Rep. Tom Allen of Maine’s 1st District has made it official: he’s filed his papers to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins. Check out his video message and his new website here.
From a press statement:
Portland, Maine—Maine Congressman Tom Allen today filed A Statement of Candidacy form with the Secretary of the Senate to become a candidate for the United States Senate in 2008. His campaign simultaneously launched a new website (http://www.tomallen.org) that includes a digital video statement from Congressman Allen about today’s filing. In the statement, Allen says that he will conduct an announcement tour of the state when Congress adjourns for Memorial Day. He said he is looking forward to a substantive debate on the issues and that he believes voters will see a clear contrast between his priorities and record and those of the incumbent.“Maine people tell me that they want our involvement in the Iraq War- the worst foreign policy mistake in our nation’s history -to end,” Congressman Allen says in the video announcement. “From the beginning, when President Bush rushed to invade Iraq, Susan Collins has supported his misguided policy. I fought to stop it. She voted for the Iraq War. I voted against it. Susan Collins continues to vote with the Republicans against a timetable to end the War in Iraq. I voted for a responsible change of course to bring our troops safely home.”
Republicans will likely point to Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe’s overwhelming victory last year in a Democratic wave year, but, simply put: Collins is no Snowe, and Allen is certainly no Jean Hay Bright. On top of that, Snowe’s continued capitulation to the out-of-control Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate is not going to win her any accolades in her home state, especially as more and more local media outlets are turning against the Bush/Collins position on Iraq.
Race Tracker: ME-Sen
While Allen is no Bright, to be sure, I think its unfair to count Collins approval rating in her home state as anything other than a massive advantage. While her 73% approval rating (SUSA, 11/06) is less than Snowe’s 79% rating, let’s not forget two things: 1) According to these polls, Snowe is the most popular Senator right now, and 2) Collins is the 5th most popular.
In any other state, even a strong credible challenger like Allen going up against the 5th-most popular Senator would be considered an uphill battle. But when you compare Collins to Snowe, you dishonestly create a status of Collins numbers being “relatively low”; that is, relative to the most popular Senator.
The race for the Maine Senate seat may be a competitive race, but on all accounts Collins starts off as the front-runner, and most of that is due to her sky-high approval ratings.
I know the district has been trending Democratic for some time, but is there any chance that ME-01 could tip GOP after Allen retires? Any popular Republicans in southern Maine that could prove to be a real nightmare for us?
Even though Collins remains very popular in Maine and Snowe won by a larger margin in 2006 Maine voters will soon relize that Collins is way more Conservate than SNowe and it will be very likly that Allen will win the seat. As for the 1 District, I don’t think any Republican could win there even if the run someone very popular. The most that person would get would probaly be 40%.
will build coalitions with the Greens and the Independents as soon as possible. Early endorsements from leaders in those political circles will severely hamper Collins’s reelection bid. But I wonder if this will devolve into a northern Maine, southern Maine battle. If it does, we have the demographics on our side.