Susan Collins was the only Republican who voted against the beloved-by-Honda-minivan-drivers Amy Coney Barrett. Collins was already hated by everyone in the greater Portland, Maine region (nearly half the state’s population). At age 67, she is also subject to prejudice against the elderly (though Biden doesn’t seem to be hurting!). Presumably her vote against Barrett was calculated to enhance her chances for reelection, but I wonder if it is safe to say that this choice doomed her. To win, she needs nearly everyone in small town and rural Maine to turn out and vote against their oppression by the sophisticated credentialed enriched-by-bigger-government folks in Portland. But now that this ancient sack of muddled middle-of-the-road positions has voted against America’s SuperMom, how are the rural Mainers supposed to muster enough enthusiasm to vote?
I’m usually wrong about everything, but I am going to predict here that the 48-year-old Sara Gideon prevails. Maine will finally be represented by a politician that all of Portland supports!
(helicopter flying by me; photo by Tony)
Related:
- “Gideon raked in $39 million for Senate race in last 3 months” (Portland Press Herald, October 15): Democrat Sara Gideon raised more than $39 million for her U.S. Senate campaign in the third quarter of this year, nearly five times the $8 million contributed to the campaign of Republican Sen. Susan Collins. [We haven’t seen too many complaints in U.S. media lately about money corrupting politics; is that because Democrats are raising far more money than Republicans?]
Not that familiar with Maine politics but I suspect that if Collins loses it will be because she voted for Kavanaugh and not because she voted against Barrett
She is toast. Only chance she had was to go harder right and hope for support, playing to the middle when the middle is left of Lenin and has a player on the field is stupid. She loses and looks weak for her ACB vote. Probably lowered her post Senate employment opportunities as well.
I keep hearing things from people that Collins could somehow scrape together a victory there but money talks and she’s been overwhelmingly outspent. Collins doesn’t promise enough things like Gideon, to “lift families out of poverty” and save the planet. Obama endorsed her, along with NARAL, EMILY’s List, Progressive Democrats of America, Brand New Congress, and Our Revolution. So she’s got a lot of lifting to do, and Collins is too old to lift all that stuff.
Also, Gideon converted to Judaism so her husband could take her last name. That tells everything else you need to know.
I think she is done. And honestly I say good riddance too bad garbage! What’s the point of having her as a republican if she cannot get into line?
I guess the Republicans feel the same way about political campaign contributions as they do taxes. Likewise, the NRA went bankrupt under Trump – with him supporting their cause there was little motivation to contribute.
NRA has had troubles for years. It all really came to a head with the war between Oliver North and Wayne LaPierre, and then the vultures descended. For years now the NRA has been accused of being out of touch with its members and ineffective because of that, and of course once the rift opened up, everyone who hates them was more than happy to drive new wedges in the cracks and keep pulling.
J: But the Democrats also raised and spent substantially more in 2016. It seems like a durable element now in American politics, i.e., that the Democrats are the party with money.
@J: But what you mention is true to some extent: NRA donations and memberships typically go up in years when Democrats preside, and fall off when Republicans are in power because a lot of NRA members think they’re “safe.” Most Deplorables don’t have the budget to do both.
Apparently being “not Susan” is no better than “not Donald”. I’m frankly stumped as to what needs changing to get these parties working better at selecting candidates. After 30 years of paying too-close attention to politics. I’m moving back toward my younger-self position: politics does not attract the best people, I would not invite many of them to my home for a meal, and almost all are some kind of narcissist if not sociopath. The Republicans found a b-list celebrity narcissist and the Dems a moribund one. Time to take another look at the stock market and clean the fishing tackle.
50/43 so far Collins/Gideon. People should be able to predict elections just by asking me what I think and then predicting the opposite. With tens of $millions in outside money and 20 years of youth in her favor, Gideon could not win?!?! It can’t be because Mainers are opposed to a bigger government and a Progressive agenda. They voted for President Harris, after all. How could they not give Collins the boot?!?
with 99% of the precincts reporting, Collins leads by 8.5%.
I was right about one thing in the original post: “I’m usually wrong about everything”
Maine is not over yet. I see 85% reporting not 99%. Nobody has called Maine for Collins.
Also Maine is Ranked Choice Voting so if Collins drops below 50% when all the rest of the votes are counted, Gideon could win even if she gets fewer first-round votes. This is what RCV does!