What is your opinion of Senator Collins?

[kentuck]

She just came out against the Graham/Cassidy bill on healthcare. She has probably made several votes in the past that I have disagreed with but I do believe that she votes her conscience. There are so few left. Especially Republicans.

I think she should be commended for that.

[Maven]

1. As I said in an OP, I'm glad she did the right thing, and I still want a Dem to take her seat

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029634966

[BigmanPigman]

2. I will wait and form an opinion on Oct 1st

when the calendar expires. Until then, they are all easily bought off...do NOT trust any of them EVER! The GOP are greedy, hypocritical sociopaths who put $$$$ above all else.

[madaboutharry]

3. I think that Sen. Collins is an honorable and decent person.

I think she is a good person who is a member of the republican party that existed when Dwight Eisenhower was president.

She either is unable to accept that the republican party is no longer the party she was brought up in or else she is holding out hope that the party she signed up for will come back from the dead. I kind of feel for her.

[kentuck]

7. Or she is voting with her constituency?

Which may be more liberal than most Republican seats?

[Maven]

10. That may be true, but her presence in Congress gives Mitch McConnell power.

We need to remember that.

[FM123]

12. Yes, constituents not conscience

[kentuck]

22. But that is not a bad thing.

To vote the way the people in your state would prefer that you vote.

[Honeycombe8]

27. To be fair, we can't read her mind. It could well be her conscience.

Or both her conscience and her constituents, since they're sort of the same.

[LuckyCharms]

4. I kind of wish she would switch parties.

She at least seems reasonable.

[Vinca]

40. She's probably more suited to being an Independent like Angus King.

[LuckyCharms]

41. Yes perhaps.

I would be agreeable to anything the removes the "R" after her name.

[PJMcK]

5. I kind of agree

Although I don't know her career intimately, I've often respected her public statements and demeanor. To me, she represents the near-end of the Eisenhower Republicans who were moderate and put country before party.

She is doing the right thing with the abominable Cassidy/Graham bill.

BUT she's a Republican and I hate those bastards.

[chillfactor]

6. I believe Collins made an admirable choice....

she could not be bought off......good for her!

[FM123]

8. I appreciate what she did

but I do not commend her. It would be like commending my children for not beating up smaller kids in the neighborhood.

[kentuck]

13. We disagree.

Of course, this is not the first time she will have helped save Obamacare.

[tazkcmo]

19. I agree.

The bar is pretty low.

[vi5]

9. She is a Republican

And has remained a Republican through the tenures of both George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
She voted (as far as my understanding and recollection goes) for most if not all of the people currently in Trump's cabinet and in positions of authority.

I'm not going to give someone credit for deciding for a change that NOT killing people is the right way to go.
I'm not going to praise someone for NOT destroying people's lives.

She did the right thing. This time.

[Wounded Bear]

11. She strikes me as that rare commodity...a moderate Republican...

I'd bet that Dems could work with her most of the time and reach some compromise.

Other than that, she's still a Repub and votes with that odious party most of the time.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. She's my Senator. I always vote against her, however

I would rather have her than most any other Republicans if I have to have one.

[meadowlark5]

15. What about Murkowski?

Was she bought off? Alaska gets to keep Obamacare so she'll vote yes on this piece of trash? Or is she planning on voting no?

If we had her saying she'd vote no, that would really put a nail in the coffin.

[kentuck]

16. That may be a more interesting vote?

I think she will vote "NO" also.

She lost her last election as a Republican in a primary but won as an Independent in the general. She owes them nothing.

[justhanginon]

21. Seems like they are in effect offering to let Alaskans keep Obamacare if

she votes yes on the repeal but if she votes no, they will still keep Obamacare by virtue of the repeal failing.

[virtualobserver]

31. so, her vote is now simply about whether to deny Obamacare to all the other states or not

that is sick

[spanone]

17. I don't believe she has beaucoups of high esteem for der don

as republicans go, she's pretty independent.

[tazkcmo]

18. She's a GOPee-er.

I do give her credit for having enough human DNA to do the right thing.

[ananda]

20. Don't like her much.

nt

[obamanut2012]

23. I think she is a decent and nice woman, who is generally spineless

Especially since Olympia Snowe retired.

She is planning to run as Gov of Maine, and should win, but maybe wouldn't if she voted for ACA repeal.

Again, I think she is a decent person, and seems decently liberal on many issues, but is afraid of rocking the boat most of the time.

I do commend her for her Trumpcare stances.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

35. I haven't heard that she going to run for gov, only thinking about it.

I think she should keep on with the Senate. I think she is more valuable there considering she has some tenure.

[Honeycombe8]

24. I agree. I've sort of followed her for years. I like her a lot.

She's a Republican, but I've never been angry about any positions she's explained, or anything she's said, or any questions she's posed at hearings. She's moderate, factual, respectful, responsive, and from what I can tell, one of the few ethical senators. She works with and gets along with both Republicans and Democrats.

How does a person get to be a Susan Collins, I wonder, instead of, say, Sarah Palin? That would be an interesting scientific or psych study paper to do.

[RKP5637]

25. Agree n/t

[JI7]

26. She does according to her constituents

[beachbum bob]

28. she is last of the few "moderate" republicans. If she had a moral compass, she would change parties

NOW

[Locutusofborg]

29. American Conservative Union

Rates every member of Congress on how they vote on conservative issues. 100% is perfect.
For 2016 Senator Collins voted conservative 23% of the time and her lifetime rating is 45% conservative over her 20 years in Congress.
By way of contrast according to the ACU, West Virginia's Democratic Senator Joe Manchin voted conservative 27% of the time in 2016.

[Warpy]

30. She is very conservative and on the wrong side of most issues

but when she makes a flat statement like voting "no" on a bill she considers to be a bad one, she sticks to it.

[mvd]

32. Have to agree. She may be more decent than most Repukes, but..

she’d only be considered moderate in terms of today’s Republican Party. She is also to the right of every Democrat in the Senate IMO, and that includes Manchin and Heitkamp.

[Kaleva]

33. If one must have a Republican, I'm fine with her.

[pnwmom]

34. She is what in the old days would be a moderate Republican. The party has changed; she hasn't. n/t

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

36. As a Mainer, I like Susan Collins

you can usually count on her to come through on the issues that people care about. I think she does care about Mainers and she does a good job representing us. She has never missed a vote since she was first elected into the senate in 1997. I have actually voted for her in the past because I think she has a lot of experience, she is a good moderate and we need to keep Republicans like her in office.

[NNadir]

37. Of course, she always votes for the racist pig Mitch McConnell to lead the Senate.

There's no "principle" in that.

Just because she occasionally does the right thing does not mean that she has the moral or ethical gravitas to serve in the US Senate.

She's an enabler of this tragedy.

[Demsrule86]

38. She votes with us sometimes...and I appreciate that...My Dad was that sort of a GOP when I was

young but became a Democrat during Bill Clinton's presidency...hated the far right after Oklahoma City...he blamed Limbaugh ET AL, and I agree with him.

[Are_grits_groceries]

39. A decent politician but a politician nonetheless.

She has remained one of the few voices of reason and she does seem to think through issues for the most part. She and Snowe were a corner of difference.
Now, she turns out to be an only outlier caught in the middle of a huge storm.

[GoCubsGo]

42. She is like a broken clock.

Right twice a day. Just like McCain, Murkowski, and Lindsay Graham. They occasionally do the right thing, but more often than not, we see them trying to shove shit like Graham-Cassidy down our throats. Collins and the others had no problem helping steal a Supreme Court seat from President Obama, either. She did the right thing here. Good for her. Give her a lollipop. But, don't start expecting this kind of thing out of her, because you probably won't get it. She's still a republican, after all.