Susan Collins

The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com Susan Young is the Bangor Daily News opinion editor. Susan Collins blamed her loss in Tuesday’s election on voter disdain for President Donald Trump. Voters, she complained, wanted angry rhetoric, not the results she had so long delivered. She was partly right. Voters across the country swept Republicans out of power, from the U.S. Senate to governor’s offices to state legislatures. Voters were fed up with high prices, a confusing and costly war in Iran and a president who seems more intent on burnishing his image and enriching himself than improving life for average Americans. Yes, Collins was swept up in that blue wave. But, there is more to her defeat after 30 years in the U.S. Senate than that simple explanation. Many journalists harkened back to Collins’ reelection victory in 2020, noting that polls predicted a loss to former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, yet Collins won that election by nearly 9 percentage points. That’s the wrong number to focus on. Collins won 51% of the vote in a four-way race. Progressive independent Lisa Savage won 5%, likely taking many of those votes from Gideon. Erratic independent Max Linn, rest his soul, was less of a factor, earning 1.6% of the vote. To win a two-way race this year, Collins needed to meet or exceed that result, a tall order at a time when populous parts of Maine had become more Democratic and the Republican president was extremely unpopular . To make matters worse for Collins, her reputation as a moderate was frayed during Trump’s second term in the White House. Collins built her reputation as a moderate at a time when there were other reasonable lawmakers, from both parties, to work with in the Senate. She was often a member of the “ gangs ” who negotiated bipartisan agreements . She did this on judicial nominations , ending government shutdowns , immigration (which Trump torpedoed ), and most recently the massive infrastructure and jobs act passed during the Biden administration to help boost the economy during the pandemic. As Washington, and the country, became more polarized and scoring political victories became more important than passing useful legislation, these opportunities to negotiate compromises became less frequent, and then disappeared. Trump, especially in his second term, had little interest in bipartisan work, and increasingly simply went around Congress. This was especially true with funding. Collins had worked diligently to become the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, becoming the first Mainer to hold the post in nearly a century. But, almost immediately, Trump usurped her power by refusing to release federal funds that had already been approved by Congress. Federal agencies, which had been funded by Congress, were shuttered and gutted . Yes, Collins successfully got some funding restor