You will recall that Collins often had “concerns” about Donald Trump’s horrific policies and behaviors. Not that she ever did anything substantial about it but she would wring her hands and publicly express her differences. But in the end she generally stuck with McConnell’s agenda despite her protestations of “moderation.”
We saw not one but two examples of that pivot to the right on Wednesday. First, she announced in an interview that she would not be supporting the Democratic effort to pass federal legislation protecting pre-viability abortions as a matter of policy in case the Supreme Court fully reverses Roe v. Wade (as it may this year or next). Although she had a rationalization involving the alleged encroachment of the draft abortion-rights bill on religious liberties and claimed to be working on her own “codify Roe” legislation, it was still notable that one of the two pro-choice Republicans left in the entire Congress (the other being the embattled Lisa Murkowski) would go out of her way to offer this pleasing token to the anti-abortion majority of her party’s base.
But the bigger gesture of party solidarity came later via the Portland Press Herald:
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will endorse former Republican Gov. Paul LePage Wednesday in a pre-recorded video as LePage kicks off his campaign to challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in 2022 …
“As Maine recovers from the pandemic, Paul is the best candidate to grow our economy,” Collins says in the minute-long video, which was released exclusively to the Press Herald on Wednesday afternoon.
LePage was the Maine governor (elected twice by pluralities) who was sort of a proto-Trump, delighting in crude, offensive, and often racist statements while compiling a record in office typified by his monomaniacal efforts to stop a Medicaid expansion even after Maine voters approved it by a landslide. For eight long years, he was a living reminder of the harsher cultural and political trends beneath the placid surface of New England politics, and now, like a bad penny, he is back seeking a third term. But before a temporary move to Florida, he helped head off a potential right-wing primary challenge to Collins by endorsing her prior to her tough 2020 reelection contest. It was perceived at the time as sort of a MAGA thank-you note for the senator’s crucial last-minute decision to back Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation in 2018. She is now returning the favor.
Susan Collins is 68 years old and won’t be up for reelection until 2026.
LePage is a total nutcase. But Susan owes him and she’s paying him back. That’s nice. Too bad she doesn’t feel an equal need to pay back all the women who once supported her for her pro-choice beliefs over the years.