Susan Collins Jumps Off The Trump Train

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine has come out and publicly stated she will not be voting for Donald Trump. In a blistering op-ed in the Washington Post, Collins states, "I had hoped that we would see a 'new' Donald Trump as a general-election candidate — one who would focus on jobs and the economy, tone down his rhetoric, develop more thoughtful policies and, yes, apologize for ill-tempered rants. But the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no “new” Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat. Regrettably, his essential character appears to be fixed, and he seems incapable of change or growth."

Collins' public posture is always a bellwether for which way the political winds are blowing. But in the end, she usually always supports the party line. Her favorite tactic is to create compromise bills that are carefully crafted to win just enough of those Republicans threatened on a particular issue but not enough to actually win passage. When those amendments go down to defeat, the threatened Senators and Collins can say they tried and then vote the Republican line. She made noises about supporting Obamacare, but ended up voting against it. In the latest attempt at gun control earlier this summer, she again crafted a compromise that ended up failing, with the result that no legislation was passed. So it is a pretty big deal that she has come out so forcefully against Trump. This will certainly open the door for other Senators and House members, especially those facing tough elections this fall, to also come out and repudiate Trump.