It’s over, Susan. Your time is done. Finito. After 24 years, Maine voters are prepared to show you the door. Maybe you don’t understand the venom directed at you, especially given your perfect attendance record at roll call votes. Maybe you don’t get why late night comedians poke fun at you or why you’ve appeared in Saturday Night Live skits or why your overall favorability rating has plummeted. Let me explain.
Does the name Brett Kavanaugh ring a bell? Well, Mainers sure remember. You took great pleasure in pretending to agonize over your decision whether to confirm Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Mainer’s flooded your office with calls, visits and emails, urging you to vote against Kavanaugh. You ignored us. You decided to do the bidding of President Trump and Senator Mitch MicConnell. Trump was delighted with your “performance,” praising you at his rallies. Mitch McConnell assured you that you’d be receiving big financial support for your next campaign.
After the Kavanaugh hearing, you attended a private campaign fundraiser at the $4 million Northeast Harbor home of Leonard Leo, the executive director of the Federalist Society, the leading force in placing judges who oppose abortion rights on the federal bench.
Did it surprise you when Planned Parenthood endorsed your opponent Sarah Gideon, noting that you had turned your back on women? What else did you expect?
Speaking of judges, do you take pride in having supported all of Trump’s nominees for the judicial system for his first two years in office? And that, in all votes, you went along with Trump 94 percent of the time? It was easier for you to go along to get along, but was it right for Mainers and, in truth, your political future?
Do you remember the Trump tax cut, the one which mainly benefited corporations and the wealthiest Americans? You know, that’s the one where, after it passed, Trump went to Mara Lago and said to the wealthy people gathered: “I just made you all a lot richer.”
You pretended to agonize over whether to support the tax cut. As was the case with the Kavanaugh debacle, Mainers flooded your office with calls, visits and emails. I was right there in your Portland office with them. And then, the envelop please, you went along with Trump and McConnell.
When you first ran for the Senate, you promised to serve for only two terms, and now you’re running for your fifth term. Apparently, you’ve forgotten where you came from. In this state, a person’s word still means something.
The 2019 Congressional Accessibility Report reveals that “while members of Congress in both parties increasingly held town halls in 2019, Susan Collins is a ‘missing member’ who has failed to appear at a public town hall in Maine for more than 20 years.” Well, Sen. Collins, your state of origin likes representatives who can mingle with the people they serve and face tough questions.
And that, in the final analysis, is where you’ve misplayed your hand. You hitched your wagon to Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. Trump is a congenital liar; Maine’s not big on congenital liars. McConnell is a conniving powerbroker; Maine’s not big on conniving powerbrokers. Like it or not, the Republican Party has become the Trump Party. You grew all too comfortable living in your own Washington bubble, locked arm in arm with Trump and McConnell, turning your back on the people of Maine.
Well, your political bubble is about to burst. All signs indicate that Trump will lose in the upcoming election. If so, he will bring down many Republican members of Congress along with him. It may well bring you down too. I hope this piece will help you better understand what happened and why.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.
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