Remember when Sen. Susan Collins was pissing and moaning about how her constituents in Maine were organizing to tell her they wanted her to oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination? How the grassroots fundraising effort for a challenger fund was the most egregious thing that had ever happened to her and was a "bribe" to turn her to the dark side?
Guess who is now raking in huge amounts of PAC money as her reward for her vote? A brand new PAC in Maine called the 1820 PAC, an apparent reference to the year Maine was granted statehood, has reported more than $775,000 in contributions from just seven donors. One of those donors is Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of The Blackstone Group, an international investment firm. Schwarzman, who has previously supported Collins and gave the maximum $5,600 to her 2020 re-election committee, gave $500,000 to the 1820 PAC. So you can guess the purpose of this political action committee. The Blackstone Group and Schwarzman also happen to be the biggest donors to the RNC and the NRSC, and Schwarzman regularly maxes out in personal donations to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Despite the very Republican credentials of the group, they're touting their support for Collins as a result of her "bipartisan credentials" and also call her a "strong voice to the concerns of women across Maine and the nation," as if the women of Maine and the nation haven't watched her sell us out time and time again. As if she didn't smear Kavanaugh-accuser Christine Blasey Ford by referencing Alex Jones conspiracies against her. As if she didn't betray every survivor of sexual assault with her vote for Kavanaugh.
The big GOP bucks are going to pour in for Susan Collins, just like Mitch McConnell promised when he told Fox News "Senator Collins will be well funded, I can assure you." Thanks to a massive grassroots effort, so will the Democrat who will be on the ballot with against next November.
Let's make the fund even bigger. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!