Sen. Susan Collins
When Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) spoke at a late August ribbon-cutting ceremony in her state, she was aggressively booed and heckled by attendees. This booing was quite a contrast to the enthusiastic support she enjoyed in Maine in the past, when she was reelected by 23 percent in 2008 and 37 percent in 2014.
Maine voters were quite willing to split their tickets in 2008, choosing Barack Obama in the presidential race while voting overwhelmingly to give Republican Collins another term in the U.S. Senate.
MSNBC's Steve Benen, in an opinion column published on August 28, stresses that the booing Collins recently suffered underscores a broader problem in the GOP. President Donald Trump's economic policies, according to Benen, are wildly unpopular — and even a moderate conservative like Collins is having a hard time distancing herself from them.
The recent booing, according to Benen, is quite a contrast to 2017 — when she voted "no," along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), on a Trump-backed bill that would have overturned the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (also known as "Obamacare").
"In July 2017," Benen recalls, "Republican Sen. Susan Collins made a routine trip home, as she'd done countless times during her lengthy congressional career. But this time, her arrival was quite a bit different: After walking into the terminal at Bangor International Airport, the senator was greeted with spontaneous applause. There was no great mystery as to why: Collins had just voted to derail the Republican Party's far-right health care gambit, and relieved Mainers apparently wanted to show their appreciation for her having done the right thing to protect the public from her own party's agenda."
Benen adds, "Collins, receiving the kind of outpouring of support most members of Congress can only dream of, described the scene as 'amazing.' Eight years later, the GOP incumbent is facing a very different kind of public reception in her home state."
Collins, now in her fifth term, is up for reelection in the 2026 midterms — and the recent booing, according to Benen, "probably wasn't encouraging."
"Collins' detractors raised a variety of points, though at this specific event, a local report from the Midcoast Villager noted, 'Detractors questioned Collins’ role in celebrating new spending while President Donald Trump and her fellow Republicans in Congress push through federal budget cuts to health care, food assistance and other services.'"
Benen continues, "The senator has argued that when her party's far-right megabill recently came to the Senate floor, she voted against it. That's true. But it's also true that when the inaptly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act needed to clear a key procedural hurdle a few days earlier, which allowed senators to advance the radical legislation, Collins voted with her party and the megabill's proponents — even as some other Senate Republicans sided with the package's Democratic opponents. Some of her constituents appear to have noticed."
"In July 2017," Benen recalls, "Republican Sen. Susan Collins made a routine trip home, as she'd done countless times during her lengthy congressional career. But this time, her arrival was quite a bit different: After walking into the terminal at Bangor International Airport, the senator was greeted with spontaneous applause. There was no great mystery as to why: Collins had just voted to derail the Republican Party's far-right health care gambit, and relieved Mainers apparently wanted to show their appreciation for her having done the right thing to protect the public from her own party's agenda."
Benen adds, "Collins, receiving the kind of outpouring of support most members of Congress can only dream of, described the scene as 'amazing.' Eight years later, the GOP incumbent is facing a very different kind of public reception in her home state."
Collins, now in her fifth term, is up for reelection in the 2026 midterms — and the recent booing, according to Benen, "probably wasn't encouraging."
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"Collins' detractors raised a variety of points, though at this specific event, a local report from the Midcoast Villager noted, 'Detractors questioned Collins’ role in celebrating new spending while President Donald Trump and her fellow Republicans in Congress push through federal budget cuts to health care, food assistance and other services.'"
Benen continues, "The senator has argued that when her party's far-right megabill recently came to the Senate floor, she voted against it. That's true. But it's also true that when the inaptly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act needed to clear a key procedural hurdle a few days earlier, which allowed senators to advance the radical legislation, Collins voted with her party and the megabill's proponents — even as some other Senate Republicans sided with the package's Democratic opponents. Some of her constituents appear to have noticed."
READ MORE: 'What happens when he's gone?' Trump’s health issues have associates jockeying for leadership
Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.
Report typos and corrections to: feedback@alternet.org.Do you think Trump’s influence is weakening within the Republican Party?
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