Susan Collins circles the drain
Susan Collins’ reluctance to take a moral stand on pretty much anything has gotten legendary at this point, as prospects of holding onto her seat as a Republican senator from a moderate state are rapidly vanishing. We’ve seen her acknowledge Trump’s guilt and concern for his authoritarian behavior (and Brett Kavanaugh’s) over and over again, only to vote with him in the end, at least when it benefits her politically. Rather than looking fiercely independent, as she likes to claim she is, it now looks as desperate as it should and her latest stunt is probably not something Donald Trump will like.
On Tuesday during a CNN interview, Collins announced that she will not endorse Donald Trump for president (at least not yet), even if she won’t endorse her former Senate colleague Joe Biden either, which would be the right thing to do. She should get absolutely zero points for this, especially when we remember how she refused to vote to convict Trump when she had the chance, but it’s not a move that’s likely to help much either, even if Donald Trump doesn’t attack her on Twitter for it.
Collins, a long time incumbent, is already trailing her opponent Sara Gideon by 4 points, and is already being outraised by Gideon, so she’s used the excuse that she has to focus on her race back home rather than be associated with any of Trump’s demented antics. We’ll see what happens – it may seem irresistible for Trump to jump in when she says there are parts of her state where he’s very unpopular, but he’s probably also been warned by staff that she’s off limits if the GOP wants to maintain any congressional power in the New England region. What we do know for sure is that he’s definitely not okay with this, whether he makes it known or not.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making