Sen. Susan Collins, the senator whose approval rating has absolutely plummeted—further than any other sitting senator’s—is trying to convince Maine voters that despite her near-total capitulation to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, they should let her keep her job.
She's traveling around the state and telling reporters that it's all going swimmingly. "The people of Maine have known me, and they know that I have been a hardworking, independent advocate for them, who votes with integrity," she says. "Should I choose to seek re-election, I'm confident it will go well." Yeah, sure she is.
Yes, independence and integrity is all what those votes for the tax scam and Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were all about. As for that independence? She's endorsing Moscow Mitch as the next Senate Majority Leader. "'You know who’s going to be the next chairman of the Appropriations Committee should I choose to run?' she asks, pointing at herself and smiling." That’s an awful lot of chicken counting out of a bunch of eggs. But it means that she fully intends to remain a loyal member of McConnell’s team.
That's not going to convince all of her former supporters, however. Like these Democrats who've nonetheless supported her in the past, when she was being "bipartisan."
"I've supported her ever since she went to Washington. I was extremely disappointed with the Kavanaugh vote," said Donna Sawyer, 72, of Limington, a former host of a local gardening television show. "I will never vote for that woman again!"
Al Mingione, 69, of Buxton, said he also voted several times for Collins but won't any more after her Kavanaugh vote. He said he doesn't "want a guy like that on the Supreme Court," adding that he also wants to see the Senate go Democratic.
Notice how Collins keeps qualifying her words—IF "I choose to seek re-election"? She's right now having the scare of her political life, and for very good reason. She's chosen party over her own constituents, over her country. This time, though, she's fooling no one.
Enough is enough. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!