For several years now, my wife and I have spent a couple of weeks each year on an island off the Maine Coast….it’s a working man’s location with virtually no amenities of the type you might seek as a traditional tourist and its small population of families have been associated in some way with the lobstering sector of the ME economy. We absolutely love the serenity of the place and its people.
In that time, we have become friends and corresponded with a spring-to-fall resident of the island who lives on the ME coast during the winter. We share progressive views and he recently wrote me the following commentary.
I found his perspectives on Susan Collins re-election and surviving the challenge of Sara Gideon to be very insightful and would urge Kos readers to consider what he had to say with open eyes. It is easy to say from a distance that Collins, with her continual fealty to Donald Trump, should have been an easy target for Gideon but in many small ways, Gideon fumbled and Collins had the history and the roots to survive easily. It’s a good reminder that you really need to understand what is happening at the local and state level and the history of each state to have a better understanding of the dynamics of political battles like this one.
Regarding Collins. I don’t agree with all the negativism associated with the changes in the southern parts among the younger residents, but it seems to be a real feeling in Maine and isn’t helped by the recent influx of people fleeing “Brooklyn” and the urban virus prone areas and what the phrase represents. Unlike the back to the land people of a few generations ago, they seem to want to bring “Brooklyn" with them, not blend into what Maine is.
I was good friends with our carpenter until his death almost a year ago. He was very old school Maine in most ways, but liked to hang out with summer people and pretend to be more conservative and Republican than he was in real life to get them to react.
If you think of him as being representative of Maine - how would he have voted and reacted in the senate race in which way too much money was spent on ads attacking a person who represented what Maine was and in many areas still is - a very proud, insular state that is fighting hard to resist change despite the loss of timber, tourism, mill jobs, farming and even fishing.
Arguing that Collins enabled Trump never really played in a state where a large number of people supported the statements and fears Trump projected and where most people didn't even know who Mitch McConnell is or care about his court packing. Maine cares about community, local sports being cancelled, bridges needing to be built and breakwaters for harbors. Much of the Covid outbreaks have been connected to events connected with conservative churches and they wanted them open along with the bars and social sites - especially since winter is coming.
It is also important to remember that Collins is on the appropriations committee and constantly stated she brings major funding to Bath Iron Works and their navy ships of which Maine is very proud and brings numerous pork barrel projects to Maine - basic things like the funding for the Knox county airport and our TSA station. Her senior position and control over purse strings was never far from her messages.
Bottom line - Maine is a very red state! Head five miles inland and you are in another world with very different values then along the coast. Collins is from the County (northern Maine), spent her entire life in Maine and I don’t think she has ever done anything but work in Maine politics.
Gideon is from RI, lives in Freeport, wears trendy clothes and hangs out in Portland where there are all sorts of immigrants and LBGTQ young people eating in fancy restaurants and involved in beer and technology startups. Gideon represents what Maine will become, and things will change, but the state is really very much two worlds. Susan Collins represents the northern 3/4 of the state and Sarah Gideon represented the hated southern part and the coast.
On a very basic level, Gideon did a few early ads in which she was wearing outerwear with the Patagonia label - I assure you that Collins only wore LLBean stuff - no matter how ugly and bright red! In many ways that is the election.
The other part is that there is an iconic Maine TV personality Bill Green who had a Saturday night TV show entitled "Bill Green’s Maine". He wore only LLBean, and spent his time shooting guns, fishing, canoeing. snowmobiling and hanging out with people who did those things and represented what Maine people wanted Maine to be. Outdoor tourism and simple living like their parents did when they were growing up. No fancy beer, no fancy restaurants or big boats - he cooked moose over a campfire, ate at Moody’s and went out in little boats to shoot ducks.
My friend worshipped the guy. We also watched and enjoyed the show and he was charming and provided a lovely romantic view of the Maine lifestyle before and still surviving even though Portland has become a food mecca and ski slopes cover the western hills.
About three weeks ago he started appearing in ads for Collins - they were well done, He was sincere, he spoke to a few generations of Mainers and connected Susan Collins with the Maine many want to see preserved. I bet his spots will be thought to be a changing point.
His messages inferred that the Gideon people were, by trashing Susan, criticizing the Maine way of life and philosophy of hard work and stubborn independence. He even inferred they might be challenging her love of dogs. All politics is local! - Forget Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court, forget Trump initiatives.
A Maine senator needs to be from Maine and reflect Maine values and traditions. I don’t think for a moment that Susan Collins has ever grilled a moose steak over a campfire, but Gideon was not from Maine. My friend might have tired of Collins (and she is a very old 72) but he never would have voted for the changes represented by Gideon.
One of the saddest things is that about the second thing Collins said when she accepted her victory was that she wanted everyone to know she was the only Maine senator to have been elected 5 times. That seemed to have been a terribly important thing for the simple girl from the County (northern Maine). She sees herself playing in the same league as the other modern Maine senators - Margaret Chase Smith, Ed Muskie, George Mitchell, William S. Cohen, Olympia Snow. They all were important for things which they did that went far beyond the state of Maine,
Maine is justly proud of how they represented the state and the country during a long period of time. Susan is not in their class, she is not of their background, education or in a position to play the roles they played, but she seems to desperately want to be part of their club. Maybe that is one of the reasons she wouldn’t buck the Republican party - she knew she could always get reelected by Maine, but would never go any further than being a Maine senator if she challenged the powers to be. That level of hubris is very sad.
She is old, acts old and probably has health issues, and the reality is she will never be anything but a senator from Maine. She has spent her entire life in Maine politics, her husband was involved in Maine politics (and is in his 80’s) and those who came before are her idols. She will never get to play in the big leagues, but a girl from the county has to dream. Maybe if she was satisfied being a good senator from Maine she would have an impact, but I fear she won’t. She wants more and that can be dangerous to healthy thinking.
Meanwhile, (independent ME Senator Angus) King does a great job and he seems very comfortable with his role in life. “
Really interested to see how you react to what he had to say and whether it causes you to have a new appreciation for what happened in Maine.
