Bad news for Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
The Human Rights Campaign just endorsed her opponent, Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon, in the 2020 election, marking the first time the LGBTQ rights group has endorsed one of Collins’ opponents instead of her since 1996.
For nearly 25 years, HRC has backed Collins, citing her more moderate stances on LGBTQ issues, like her support for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In 2014, it went so far as to praise her for playing a “pivotal role in advancing support for LGBT equality.”
Well, not anymore!
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The Hill reports:
However, in its new endorsement of Gideon, who clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, the group excoriated Collins’s failure to buck President Trump in the Senate and her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Her vote to confirm Kavanaugh, who was accused to sexual assault during his confirmation process, made her a major Democratic target for 2020.
In a statement, HRC President Alphonso David said, “We are fighting for our lives and the only way to advance LGBTQ equality through the United States Senate is to install a new pro-equality majority leader and replace Mitch McConnell.”
“Despite Susan Collins’ record of support on certain key LGBTQ issues, her support of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump’s agenda, endorsement of Brett M. Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court and failure to hold Donald Trump accountable, is simply untenable.”
David went on to praise Gideon for her “pro-equality leadership” in the Senate, specifically her support for the Equality Act, saying she will “live up to the principles of our democracy.”
.@SaraGideon will support pro-equality leadership in the Senate that will help us move our country forward by passing the #EqualityAct & live up to the principles of our democracy. Read more about @HRC's latest round of Senate endorsements: https://t.co/lRSOaLAPuY
— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) July 15, 2020
Though Collins has not issued any comment on losing the HRC’s coveted endorsement after nearly a quarter of a century, sources say she is “very concerned” and “thinking deeply” on how to proceed with her all but doomed reelection campaign.
Related: Again? Anti-LGBTQ Trump judge gets confirmed by Senate
Kangol2
Not looking good for her, but she signed her own removal warrant by equivocating on Brett Kavanaugh, and then by not voting with Mitt Romney to impeach Don the Con. I’m sure she’ll get a cash infusion and the race might turn out tighter than people think, but at least right now, it’s not looking good for Susan Collins.
Cam
Either HRC finally got some folks with balls……or more likely they see the polls and understand Collins is finally going down.
Social media has wrecked politicians like Collins. They used to claim they were moderates, they would pretend to be taking weeks to make a decision, they would invariably side with the Republicans, but media would praise them for being moderates because they took a week to “Think about it”. Olympia Snowe from Maine was the Queen of that. Collins learned from her.
The problem now is, social media won’t let Collins’s friends in media cover for her, and exposed her B.S. This Trump supporter who voted for Kavanaugh is done.
jennifer.white530
Typical… You believe Crazy Dr. Ford, who could not remember where she met Kavanaugh, who was there, how she got home, and when the alleged fake attack happened. No one could remember her and Kavanaugh being at any party together. However, you refuse to believe Tara Reade that knows the date, location, and time of the attack. She told witnesses including her mother, who called into the Larry King show over 20 years ago, and she filed reports of the attack at the time. If you are going only to believe one political party, I have news for you, ALL POLITICIANS LIE!
Cam
@jennifer.white530
Sweetie, you already cashed out this screename on the other post. Try a new one.
Kangol2
@Jennifer.white, you probably should read up a bit more about both Dr. Blasey Ford and Ms. Reade. The latter has changed her story repeatedly, so do you believe her initial public versions, in which Biden was not the target, or the later ones, in which she has amplified the alleged sexual assault? And if you are going to credit her changing stories, what about the 24+ women who’ve named Don the Con as an assaulter, groper, forcible kisser, or rapist? Do you take their accounts seriously? Not only did E. Jean Carroll remember the specifics of Trump’s alleged assault on her, but she preserved the outfit she was wearing and is still waiting for him to provide his DNA. Have you urged him to do so?
As Cam and others are saying, she did not listen to her constituents. She could have redeemed herself by voting to impeach Don the Con for his Ukrainian crimes, but she showed her true colors.
jennifer.white530
She has been a senator since 1997! WE NEED TERM LIMITS! These politicians just hang out in Washington and get nothing done but empty promises. DRAIN THE SWAMP!
TMBisAOK
LMAO! Now that it looks like Republicans are going to become a defunct party, they sure are screaming for the only chance they will have in the future…term-limiting the good ones, the democrats.
Den
I thought your idol, Generalissimo Don Trump was going to “drain the swamp.” Instead he has helmed the most corrupt administration since the end of the 19th century!
We don’t need term limits, you naive child. We need experienced, ethical politicians rather than the grifters, autocrats, Q-anon followers and tea party fools offered by the Republican party.
Politicians are no different from doctors. lawyers, plumbers, mechanics and so on. They learn from experience. Vote them out if they are corrupt., like so many of the right are, keep them if they do good.
Damn you are laughable every time you post!
Me2
Great! She ignored the concerns of her constituents and put party and politics before her duty to the greater good. The same thing happened to Christine Quinn, which is how NYC wound up with DeBlasio.
Mister P
All of these republican senators who are trying to appeal to Trump’s base instead of doing the right thing for America need to be put out to pasture.
sfhairy
Bye betch!
dhmonarch89
she’s within 3-4 points in the polls- this race is hardly over…plus, she could be getting Russian aid. A mysterious bundle of $500,000 came into her campaign coffers via Hawaii from an international source. It was a story for a while, but since co vid, I haven’t heard anything about it.
jennifer.white530
How stupid are you people to read a Facebook add and then change your vote? It’s the same narrative you use about identification at a voting booth. Do you not realize how offensive and racist you appear, you state, “Black people do not understand the internet or how to get a state ID, so this keeps them from voting.” Do you know any African Americans? I work, live, and am friends with lots of African Americans, and this may come as a shock to you, but they all have ID. Some of them even have passports!
Cam
@jennifer.white530
Hey Trolly McTrollface, your problem is, you keep assuming that nobody here has been to school.
The argument against I.D.s at the polling place isn’t due to people “Not knowing how to get them” it’s because many places CHARGE for them. The constitution specifically outlaws voting costing anything. Therefore, requiring something that costs money as access to vote is unconstitutional.
And the funny thing is, when Democrats proposed solving the problem by making state IDs free Republicans blocked it.
Why? Because Republicans lose when Americans vote.
Oh, and isn’t it time for you to switch to a different screename?
Invader7
Good. This TRAITOR needs to be put out to pasture,along with McConnell and as many other republiCONS as possible. Vote BLUE Nov 3 2020 !!! Save America.
rand503
25 years ago, we were happy with anyone who didn’t condemn us or block our rights. If they just said, yeah, gay exist and that’s okay, we would jump for joy and vote for them, even if they didn’t vote in favor of anything that mattered to us.
Collins never moved beyond “Gays exist.” She may have voted once or twice in our favor, but she knew those bills wouldn’t advance, so she got nice cover — good press on LGBT issues, while knowing that we got zip. She could have her cake and eat it too.
But this is 2020, and those politicians are Stone Age at this point. We want and will demand people who vote in our favor and mean it.
ThinkPlease
Seriously, HRC, where have you been since…well, ever? And endorsing a Republican at any point since Bush the Lesser has been downright irresponsible. Since Reagan it’s just been rather dumb.
Thanks for finally coming around now that the gasoline tank has exploded, but don’t expect any donations from me.
1898
HRC never should’ve endorsed collins any of the previous times — all of collins’ opponents since 1996 have been 1000x more pro-LGBTQ than collins — but HRC is a much more conservative organization than many people realize. the only difference this time is that HRC saw the writing on the wall and knew they would lose thousands of donors (and lots of $$$) if they endorsed collins this time around
LumpyPillows
HRC has been strategic in their support of Collins and a couple of other long-gone republicans. She was a crack in the republican wall that they chose to embrace because she was going to win anyway and they could point to her and say they were not just another democratic organization. HRC has always been about winning votes in congress, which often requires a bit of ugly sausage-making deals.
jeffaplus
I’m sure she’ll do what she does every time she’s “very concerned”: make a big fuss about maybe thinking about doing the right thing, and then go back to licking Trump’s boots.
inbama
By not voting to remove Trump, she shares the blame for the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Americans.
rocknstan
She needs to slide into the dustbin of history like the little party favour American flags which litter the Trump hate rallies.