A Vote For Susan Collins Is A Vote For...

Although Rick Santorum has reassured his far right-wing allies that Collins has to occasionally make believe dh's a moderate to trick Mainers, she never betrays the GOP when push comes to shove, voters still expect her to come through for the mainstream when it's important. Yesterday it was important, very, very important. And she sure didn't come through for mainstream Americans. She was as extreme and out of her skull as Ted Cruz or Paul LePage. If you're looking for a reason to switch to Shenna Bellows, yesterday's vote to shut down another Republican filibuster of Tom Udall's constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, S.J. Res. 19.

The first GOP attempt to filibuster it to death was thwarted earlier in the week when all but 18 crazy anti-democracy extremists voted to allow a debate. Collins was one of the Republicans to vote to shut down the filibuster. So when the same Republican extremists went on the rampage again yesterday, many expected Collins to stick to her guns, especially because taking Dark Money out of ekectiomns is very popular in reform-minded Maine. But, no. She was back in Santorum mode, filibustering right along with Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Mike Crapo, Jim Inhofe, Beauregard Sessions and the rest of the GOP kooks.

All the Democrats plus Independents Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted to end the filibuster, but it failed with only 54 votes, a majority but not a big enough majority. Collins smugly voting with her own kind.

Since first running for the Senate in 1995, Collins has sucked up $7,435,095 in contributions from PACs. And of that $5,937,773 came from Big Business special interest PACs with agendas antithetical to Maine's middle class families. This cycle alone, she's already scooped up $2,404,553 from PACs, 45% of her total haul. These people don't hand out massive checks because they like a candidate's smile or through some sense of civil engagement. It's 100% quid pro quo, something that would land almost ever Member of Congress in prison if it wasn't designed to be almost impossible to prove in a court of law.

Remember, the independent-minded progressive in the Maine Senate race, Shenna Bellows has outraised Collins in small grassroots contributions $357,713 (27% of her total) to $123,536 (just 2% of Collins' total). Blue America has been urging progressives and reformers to contribute to Bellows campaign-- which you can do here.

"If you want to know whose side politicians are on, follow the money," Bellows said after the vote. "Our elections should be about everyday people supporting the candidates and the campaigns they care about, not massive corporate PAC checks overrunning the system with dark money. Senate Democrats tried to put electoral power back in the hands of the people today, and Susan Collins joined her Republican leaders in saying no. Mainers demand leadership on cleaning up our electoral system, and that's what I'll provide every day I'm in Washington."

Why this surprises anyone is beyond me. Collins voted against the DISCLOSE Act in 2010 and again in 2012 and is always in lockstep with the GOP when it comes to voting on these key issues, even if she goes back to Maine and swears up and down from Caribou and Presque Isle to York and Kittery that she's all about reform. Santorum wasn't blowing smoke when he described her as "a team player who always plays with the team and never plays against the conservative side even if she has to give the liberals a vote because she's from Maine." The Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania has a Republican congressman, Charlie Dent, who's far more "moderate" or-- more accurately-- more mainstream. Dent witnessed Ted Cruz's psychotic "Christian" event Wednesday and did what Collins would never dream of doing, telling Washington Post reporter, Robert Costa, on the record that Cruz was "outrageous" and "incendiary."

In an interview, Dent said he was sitting in the front row as Cruz spoke at a gala hosted by In Defense of Christians, an organization that seeks to raise awareness of the persecution of Christians and religious minorities in the Middle East, and that he cringed as Cruz responded to hecklers.

At the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, Cruz said, "Those who hate Israel hate America, and those who hate Jews hate Christians." A handful of attendees jeered the senator’s rhetoric and tone.

"I am saddened to see some here, not everyone, but some here are so consumed with hate," Cruz said as he was booed and before leaving the stage. “If you will not stand with Israel and Jews, then I will not stand with you."

Dent, whose district has a large population of Americans of Syrian and Lebanese descent, said he sympathized with those who were unhappy with Cruz, and wondered if the senator's intent was to inflame the audience in order to gain traction with tea party activists ahead of a potential 2016 presidential run.

"I support Israel, but what Senator Cruz did was outrageous and incendiary," Dent said. "He showed a true lack of sensitivity for the people he was speaking to, especially the religious leaders who were there. It was a political speech, inappropriate and, overall, an uncomfortable moment."

Dent added that Cruz seemed to be speaking "for another audience" beyond the ballroom that would later watch the video.

"He was speaking to people outside of the building," Dent said. "It was a willful and deliberate confrontation, and very self-serving."

A vote for Collins in November is a vote giving control of the U.S. Senate to knee-jerk obstructionist Mitch McConnell and more power to dangerous nuts like Cruz.