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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 7h

Notice the 'No On 1' signs at Graham Platner's event tonight in Brewer.

Wouldn't be a bad idea if every Dem running for Gov/Sen/Rep (lots of 'em!) spent a good chunk of time this month pushing a "No On 1" message.

(Except, maybe, Jared Golden who's probably 'Yes on 1' for all we know?) #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 8h

Yeah if Angus King is going to parade his nepobaby candidate son around the Capitol then it's a legitimate question to *both* men why the older guy is doing such a poor job of standing up to creeping authoritarianism. #MEpolitics

Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 9h

Hi @anguskingiii.bsky.social, since you're with him, can you convince your father/top supporter to stop voting with Trump and Republicans? He keeps doing it and he knows better - or should

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 9h

Spotted: Angus King introducing Ron Wyden to his son Angus King III, who is running for Governor

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 9h

Maybe Angus King keeps capitulating to Trump because he's preoccupied with nepotism? #MEpolitics h/t @joesudbay.bsky.social

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 9h

Spotted: Angus King introducing Ron Wyden to his son Angus King III, who is running for Governor

Angus King, an old white man with a moustache, standing next to Angus King III, a younger white man in a black suit, next to Ron Wyden, an older white man in a charcoal blazer

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 14h

Like I wrote earlier, you probably only need 30,000 votes to win. Dems or indys.

That's 300 volunteers locking in 100 votes each (over many months) or 1,000 volunteers securing 30 votes each. Take your pick. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 14h

Susan Collins brought this on. #MEpolitics

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 16h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 15h

It's a kind of demented tautology: "You have to be like Jared Golden to win because Jared Golden has won."

Doesn't take a philosophy professor to find the logical holes in that...and yet the same thin case gets pushed over and over, year after year. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 15h

Like, even if you think Golden is more likely than Dunlap to beat LePage (not remotely clear from our vantage point!) you still have to concede Matt provides more value to Team D than Jared...so it's still worth backing Dunlap even he carries more risk. (Which it's not clear he does!) #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 16h

We asked Jain this stuff cuz folks who argue it's worth Dems having Jared Golden in DC based on "wins above replacement" or whatever never seem to grapple with costs of him being there.

Case for him even harder to make with alternative like Dunlap available who isn't toxic to the brand. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 17h

Photo of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social with a @shennabellows.bsky.social sticker on his laptop at Bowdoin in 2014!

In favor of defeating Susan Collins before defeating Susan Collins was cool. (Photo via @nytimes.com: tinyurl.com/mtf4wzm2) #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 18h

Just got blocked by political data analyst Lakshya Jain for asking the below in response to a post he put up about how Democrats should be 'fine with' Jared Golden casting the lone Dem vote with the GOP on the shutdown and blaming the shutdown on the far left.

Not very sporting! #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 20h

How many votes does @dunlapforcongress.bsky.social need to beat Jared Golden in the CD-2 Dem primary?

In 2018 (last competitive primary) it was +/- 20,000.

Now with semi-open primaries the number probably rises. (25K? 30K?) Still not many. A retail politics race. One voter at a time. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 20h

Where do you weigh in the cost to party unity, enthusiasm, credibility, message, recruitment, down-ballot effects etc of raising up a candidate/official whose identity is built around talking down the party and its members? Where does that fit into your model of what people should be fine with?

Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Good local piece on @dunlapforcongress.bsky.social entry into the CD-2 race including some biographical details we were not aware of. #MEpolitics

Bar Harbor native Matt Dunlap to challenge Golden in primary

Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap is taking on the moderate Democrat in a district that could determine control of Congress.

www.ellsworthamerican.com

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

A total abdication. Pathetic and indefensible. tinyurl.com/ac6bpha6 #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Wild stuff.

Of course, Susan Collins voted against 85 Biden nominees -- virtually all of them highly qualified.

Needless to say, none of them was a self-avowed Christian nationalist; vowed to break the law in office; or denied the outcome of the 2020 election. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

What are you doing in your capacity as a member of the House of Representatives to push back? #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Angus King, a big talker who likes to invoke Joshua Chamberlain but has more in common with Neville, votes to capitulate to Trump for at least the sixth time. #MEpolitics

Senate Press Gallery @senatepress.bsky.social · 1d

Dem/Independent senators voting in favor: Cortez Masto, Fetterman, & King.

GOP Senator Paul voted No.

Senator Cruz did not vote.

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

I agree that's part of it but the other half is leading with values and goals rather than jumping straight to a list of (often narrow, insidery-sounding) policy planks. That is sorely lacking among elected Dems at the national level.

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

@dunlapforcongress.bsky.social just announced against Golden.

Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Thought about asking @dunlapforcongress.bsky.social about DC statehood when we interviewed him but didn't get around to it.

MATT DUNLAP ON DEMOCRACY, ACCESSIBILITY AND JARED GOLDEN

Our interview with the new entrant in Maine's CD-2 race

susancollinswatch.substack.com

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

There's no actual argument here. Just vibes. Disappointing.

Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Susan Collins and her allies (Newsmax donated to her super PAC last cycle) are trying to find a way to plausibly argue that, when the shutdown ends, she was the one who "solved" it.

They pulled the same ploy in 2013. Got debunked (tinyurl.com/2f7kd9fu) but too many outlets played along. #MEpolitics

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Warnock, Ossoff, AOC, Mamdani. Walz is pretty good.

It's not just that they're good talkers. It's that they aren't starting from a pre-cooked set of poll-tested talking points. Seems clear they actually go thru the task of feeling and thinking for themselves -- and build their message from there.

Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Respectfully disagree. He's a good communicator but there are plenty of good communicators out there...Either vanishingly few of them want to run for office OR they are being counseled/nudged/etc against talking this plainly OR some combination of the two.

We need better Dem candidates.

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Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 2d

Not to be confused with the *other* super PAC supporting Susan Collins -- the one private equity billionaire Steven Schwarzman handed $2,000,000 to the day before Collins voted to advance Trump's destructive, health care-gutting tax bill. #MEpolitics

White House Watchdog @whitehousewatchdog.bsky.social · 2d

Maine becomes the focal point in the government shutdown blame game impacting state residents and highlighting political tensions.

Super PAC launches $250,000 campaign defending Susan Collins on government shutdown

Maine becomes the focal point in the government shutdown blame game impacting state residents and highlighting political tensions.

www.axios.com

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