman, will be elected as mayor of New York City next week.

And he will have accomplished that feat after besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo twice, and without support from the party establishment.

But distance from the party establishment hasn’t hurt him. In fact, it seems likely that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will be more negatively impacted by his embarrassing reluctance to endorse Mamdani — the candidate that his constituents chose as the Democratic standard-bearer in the race for New York City mayor. We suspect the same will be true for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has yet to back his party’s nominee.

They don’t seem to realize that Mamdani doesn’t need them. On the other hand, they may need him down the road.

Candidates like him and Platner are generating the kind of enthusiasm that Schumer and Jeffries can only dream about. As for Mills, she may be able to defeat Collins, who has the charisma of a cardboard box, but nobody will be excited about her candidacy.

Instead of trying to harness that energy, embracing young voices like Mamdani and Platner, and adopting messages that resonate with the party’s rank and file, Democratic leaders seem to want to push them away.

You can say what you want about Trump, but at least his voters are passionate about him in a way Democrats haven’t felt about one of their own since 2008 when Barack Obama flipped the script and defeated the establishment candidate in a close primary before cruising to a general election victory.

If they want to retake the Senate in the face of the GOP’s efforts to rig the midterms, they need to generate the “Yes We Can” energy and optimism again, and we don’t think that is going to happen by shunning young candidates who have found a way to communicate with voters and are running on platforms that excite them.

*If you’re wondering, we’re pretty certain that the first will happen, hopeful that Americans will rise up in opposition to Trump’s dictatorial ambitions, and highly skeptical that the midterms will be fair.