A GOP Senator Must Be, To Use Her Own Words “Deeply Concerned”

There is someone (besides Joni Ernst) who should have a whole lot of concern about losing her senator position next year. Her voters are unhappy, and they are saying so in no uncertain terms. Sure, her centrist-leaning right position is helpful. But her actions on a couple of things are dragging her down. From Raw Story:

For many years, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the most popular Republicans in New England. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, Collins was reelected by 7 percent in 2002, 23 percent in 2008, and 37 percent in 2014. Conservative-leaning but not far-right, Collins attracted a lot of swing voters, moderates, independents, and Democrats. But her image suffered when she voted to confirm now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.

Yea, Kavanaugh. He voted yes to overturn Dobbs vs Jackson. And it was done. Ms Collins found out the hard way that her decision was quite the wrong thing to do. Her voters are quite unhappy with her. At least she didn’t vote for the Big Ugly Bill. But Kavanaugh was a bad choice. Remember absolute immunity?

Collins was reminded how much her image had suffered when she was booed during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Maine on Tuesday, August 26. The New Republic’s Malcolm Ferguson, in an article published the following day, reports, “This was Collins’ first public, press conference-style event in her home state in nearly a decade. Video shows the room erupting in boos as she approached the front of the room to cut the ribbon for a new Main Street in Seaport, Maine. The boos eventually turned into chants of ‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ Collins smiled and cut the ribbon as if her angry constituents weren’t even there. The crowd continued to shout her down.”

Ouch. I would say it took a lot of nerve to calmly go about the ceremony, paying no attention to her constituents. Talk about having something thrown in your face. It sounds familiar, though, doesn’t it? Remember all those Republican town halls that blew up with their senators and House representatives? Those were an ouch, too. We’re all unhappy.

One of them shouted, “Your votes destroyed our Supreme Court.” “Collins’ chances of winning have been precarious for some time now. “Her dedication to a spineless centrist conservatism has frustrated Maine voters, especially in a state won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 general election. That, combined with Collins’ icy reception at her own event, and Platner’s current surge, should make the longtime senator very worried.” “This all comes as progressive populist Democrat Graham Platner announced his bid to unseat Collins last week in a now viral video,”  “His candidacy serves as a foil to Collins on almost every issue, and Maine residents are starting to notice.”

Yea, let’s flip another red seat like they did in Iowa. That would be lovely. As I’ve said many times, we can do this. We’re being shown we can do this. Re-election isn’t a done deal now. You have to work for it. I’m interested in seeing how this turns out. I’m very interested in what can be done for midterms. Aren’t you?

Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that of all of the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thanks. Ursula

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