The fall of Susan Collins, New England’s last Republican

She was the last Republican senator from New England, having weathered changes in presidents and parliamentary majorities, the Obama era and the rise of Trump. In the end, however, after thirty years in Congress, even Susan Collins had to concede defeat. Over the course of these three decades, many have tried to oust her, to dislodge her from that seat which has so often determined whether federal appointments and controversial measures were given the green light or scuppered. Since 1996, the Democratic Party has invested millions of dollars in the search for strong candidates to run against her. They succeeded, but she always won. Even the last time, six years ago, when, amidst the ruins of Trump’s first presidency, she defied all the polls that had her as the underdog: she was expected to lose by five or six points. She won by eight. Ironically, it was the most unlikely of rivals who brought her Senate career to a close: a populist lumberjack detested by his own party colleagues as few others have been. Decades in local government and an endless string of failures. The outgoing governor, herself a Democrat, refused to endorse him. Troy Jackson had entered the race in the summer, at the last minute: a replacement had to be found for Graham Platner, the primary winner, who was embroiled in cases of violence and sympathies with Nazism. Not exactly ideal for a West Coast state that is very Victorian in character and staunchly anti-Trump. Jackson pulled it off, even if the ‘credit’ isn’t his. It belongs to Trump, and to understand this, one need only listen to what voters were saying in TV interviews as they left the polling stations: ‘Susan is brilliant, I’ve always voted for her, but we have to say No to Trump’s agenda.’ After all, The Donald spent months saying that people should vote as if his name were on the ballot paper, and the electorate took him at his word. By rejecting him. It is his party’s candidates, however, who are paying the price. Both the unelectable ones he so strenuously backed, such as Ken Paxton in Texas, and the moderates with a bipartisan track record like Collins.