She’s the only Republican Senator left in a blue state, was the only blue state Republican Senator to defy the massive Democratic wave in 2008 (when she won by more than Obama against a credible opponent), outperformed her polls substantially in 2008/2014/2020, wasn’t ahead in a single public poll since July, was outspent by more than 2-to-1, and survived an 8-point Biden win in an election with historically little split-ticket voting to win by high single digits. She definitely deserves an A.
Your points are very good, but I wonder if Biden's substantial win in Maine (it's 10 points now) actually had something to with her victory. Maine voters lean liberal but they're definitely independent and quirky. Maybe Maine voters, as they planned to vote for Biden and perceived a Biden victory as likely, started moving towards Collins to be a check on Biden. I know the polls were trash but they were deteriorating for Gideon in the last week (around +2) compared to her earlier polling.
Poll
