-By Warner Todd Huston
Senator Susan Collins, the lefty Republican from Maine, has crossed the aisle to vote for the Democrats’ bills and policies more than some Democrats have over the last 10 years. She is pro-abortion, pro-Cuba, pro-fetal stem cell research, anti-gun, ant-free trade… well, the list of things she is for and against seems to follow the Democrat’s path straight down the line richly earning her the title of RINO (Republican In Name Only). Because she is such a reliable Democrat friend one might think that the Democrat Party would be on her side in her 2008 re-election bid, or if not on her side, exactly, at least not too fired up to defeat her in her re-election bid, at least.
But, no. In fact, the Democrats lined up in ranks deep and long to attack her with some of them even going to her district to campaign against her. Even her colleagues in the Senate came to her state to try to defeat her, quite despite the fact that she voted their way at nearly every opportunity. And Collins is a bit upset by that fact, too.
Quite a few of her Senate colleagues campaigned to defeat their “friend” in that chamber during the 2008 campaign season. Among the Democrat Senators that campaigned against Collins were Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) even Democrat Whip Dick “Turban” Durbin (D-Ill.) attacked her.
That’s not much gratitude shown by Democrats for Collins’ efforts to cross over from her own party to vote their way so often, is it?
Well, according to The Hill, Collins herself is admitting she was hurt by the massive effort by her Senate “colleagues” to beat her.
Collins told colleagues at a small Senate prayer breakfast meeting last week that she still felt lingering resentment toward Democratic senators who campaigned against her in Maine.
She confessed that she had “trouble forgiving colleagues” who traveled to Maine and told voters she was “a Bush clone and called into question her ethics,” said a senator who attended the meeting.
Collins won her election with 61.5% of the vote and the efforts of the Democrats was wasted, fortunately for her.
But, here is the whole point. Why should a Republican so often cross that aisle? What will it get them? It certainly doesn’t get cooperation or gratitude from the left. In fact, it seems to get powerful forces lined up to defeat you. It also shows that Democrats do NOT want to work with their opposites. Their claims of being “bipartisan” is nothing but a lie.
Maybe Susan Collins will wise up from this experience?
If I know my RINOs, though, she won’t be.
(Photo credit: Washingtonpost.com)
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
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