There are two elements of the Senate race in Maine that truly stand out on the ground. One is that this is a small state, at least in terms of population. The other is that Susan Collins has been a senator here for three decades. The upshot is that almost everyone I’ve met here has met her.
Philip, a lifelong Mainer in his 70s from Bangor, told me in an accent straight out of “Murder, She Wrote”: “It would be stupid, in my opinion, not to vote for Susan, she’s chairman of the appropriations committee, and she’s brought a lot of money to the state,” adding, “we’ve got new fire stations in every little town you can think of.”
The appreciation for Collins among ordinary Mainers represents the daunting uphill battle Democrat Troy Jackson faces in a race where polls give him a slight lead, but the word on the street has him dead in the water.
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Speaking of fire stations, I met Andy and Hank, both firefighters, at Seasons restaurant in Bangor. And just like Philip, they can’t really see Collins going down.
“We’ve all met her,” Andy said of “Susan,” not “Collins,” adding, “She’s an institution in Maine, I can’t believe that Jackson can beat her.”
Hank was hardly alone. Everyone I spoke to at Seasons seemed to agree, even the Democrats, who have a unique affection for Collins. As the burly Hank put it, “I’ll believe she loses when I see it.”
In fairness, while Collins may be the Tom Brady of New England politics, even he lost twice to Eli Manning in the Super Bowl. So Jackson does have a chance to unseat the 73-year-old stalwart of the Senate.
John and Jeff, two voters I spoke with, are hoping and voting for just that. Jeff told me his top issue this election is ICE, saying, “We shouldn’t have federal troops in every city … the Portland police should be able to handle things without having immigration backing them up.”
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John went a bit further. When asked about the riots in France, he told Fox News Digital, “We should probably start rioting more in America, to be honest,” but then hedged a bit with, “I would say, not riot. Protest.”
I met Paul at the bar of the Hollywood Casino in Bangor. He and the bartender, both in their early 70s, knew each other from the town where they grew up, “up north.” Frankly, it seems like everyone in Maine knows everyone.
Paul lives in South Carolina now, making him a bit of a two-for-one for this columnist. He told me he thinks the GOP will hold the Senate seat in the Palmetto State and that Maine will “come around for Susan like it always does,” adding, “She has a house right up the road.”
The word that kept resounding in my mind as I wandered the dusty back alleys of Bangor and marveled at the sea of colors clinging to the leaves along the dusky Penobscot River was “Susan.” Almost everyone I talked to called her by her first name, a level of familiarity I have rarely encountered while covering a political race.
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The inescapable reality of this Senate campaign in Maine is that many Mainers under 40 have no memory of a time when “Susan” was not their senator. And to break that streak would require a call to arms that Troy Jackson just can’t seem to muster.
Among the kindest words I heard about Jackson in Bangor were those of a woman in the antiques emporium on Main Street who said, “Somebody had to run.”
Maine voter Wendy told Fox News Digital of Jackson, “He was a last-ditch effort,” adding that she hopes Collins wins.
One word I didn’t hear much in Maine, and this is a problem for Jackson, is “Trump.” Almost everyone I spoke with sees Collins as independent of the president, who, after all, would serve only two years of the six-year term she is running for.
At Reagan National Airport on Tuesday, I bumped into former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, himself the kind of institution in my home, the Mountain State, that Collins is in Maine. He was on his way to campaign for her.
The message of Manchin’s mission was clear: a former Democrat, a centrist, a guy who can get things done with both sides, but also very much a former senator who could not survive the purity tests of the modern, far-left Democratic Party.
For Collins’ part, Republicans across the country, especially in Maine and even in the White House, are willing to look past her centrism and just be thankful a Republican has a shot in a state like Maine.
But let’s be honest: Polls or no polls, a Collins loss would be an absolute shocker in Maine, and one that this column sees no evidence is in the works.