ME Sen I can't really be Collins it yet

[ajc0918]

Who schedules a debate for Friday night? Maine ways I guess.

[GoldenMainer]

Yeah, it sounds like you're giving way too much credit to Collins here. Her dodging and and saying Mainers don't need advice is not a good answer either. Gideon dodged, but it was bad, but Collins dodged and it was fine? I don't think most people in the middle would be okay with Collins dodging but Gideon dodging on a much more irrelevant question.

Are you a Maine voter? I literally watched this with my two parents who are both independents and are undecided (they don't like some of Susan's votes but they like that she secures money for Bath Iron Works and the Portsmouth Shipyard and they liked when she talked about helping small businesses during the pandemic). They didn't care about Collins' answer but they commented on Gideon not sounding prepared with her answer.

It wasn't the dodging that made Gideon's answer bad, it was the fact that she was caught off guard and stumbled over herself to try to say something coherent.

[DrScholl]

Collins literally couldn't even answer about supporting Trump or not. How is that good for Collins?

Collins was prepared for it, didn't miss a beat, and said Mainers didn't need her advice on who to vote for for president. Whether you agree or not (and she was clearly dodging), most people in the middle who are making up their minds would see that as a reasonable answer. Later in the debate, Collins asked Gideon if she would have supported Justice Roberts, and Gideon literally stumbled and looked like a blubbering mess. It wasn't a good look.

Gideon actually said she would have to research when Collins asked her about voting for Roberts and honestly that was a strange question considering that Roberts has been on the court for years. That aside, saying who you support for President has nothing to do with giving voters advice on who to vote for. Regardless, I don't think either of these things are a game changer. Short of an Akin or Mourdock moment, these debates don't much matter.

[GoldenMainer]

Gideon actually said she would have to research when Collins asked her about voting for Roberts and honestly that was a strange question considering that Roberts has been on the court for years. That aside, saying who you support for President has nothing to do with giving voters advice on who to vote for. Regardless, I don't think either of these things are a game changer. Short of an Akin or Mourdock moment, these debates don't much matter.

After moments of silence and the moderator having to prompt her to answer the question. Then Collins got in a jab at the end about her "ducking the question." Not a bad move on Collins' part honestly. Gideon was trying to show people that Collins was ducking the question about Trump and Collins returned the favor to her. Collins looked prepared for the Trump question, Gideon was flustered with her question.

You are right that many people might not be watching. My point is, Gideon's team needs to prepare her far better if she is to win. Her performance tonight was underwhelming and Collins had a solid performance.

[Yoda]

This is another interesting article about Susan Collins' predicament: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html. As with the Politico article that I posted before, this article examines why Collins' approval ratings have collapsed to the extent they have, and how many Democratic and independent voters who had supported her in her previous races now detest her, and want her out.

Democratic activism in Maine seems to have increased substantially over the past three years, and Collins' tax vote, her vote to confirm Kavanaugh, and her vote to acquit Trump are identified as the three main factors which have destroyed her popularity. They also interviewed Shenna Bellows, Collins' 2014 opponent, who lost to her by a 2-1 margin last time, and who seems to be heartened by how Maine's voters have "been awakened" to Collins' true character.
 

Read this the other day. Fantastic article. Was really heartening to read about all of the people who automatically voted for Collins in the past who became just absolutely enraged by her votes on Kavanaugh, the tax scam and the impeachment trial, not to mention Betsy Devos' confirmation. Collins' refusal to meet with more than a few constituents and her arrogant dismissal of them drove these voters even further away from her. Collins is not getting anything she doesn't deserve right now. An absolutely horrible representative of her state.

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/newscentermaine/status/1304572047788593152

lmao

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/newscentermaine/status/1304572047788593152

lmao

Moderator: "I would ask that you stick to the question if you..."[moderator cut off by Linn]
Linn: "Well..uhm...request denied."

I love how during the ..."answer" Linn gave right before the exchange I typed above, you can hear the moderator laughing during his "well, I'm going to put your question aside" quote.

[ProgressiveModerate]

I watched the debate and I would have to argue Collins won narrowly, though neither Collins nor Gideon did particularly well. Collins dodged a lot of questions like when Gideon asked her about Trump, and seemed kinda flip-floppey but also flaunted some of her achievements as senator. She never really said much controversial though. Gideon mostly attacked Collins, but I think she attacked Collins a bit too much early on in the debate. She went down the rabbit hole of Collins not chosing a side with Trump a bit too much. Then again, I'm probably overanalyzing this.

Honestly, I would probably be more friendly towards Collins if it weren't for the fact a vote for her is a vote for McConnel being the senate majority leader.

[SenatorCouzens]

I watched the debate (though not a Maine resident and have no insights into this race). I was surprised how green Gideon seemed, a bit of a vibe like she was participant in a mock debate and was just playing a candidate on TV.

I don't think it will affect the race one iota and it's kind of a weird question, but I think it's reasonable for a candidate to know whether or not they would support the confirmation of the current chief justice, who has been making rulings in every blockbuster case for the past 15 years.

Collins was more prepared and had more gravitas than Gideon, in my opinion. I think this race is tilt Gideon, but still up in the air and impossible to say... there are more moving parts and uncertainty in this race than most others.

Thanks for your thoughts, GoldenMainer, and for watching the debate with your independent parents and giving us their thoughts!

[Badger]

Joe Lieberman cuts a commercial for Collins touting himself as a "lifelong Democrat", who still supports Collins because reasons.

F##k you Joe. F##k you and the equally hypocritical horse you rode in on.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

Again, why didnt Troy Jackson run and why did we anoint Gideon? She really sucks. I still think she'll win b/c the environment but I feel like a better candidate would be ahead by more

[Ferguson97]

Again, why didnt Troy Jackson run and why did we anoint Gideon? She really sucks. I still think she'll win b/c the environment but I feel like a better candidate would be ahead by more

What makes her "anointed" and what makes her suck?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Collins literally couldn't even answer about supporting Trump or not. How is that good for Collins?

Collins was prepared for it, didn't miss a beat, and said Mainers didn't need her advice on who to vote for for president. Whether you agree or not (and she was clearly dodging), most people in the middle who are making up their minds would see that as a reasonable answer. Later in the debate, Collins asked Gideon if she would have supported Justice Roberts, and Gideon literally stumbled and looked like a blubbering mess. It wasn't a good look.

That's a lame answer. People don't expect politicians to dictate to them who to vote but this is about where SHE stands. Trump is the incumbent president and refusing to say whether you support or oppose his reelection is unacceptable for a member of the US senate.

[President Johnson]

Why is this clown even in the debate? I think there should be tougher rules to attend, something like polling at least 10% in order to qualify. These joke candidates just distract and take time and they're not winning anyway.

I haven't watched the whole debate, but will do so. Just saw a clip at Sara Gideon's Instagram how Collins dodged the question about the presidential race. She is such a joke.

[Skye]

L M F A O the moderator's face when the guy says "request denied". I'm in shambles.

[Sir Mohamed]

Is it just me, or anyone else thinking Collins with her Kavanaugh and impeachment votes may have done Dems a favor in the long run? If she voted against him, the dude still would have gotten confirmed or just replaced with another Federalist Society judge few months later. Voting for impeachment wouldn't have made a difference anyway. And even if senate floor voted for witnesses, the GOP senators were never going to convict Trump regardless, no matter how strong the evidence was. But with her votes, Collins lost a lot of her "moderate/independent" credentials and crossover support, opening up a great pickup opportunity for Dems. Especially now as we're looking to a very close race for senate control, where one state could really make the difference.

Imagine if Collins voted differently: There would (likely) have been one pickup opportunity less now. Even if Collins is going to vote for almost all of Biden's cabinet and judicial nominees on the floor, it's useless as long as McConnell is not allowing the floor votes to take place at all. Let alone Collins wouldn't vote for more than half of Biden's policy agenda anyway.

[Storr]

Joe Lieberman cuts a commercial for Collins touting himself as a "lifelong Democrat", who still supports Collins because reasons.

F##k you Joe. F##k you and the equally hypocritical horse you rode in on.

Hopefully not too many Mainers (is that the right term?) care what demosaur Joe Lieberman has to say.

[Kuumo]

Is it just me, or anyone else thinking Collins with her Kavanaugh and impeachment votes may have done Dems a favor in the long run? If she voted against him, the dude still would have gotten confirmed or just replaced with another Federalist Society judge few months later. Voting for impeachment wouldn't have made a difference anyway. And even if senate floor voted for witnesses, the GOP senators were never going to convict Trump regardless, no matter how strong the evidence was. But with her votes, Collins lost a lot of her "moderate/independent" credentials and crossover support, opening up a great pickup opportunity for Dems. Especially now as we're looking to a very close race for senate control, where one state could really make the difference.

Imagine if Collins voted differently: There would (likely) have been one pickup opportunity less now. Even if Collins is going to vote for almost all of Biden's cabinet and judicial nominees on the floor, it's useless as long as McConnell is not allowing the floor votes to take place at all. Let alone Collins wouldn't vote for more than half of Biden's policy agenda anyway.

She will have done Democrats a favor if she loses. However, she could have done them more of a favor by retiring like Jeff Flake and a lot of House Republicans that faced potentially competitive races in 2018.

[wbrocks67]

Also, what does John Roberts have to do with this? If I was Gideon, I'd probably be unprepared too. Who cares if she would've voted for Roberts? That's such an irrelevant question and nowhere on the same level on whether Collins supports *The President of The United States*

[Canis]

Watched the debate Linn was awful and annoying and hilarious lol. Collins asking Gideon if she would vote for Roberts was an extremely annoying dodge from the criticism  she was getting for the Kavanaugh vote. I thought Savage and Gideon did incredibly well and would make amazing senators my endorsement for the race has changed tentatively to
1. Savage
2. Gideon
3. Collins
4. Linn

[Lognog]

The amount of Gideon ads you get in Maine is insane.

Also I'm York County. I've seen slightly more Biden signs than Trump signs, lots of signs in general.

I've seen more Gideon signs than Biden signs.

Haven't seen a Collins sign yet.

[wbrocks67]

The amount of Gideon ads you get in Maine is insane.

Also I'm York County. I've seen slightly more Biden signs than Trump signs, lots of signs in general.

I've seen more Gideon signs than Biden signs.

Haven't seen a Collins sign yet.

Glad that Gideon is putting all that $$$$ to work

[Lognog]

The amount of Gideon ads you get in Maine is insane.

Also I'm York County. I've seen slightly more Biden signs than Trump signs, lots of signs in general.

I've seen more Gideon signs than Biden signs.

Haven't seen a Collins sign yet.

Glad that Gideon is putting all that $$$$ to work

She really is. The signs look great and the ads are short and to the point

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

The Maine SoS has updated their site with the final list (post-deadline) of candidates and write-in candidates. On the ballot:

Collins (R)
Gideon (D)
Linn (I)
Savage (I)

As write-ins:

Tiffany Bond ("Moderate MaineRaising Independent")
Ian Kenton Engelman ("Facts Matter")
Douglas E. Fogg (I)

[Lognog]

The Maine SoS has updated their site with the final list (post-deadline) of candidates and write-in candidates. On the ballot:

Collins (R)
Gideon (D)
Linn (I)
Savage (I)

As write-ins:

Tiffany Bond ("Moderate MaineRaising Independent")
Ian Kenton Engelman ("Facts Matter")
Douglas E. Fogg (I)

I've seen a lot of Savage signs, wouldn't be surprised if she didn't get high single digits on the first ballot