Ad targets Susan Collins: 'You’re a senator. Act like it.'
An organization of prominent conservative opponents of President Trump released a new ad on Wednesday targeting Sen. Susan Collins for her party-line votes at the opening of the president’s impeachment trial.
“Senator Collins, you aren’t doing the job we elected you to do,” the 30-second ad, produced by the Lincoln Project, begins. “You’re a senator. Act like it.”
On Tuesday, Collins voted for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining rules for the impeachment trial, and against Democratic amendments to subpoena documents and witnesses from the White House, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton. All of the Democratic motions failed, most by margins of 53-47, reflecting the makeup of the Senate.
Collins did join Democrats on one amendment — to allow more time to file motions — but it, too, was rejected.
She was among a group of senators who convinced McConnell to make an 11th hour change to the rules, allowing the 24 hours of opening statements to be spread over three days, not two.
“You work for Maine, not Mitch McConnell,” the ad says, contrasting Collins with former Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and William Cohen.
“Maine demands independence from our leaders, something we had with Olympia Snowe and Bill Cohen,” the ad continues. “Don’t embarrass their legacy by protecting corruption.”
The Lincoln Project was founded last month by Republicans critical of Trump, including George Conway, husband of Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, and GOP strategists Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson. It plans similar ads aimed at other Republican senators up for reelection this year, including Martha McSally of Arizona and Cory Gardner of Colorado.
Collins has a reputation for waiting until the last minute to declare her position on contentious issues, publicly agonizing over her vote, but almost invariably siding with her party.
The spot ends with a warning: “Do your job, Susan Collins, or Maine will find someone who will.”
Collins, who has served Maine in the Senate since 1997, is facing a tough reelection against Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, speaker of Maine’s House of Representatives, in a race ranked a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report.
This week, Planned Parenthood endorsed Gideon over Collins, who the organization said “abandoned” women with her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year.
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