This week, Sarah Longwell’s podcast focuses on Maine residents who feel Sen. Susan Collins (R) has abandoned them and the independence she once claimed to have.
Speaking to newspaper editor and former national political reporter Alex Seitz Wald, Longwell played clips of voters she spoke with, all concerned about worsening financial problems.
According to focus group participants, there are real concerns about financial survival next winter. Some issues include lumber costs, which have risen due to President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada. Fuel oil is the other financial difficulty. This figure increased significantly following Trump’s war against Iran. So while the issues are national, for Maine people these big issues are now local as well.
All of the voters Longwell spoke with are people who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, but also supported Collins.
“I’ve always been a fan of Susan Collins. She was very bipartisan,” said a woman who voted for Biden and Collins in 2020. “She lives, you know, in a state that’s trending blue. So for a Republican to be a senator in a state that’s trending blue, you know, she really has to listen to both sides and respond to the needs of both sides. And she always has. And she’s done a lot of things that have been good for the State of Maine. Note this word. did. You know, she tends to vote with Trump, and I think that’s going to kill her in this election. »
She thinks a lot of people are paying attention now when maybe they weren’t before.
Another woman heard about the pay-to-play scandal with defense contractor Navatek. The company received federal funding in exchange for campaign donations benefiting Susan Collins and other politicians. Collins denies any wrongdoing and the investigation did not bring any charges against her.
Navatek’s former chief executive, Martin Kao, told the FBI that his company obtained lucrative government contracts by financially supporting influential lawmakers. ProPublica reported that Collins received $150,000 from a shell company that donated to a PAC supporting her. The allegations also indicate that Trump helped save her thanks to the FBI investigation.
“She doesn’t defend women,” lamented another woman. “Whatever you believe, she supported (Supreme Court Justice Brett) Kavanaugh. She knew it. She allowed it. No, you lost my vote. You don’t respect women. You don’t let women make their own choices. I have a problem with that. You know, she did the job. Okay, give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s still trying. She was good at this game, but when she… when I saw her in the office oval of Donald Trump with Donald Trump goodie bag, I knew it was sold.
Some retain their gratitude for her constituent services and describe her as intelligent and capable. Their rejection seems reluctant and disappointed rather than hostile. They believe that someone they trusted no longer offers them the independence they valued.
The woman who called Collins a sellout said the senator no longer cares about his constituents and may have gone too far “Washington” over Maine.
“I just think she’s been there too long, you know? I’m not going to pay for her to be there in a nursing home like Mitch McConnell. OK? He looks, I think, like a more active muppet,” the woman said. “I’m not going to vote for her. Um, and like someone else said, I have very mixed feelings about it because I think she’s very smart and she can get things done. But I think she’s been in this role too long.”
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