Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) was supposedly a friend of Secretary Hillary Clinton, but all that changed after the 2016 presidential election. The Maine senator has been doing her favorite trick: declaring loudly that she is completely against conservative members of the Republican party, thereby trying to paint herself a moderate. She uses this to draw in conservative Democrats and Republican-leaning voters. Remember when she voted at the very last dramatic moment for Justice Brett Kavanaugh? What about when she voted against impeaching Donald Trump?
After Collins voted nay on removing Trump from office. she offered this weak excuse, according to CNN:
‘I believe that the President has learned from this case will be much more cautious in the future.’
How did that work out, Senator? Secretary Clinton has thrown her substantial political power with Sara Gideon and tweeted Wednesday:
‘We can protect abortion rights, access to health care, the environment, and more. To do it, we have to flip the Senate. With yesterday’s primary victory, @SaraGideon is poised to flip Susan Collins’ seat in Maine. Contribute today to help her win:’
She continued with the Time interview when she waffled over a 2016 Trump vote:
‘ I’d always supported previous presidential nominees of my party but that in this [Trump’s] case I was going to wait and see what happened and that is what I am continuing to do.
‘I’m also well aware that he has appointed and hired women to higher positions within his companies and that his daughter is an extremely accomplished businesswoman, which are good signs. But I did not like, for example, when he said that Hillary was playing quote “the woman’s card” because I felt that demeaned, unfairly, her accomplishments.
‘And some of his other comments on Megyn Kelly, for example, were completely unacceptable and again demeaning…We worked closely together in the Senate on a number of initiatives.
‘I do not anticipate voting for Hillary this fall. This race has been so unpredictable with so many twists and turns in the road that it is very difficult to predict what is going to happen. But I do not anticipate casting my vote for Hillary.’
Collins continued, almost if she had no control over her body:
‘It’s just too early to tell. I would be surprised if I campaigned for Donald Trump based on his behavior and comments thus far but I believe in redemption. He is so unpredictable that perhaps tomorrow he will change his style, articulate his vision for America, beyond just saying he wants to make America great again, and come up with a series of plans and policies that I could support…I’ve seen the impact of poorly negotiated trade agreements on manufacturing in Maine.’
When The Time Magazine interviewed Collins in 2016, it asked her about her friendship with Clinton. The former senator from New York even threw the Maine Senator a bridal shower.
‘I certainly was critical of Donald Trump when he accused Hillary of playing the “woman’s card.” She’s an accomplished person who is clearly qualified to be President. I do have a good relationship with her.’
After voting to confirm Kavanaugh in 2018, the court voted to strike down a Louisiana law restricting abortion. It was meant to close more clinics with the purpose of making obtaining an abortion even more difficult.
Collins said recently that Kavanaugh’s dissenting vote had been misinterpreted by her political opponents, according to The Bangor Daily News:
‘My opponents have tried to suggest that this opinion is an indication of how certain justices would vote on the question of overturning Roe v. Wade.‘
The Maine senator spoke about her 2020 campaign, according to The New York Times:
‘That’s what’s frustrating to me in this pandemic, because I can do this in a rural area, at an outside event, but the vast majority of fairs and festivals in our state have been canceled. I think that’s a huge loss for me, because people know that I’m there because I want to be there, and it energizes me.’
Sara Gideon raised $24 million, far more than Collin’s $16 million. After Collins voted for Justice Kavanaugh, a crowdsourced fun raised $3.7 for the Democratic candidate. This is the most expensive race in Maine’s history.
ABC affiliate WMTW reported that the former Maine Speaker of the House Gideon said:
‘We’re in the middle of coronavirus. We have yet to see a second round of CARES Act funding, proper personal protective equipment, the right amount of testing, and this is something that is failure of the current Senate and the Republican senators who are enabling this president in a total abdication of leadership.’
These Republicans had no trouble voting for Clinton:
Twitter world caught fire when Clinton sent her tweet. Check out what some of our favorites said below:
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
