Senator Collins Whines on YouTube

Poor Senator Collins!  The Republican from Maine is upset that Democrats are attacking her voting record so she's decided to put a spot on YouTube in response to recent criticism.

I've written about this very issue recently here.  What Susan Collins is upset about is someone pointing out the hypocrisy of her voting AGAINST the troop surge and then just 3 weeks later, voting AGAINST  the appropriations bill authorizing 97.5 billion for the defense department and requiring the gradual withdrawal of troops in Iraq. 

As noted in the Portland Press Herald yesterday,  Senator Collins is all in a dither about this ad exposing her voting record.  She's come up with her own ad here. 

Senator Collins is ticked off because the ad critical of her voting record is being paid for by out-of-state Democrats.  She complains on and on about who paid for the ad and that it's an attack ad.  What she doesn't address much is it's point: her flip-flop on voting.

Yes, Senator, it is an attack ad.  But let's be honest here, your voting record is what brought it on.

Let's look at the facts.
1)  You voted AGAINST the troop surge.
2)  Three weeks later, you voted NOT to support a authorizing money for the war because it required a gradual troop withdrawal.

Sorry, Senator.  In my mind, that's a flip-flop.  You're either for the war or against it.  You can't play both sides and hope that no one notices.  The ad was right to attack you.  I know it didn't mention that Senator Snowe voted as you did -- so what?  I know that picture of you and the President was taken at a different time -- big deal.

I'm not asking you to vote one way or the other Senator -- I just wish you would be consistent.  Oh, and by the way -- why are you even running again?

You were quoted in the Bangor Daily News on September 17,1996 as saying, "I want to go to Washington, serve two terms, and then come home."  Six years later, you confirmed in writing that you only intended to serve one more term -- yet here you are running again.

Flip-flop, flip-flop.

Comments

[Rob]

First let me say that I am not a fan of Susan Collins, and I in no way intend to defend her voting record. However...

Your argument that voting against the surge and voting against a timetable for bringing troops home constitutes a "flip-flop" is flawed. It is possible to be against escalating a war AND against a specific strategy for withdrawal from that war.

Your argument falls into the ever-growing trap that is dangerously polarized, partisan politics--Everything must be absolute; there is no middle ground. If you don't support bringing home the troops already in Iraq, then you must support the escalation (anything else constitutes "flip-flop"). If you don't support unlimited funding for the war (and the president's plans for spending it), then you must want the terrorists to win.

That is not how the world works. That is not how people think; and it should not be how our politicians act. There is always middle ground, always a gray area. It is possible to "kind of" support something, or support something to a certain extent.

The type of thinking behind your argument leads to the moronic if-you-disagree-with-us-then-you-are-unpatriotic" mentality that defines our current administration.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of valid reasons to criticize Ms. Collins and her voting record, but perpetuating the polarizing, extreme rhetoric that has done so damage to this country over the last decade is not a healthy way to do it.

Thanks for listening.