Discussion for article #246343
For all her faults, if Senator Collins was typical of the Republican Party, this would be a much better country
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Really? She loves to BS about āmoderationā but Mitch can always count on her vote. Sheās just your typical phony Republican.
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Perhaps playing the Party Line here would threaten her continued tenure by alienating her constituents. Would be my guess, anyway.
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Wow, Harry Potter has REALLY let himself go!
And I am so fucking sick of this āSusan Collins is a moderateā bullshit. Sheās probably getting reamed to the extreme in her home state, because thatās the only way that any Republican goes against the reptilian Teabagger leadership of the Republican Party.
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Reminds me of a great Harry Reid quote about Joe Lieberman:
āHeās always there for meā¦except when I need him.ā
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Yes, really, because virtually every other GOP senator is a fucking right wing nut.
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I wouldnāt trust her as far as I could spit. Even after her statement on this.
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Youāre missing the point. Sheās better than her colleagues. Do you really deny that If she was the most extreme member of her party this would be a better country? Really???
So no, I donāt think that sheās Ted Cruz, or Mike Lee, or some other crazy in a dress.
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In the end, if you vote like Joni Earnst, who the fuck cares if you talk like youāre to the let of DiFi? Here entire moderate act is just eyewash for the voters in Maine who worship at the tree of centrism while paying no attention to the voting.
On the other hand, Angus King plays the same game and it gets him reelected too, so thereās that to be said in its favor.
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Thatās not really the bigger point here, however.
There is now a steady stream of GOP Senators bailing on McConnell. And itās only been a week. No way they can hold on this for 10 months. The polling is already against them, and its only going to get worse.
In fact, what I suspect may even be happening, is the longer McConnell stays with his āNo hearingsā stance, the more likely it is that some of these disaffected Senators actually vote for Obamaās nomineeā¦if only to create more distance for themselves and what is becoming an extremely unpopular stance.
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Fair enough.
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Kirk did, Collins did, Portman might. Toomey is a long shot, but heās not suicidal, so maybe.
Who else? Burr seems unlikely-
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There seems to be a real cleavage developing here. Most Senate Republicans think Obama should acknowledge the asterisk by his presidency and leave the nomination to the white people in 2016 rather than acting like heās a real president or something. A minority believes that he should be allowed to nominate someone, because appearances must be maintained, but then they should just ignore it, because, after all, asterisk. And then a still smaller minority, comprising Republicans elected in 2010 who are up for reelection in states he carried, believes they should absolutely go through the charade of holding hearings before inevitably rejecting the candidate. Because, after all, asterisk, but thereās no need to be gauche about it.
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Johnson is backtracking. Murkowski is waffling back and forth. Ayotte will be the next to break ranks.
I think as this goes on, we will see moreā¦like say, Graham, who is pissed at the party and sees this as a suicide missionā¦and possibly even McCain, who is going to be facign a tough re-election and would stand strong with his BFF.
Hell, if things heat up in the polls in KY, it wouldnāt surprise me to see Paul change sides on this.
In less than a week, the GOP has already lost their majority status on this issue. And its not going to improve, only get worse. Once Obama nominates someoneā¦who in all likelihood is going to be someone that was approved for his/her current position unanimously, they start really coming over.
My guess is, is that McConnell is already seeing the signs that he will have to cave, so he is dropping his rhetoric on this, and much like Grassley did, he will only be making rather bland statements that can go either way in order to save face when the caving moment comes.
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Encouraging.
We are only going to need 5 to vote for the nominee, who is probably going to be someone they all voted for earlier.
McCain might be in perhaps the most interesting position on this. If he caves, he gets primaried from the right without a doubt. But if he doesnāt cave, his opponent, an actual threat this time, from the left is going to pound him about the ears with it.
So far, most of these folks are only worried about their left flank. It will be interesting to see who those who have real concerns on both flanks react.
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Folks here in Maine love them some Susan Collins. Me, not so much.
I have hard through the grapevine that she might be running for Governor in 2018, leaving the senate seat open two years early. The political calculus is that the GOP canāt ever win in Maine in a Presidential election year, but on off-year election could possible keep the seat in the red column.
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I should have expressed myself with more care.
I feel that Collins played a months long game of ākick the football, Charlie Brown-I promise I wonāt pull the ball awayā
throughout the health care negotiations in 2009-10. Ultimately she did a great deal of damage and did not come through one bit, and I suspected her of dealing in bad faith.
The old suspicions come up whenever she plays her āReasonable Republicanā role. I may be a hopeless crank about this, but there it is.
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Itās actually āFor the Constitutionās partā, but so great of you to give our founding document your blessing, Senator!
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