"Me, me, me, me, me," Sen. Susan Collins moans. "Why, oh why, must I have to campaign for my Senate seat and why are people being mean to me?" She really just can't imagine that anyone would actually question her votes or oppose her. That's not how it's supposed to work for her. And it's ALL about her.
"I've never had so much money spent against me in negative ads so early. It's approximately $1.5 million in false attack ads on television, on the internet. It's just been non-stop," she moaned on a radio show last week in Maine. "People should know where this money is coming from. I think we should have a level playing field and I would support a bill to require all groups to disclose their donors."
Uh, huh. As if the dark GOP money wasn't pouring in to prop her up wasn't a thing. As if she hadn't gotten her start in politics from gun money and as if hadn't been fully rewarded by dark money groups like the Judicial Crisis Network for her judicial votes, particularly approving Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
She says she wants full disclosure on funders. "There’s all these groups, Maine Momentum, Doctor Patient Unity. Who are they? Where's their money coming from?" she lamented on the radio show. Can you hear her disappointment? "I think they should have to disclose where the source of their money is coming from, regardless of whether they have been for me or against me. But they've all been against me so far," she whined. For the record: They haven't all been against her.
And as for that bit about "they should have to disclose where the source of their money is coming from"? Guess who has never voted for the DISCLOSE Act, legislation which has been introduced and brought to the Senate floor multiple times to establish additional disclosure requirements on organizations spending in federal elections. You don't have to guess. You know its Collins, who by the way also voted for John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the Citizens United ruling and the end to meaningful campaign finance laws.
She wants her cake—being a loyal Republican foot soldier for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and reaping the rewards for it—and to eat it, too, by playing the victim of this system that she helped create. She's gotten away with it for this long, but no more.
Enough is enough. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!