This is quite an endorsement life-long Mainer and incredibly popular author, Stephen King, where he touts his support for Shenna Bellows (D. ME) and exposes Senator Susan Colins (R. ME) for not being as moderate as she leads on:
http://bangordailynews.com/...
Collins supports the Patriot Act, and has repeatedly voted for its renewal. She has repeatedly voted to authorize (and legalize) NSA spying. Shenna Bellows advocates repeal of the Patriot Act, and so do I. Obviously we need to keep an eye out for terrorists on American soil, but in the age of drones and mega-surveillance, it’s way past time to restructure this thing. And although Collins claims the NSA spying program is fair, it looks to me too much like a doorway to that world George Orwell wrote about in 1984.
Bellows supports raising the minimum wage. Collins opposes it, which makes me roll my eyes in exasperation. A $10.10 per hour wage in an America where gasoline costs $3.65 a gallon — and where a great many Maine workers have to travel long distances to their place of employment — seems fair to me. The idea that 10 bucks an hour will flatten the economy is basically an idea promulgated by rich greedheads who don’t want to pony up what’s fair to hard workers who are struggling to make ends meet.
Collins supports the Keystone Pipeline. This just makes me sigh, but not because of the pipeline per se. It’s where it comes from. This is tar sands oil, and according to the National Wildlife Federation, it’s “one of the dirtiest, costliest, and most destructive fuels in the world.” It lays waste to fragile ecosystems, emits more of the pollutants associated with global warming when burned, and creates lake-sized reservoirs of toxic waste. It’s a lethally short-sighted quick fix, and the supporters of the Keystone are its enablers.
Bellows believes that genetically modified foods (known as GMOs, and called “Frankenfoods” in my house, but that’s just us) should be labeled. In 2013, Collins voted against a law that would have mandated labeling these modified products, more or less turning her back on all the organic farmers here in Maine who were in favor.
I could go on. Collins voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act, mandating that women get equal pay for equal work (and you thought Lincoln freed the slaves). She voted for the Iraq war, and OMG, what a horrible idea that was. Her personal views on same-sex marriage are unclear to me, while Bellows is frank and up-front on the subject, stating her belief that gay folks should have the same rights under the law as straight folks (and the same responsibilities, of course).
Collins has shown leadership, at least within her own party, which hasn’t always been easy. She shows up, she does the job, she interacts with her constituents. All good. For this lifetime Mainer, however, she’s on the wrong side of too many issues to deserve re-election. I’m voting for Bellows. No smart money there, just smart ideas, idealism and youthful energy. - Stephen King, Bangor Daily News, 5/29/14
Well said. Here's some more good news:
http://www.pressherald.com/...
Shenna Bellows has raised more than $1 million in her campaign to unseat Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, surpassing a symbolic financial threshold for the underdog challenger.
Bellows’ campaign announced Thursday that the Democrat passed the $1 million mark in recent weeks, achieving a goal of hitting that figure before Democrats go to the polls for the June 10 primaries. Both Bellows and Collins are running unopposed in their respective party primaries.
Updated fundraising figures for the Collins campaign were not immediately available Thursday. However, the three-term incumbent had more than $3.6 million remaining in her campaign fund as of March 31 and raised more than $877,000 in the first three months of the year. Candidates for Maine’s congressional seats were required to file updated campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission by Thursday night. Those pre-primary reports will show contributions and spending through May 21st.
Campaign observers have suggested that $1 million threshold is symbolic because it shows that Bellows – a first-time political candidate and former head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine – has the capacity to raise significant sums. The Bellows campaign said the donations came from more than 14,500 individual contributions averaging $68. - Portland Press Herald, 5/30/14
Very impressive. Now Collins has a bigger war chest but here's something to keep in mind:
http://www.kjonline.com/...
Maine’s U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has raised more than $5 million for her re-election campaign, leading Democratic challenger Shenna Bellows by a wide margin.
Collins, a Republican who is seeking her fourth term in the Senate, reported $446,976 in donations during the reporting period that ended May 21. That total put Collins at slightly more than $5 million for the campaign so far. She ended the period with nearly $3.9 million remaining, according to figures from her campaign.
“We’re delighted with the overwhelming support we continue to receive for Senator Collins’ re-election,” said Betsy McCandless, treasurer for the Collins campaign, in a prepared statement. “Our cash-on-hand number puts us in a very strong position as we head into summer.”
In the same reporting period, Bellows reported surpassing $1 million in total fundraising. Bellows’ campaign did not release the amount of money she had still available. - Kennebec Journal, 5/30/14
You can see that Bellows raised more money from individual donors than Collins which is a positive sign that she has bigger group of supporters who want to see her win. One thing's for sure is Maine Democrats are getting ready for November:
http://www.wcsh6.com/...
The party is not only looking to get Mike Michaud into the Blaine House and fill seats in Congress but also preserve its majority in the state House and Senate. Maine Democrats succeeded in doing that two years ago when the party took back the legislature from Republicans after they had control for the first time in decades.
"People see us as the people that are actually talking about issues that are hitting home to them," said state senator Troy Jackson, who is one of the Democratic candidates running for Maine's second Congressional district, "Healthcare...jobs...the economy..those are things that Democrats fight for."
"I know for my campaign we're on TV we're in the mailboxes at the doors," said state Senator Emily Cain, who is running against Jackson, "we're on the phones and we've got volunteers all across the state and that's the kind of campaigns we're going to be running all year long."
A bulk of the activity at the convention will take place on Saturday May 31, 2014 at the Cross Insurance Center. Mike Michaud and U.S. Senate candidate Shenna Bellows will be making their remarks. - WCSH 6, 5/30/14
Just a reminder that Bellows is backed by the DSCC so hopefully that will pay off. Click here if you want to get involved and donate to Bellows campaign:
http://bellowsforsenate.com/