Don’t Get Your Hopes Up About Susan Collins
Maine’s liberal activists don’t expect the senator to take on the GOP
With Election Day just six weeks away, Susan Collins is staring at yet another potential Supreme Court controversy. Nearly two years after the Maine senator voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court, she’s again at the center of a battle over a vacant court position, this time centered around Senate Republicans’ efforts to rush through President Trump’s pick for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat.
Collins knows better than anyone how much of a conundrum she now faces. Her stunning drop in popularity — she trails her opponent, Democratic nominee Sara Gideon, by five points in the polls, and now ranks as the second-least popular senator in the country — is owed in large part to her Kavanaugh vote. Her decision to confirm him didn’t sit well with her state’s female constituents and ultimately helped local activist organizations raise millions toward unseating her. Collins in fact still hasn’t escaped Kavanaugh’s shadow: Ads continue to run in the state excoriating her for the vote.
