As you watch Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) on ABC's This Week tomorrow morning, along with Richard N. Perle, about whom I've written unflatteringly about here and here and Dwight wrote about here, with Paul Bremer, who Le Monde's editorial board credits cette révolte – provoquée par une série de gaffes de l'administrateur américain Paul Bremer with the killing of now over 40 uniformed US and what remains of the Coalition soldiers, some civilian contractors, and an unknown number of wounded, along with an order of magnitude greater killed and wounded count among Iraqis, and a surprisingly quick disintegration of the New Model Iraqi Police and Army, I suggest you try and take in the full measure of Susan's slow cadence and calm, almost deadpan delivery.
In her last race Susan started off with a TV ad that was pitched at 3rd-graders on the importance of the flag. That was her substantive ad. In debate she made the point that Federal spending under Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) had risen in absolute dollars during her term in Washington. Anyone of the three of us who write at Wampum could tell you when asleep or changing diapers that the service population is rising non-linearly and funding is not even holding steady, when accounted for correctly, in Maine which is under the Ohio plume (coal fired mercury particulates), and elsewhere (Silicon Valley is another hot-spot).
MB worked hard for Chellie Pingree, who ran against Susan Collins in 2002. We contributed a chunk of change to her campaign. Chellie's gone on now to run Common Cause. Perhaps she will be back in '08, when Susan has to next defend her seat, though '06 may be "the big year" in Maine, with several surprises possible. Perhaps not.
The point is, as you watch Susan tomorrow, consider how you can help get her replaced. Solve for the following boundary conditions: must win in the southern coast (semi-safe Democratic 1st CD), AND must not loose overwhelmingly in the rural balance-of-state (semi-safe Republican 2nd CD), which is where most of the Indian votes are, AND must be a woman. MB isn't running for Susan's seat in '08. But some woman will. MB's got a primary in 8 weeks to win, then a general in November. This is how it begins. Qualified candidates do not just step, fully formed, armed and charming, from the foreheads of gods. Please contribute to MB's campaign.
Posted by at April 10, 2004 06:50 PM | TrackBack