Mainers Care About Collins' Impeachment Vote. But Her Reelection Is About More Than That

Very interesting article.


Maine has a long history of, and appreciation for, independent legislators.



UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 11: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives in the Capitol for a vote on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)


With the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is again in the national spotlight, as she looks like she just might vote to hear witnesses at the Senate trial. That impending Collins vote became especially crucial this morning, when new allegations against Trump’s involvement in the Ukraine pressure scheme surfaced in the unpublished manuscript of ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton’s new book. Collins indicated on Twitter the news may sway her vote, arguing the accusations “strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversation among my colleagues.” If Collins votes to allow additional documents and witnesses, she’d be one of the few Republicans to do so. If it happens, it’s likely she’ll be lauded for her independence, and headlines in Maine will likely make this their focus.
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National and local reporters typically frame Collins’ sometimes departure from the Republican fold in terms of a tension between two constituencies. The basic narrative: Collins has to keep Republicans happy, lest she face a primary challenge, but she also has to appeal to the broader electorate. A more historically grounded variant points to the decline of Republicanism in New England, at least when it comes to Congress and presidential votes. This is a shift that has gotten far less attention than party shifts in the South. The upshot is that Trump won just one electoral vote in New England, in Maine’s second congressional district, and Collins is now the only Republican office-holder from New England in Congress.


But what both of those perspectives on Collins leave out is something central to Maine political culture, a model against which Collins often is judged. There’s a vision of leadership Mainers have long touted and from which Collins previously benefited politically. In that vision, the best political leaders are respected nationally, civil, not politically extreme, involved in working across the aisle, committed to principle and independent.

There’s a political pantheon of Maine, made up of elected officials who fit that model. Margaret Chase Smith is among the purest exemplars. Smith was the Republican senator who stood up to Joe McCarthy in inveighing against “character assassinations,” while defending “the right of independent thought,” and proclaiming that she didn’t “want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear.” Smith is regularly cited in Maine and Collins has identified Smith as a role model.

Others in the pantheon include Republicans Bill Cohen and Olympia Snowe, as well as Democrats Ed Muskie and George Mitchell and independent Angus King. ................