Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has breezed through her reelection campaigns after she came into the Senate in 1997. Since Donald Trump took office, she has developed a technique to deceive the people she is supposed to represent. It seems that those people are a lot smarter than she credits them for being.
Basically, Collins pulls a repeat “Lucy,” from the Charlie Brown comic series, on the people of Maine. Take the example of her hanging on the fringe between the Republican Party and her constituents during Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing. At the very last moment, she flipped for the president’s party to vote against a conviction. Now, those votes are coming back to bite her.
Afterward, The Bangor Daily News reported that Collins told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell:Â
‘I believe that the president has learned from this case.’
O’Donnell asked her what Trump had learned, and the senator replied:
‘The president has been impeached. That’s a pretty big lesson.’
In early May, a retired restaurant worker shouted at her, according to The New York Times:
‘[G]et those kids out of cages!’
Then, there was the time Collins held her vote until the very last moment when her decision could have kept Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off of the bench. A very credible witness, one trained in trauma bravely testified about how he attacked her. Her testimony was chilling.
Abortion right advocates had pressured Collins:
‘Abortion rights advocates had demanded that she vote no. Then Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor, accused the nominee of sexual assault, during hearings that riveted the nation.’
Many had no doubt that Collins would keep him away from the court. Then, she stood at the point of a triad of Republican women and voted him into a lifetime appointment:
‘She had raised $4.4 million for her 2020 campaign as of March, according to federal elections data, money she will need: After her Kavanaugh vote, a crowdfunding campaign raised over $4 million to donate to her eventual opponent. Last week, she drew a formidable challenger: Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House.’
Kavanaugh voted to uphold a rigid anti-woman Lousiana abortion law and could easily have been a vote to overthrow Roe v. Wade: Collins had this to say about her vote for Kavanaugh:
‘I do not regret my vote in the least.
When Donald Trump left the hospital Tuesday, the senator said she was “shocked,” just shocked to see him discharged so soon, the local affiliate for central Pennsylvania, CBS21 reported. Then, she added that when he took off his mask, he set a “poor example:”
‘When I saw him on the balcony of the White House, taking off his mask, I couldn’t help but think that he sent the wrong signal, given that he’s infected with COVID-19 and that there are many people in his immediate circle who have the virus. I did not think that was a good example at all.’
As a result, the White House is a coronavirus hotspot. Thus far, 15 people affiliated with the West Wing and Trump’s campaign have tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic. The great halls of the people’s house have been eerily silent. Collins called the president’s approach toward the pandemic “extremely uneven.”
Now, the senator is in the race of her life. Should Gideon win, there would be a chance for the Democrats to not only take the presidency but also the Senate.
Twitter world responses flew off the page as fast as people could type them. Take a look at some of our favorites below:
Susan Collins got called out by @SaraGideon for her support of Kavanaugh. Well done Senator—oops—I mean Sara. pic.twitter.com/HIOFkK2JqG
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 5, 2020
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.
