The Juddy Collins Show Hits a Snag

by: Dean Barker

Fri Dec 26, 2008 at 11:26:17 AM EST

"Fourthly, we address the issue of oversight. We create massive transparency so that everybody's going to know what's happening here." - Judd Gregg

23 December:

In a letter sent Tuesday to Paulson, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she joined those Americans who were "astonished and outraged" that banks were not explaining how the money was being spent.

"This lack of transparency and accountability is deeply troubling," Collins wrote. "The current lack of reporting requirements is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue." (h/t BarbinMD]

But it looks like the Juddy Collins Show might be hitting a major snag, or rather, a TARP.

Bride of Joementum

by: Dean Barker

Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 19:45:55 PM EST

It does wonders to remind me how much stronger our field of candidates is this time around.

First Susan Collins, now John McCain; can John E. Sununu be far behind?

Morning Update: The man's words are writ in sand and water. Joementum 2006:

Loserpalooza Reprise: John E. and Susie Kickin' It at the OC

by: Dean Barker

Sun Oct 14, 2007 at 22:30:18 PM EDT

Rick Reiff, the Cali "OC Insider" has this tantalizing tidbit at the bottom of his business cum gossip column:

GOP senators John Sununu (New Hampshire) and Susan Collins (Maine) visited with the Lincoln Club ...

Philosophy

The Lincoln Club is not a political group. It is a business organization which tackles politics. We are entrepreneurs and CEOs who want to make government safe for business. We revere the tradition of individual liberty unique to America. We are Republicans who believe that the party must unabashedly advocate its beliefs.

Members of The Lincoln Club are committed to freeing business from strangulation by taxation and regulation, not just for philosophical reasons but because of our experience in building businesses. We know that a free marketplace unfettered by onerous taxes and red tape is the greatest engine of opportunity the world has ever known. We want all Americans to enjoy the success our members do.

The answer to the question, What on earth is Sununu doing in the OC?, is really quite simple: he's kickin' it with his base.

You remember his base, don't you?

Testifying recently at a corruption trial in Anchorage, Alaska, VECO founder Bill Allen said his generosity was aimed at oil-friendly lawmakers and candidates.

Lieberman-Collins Redux

by: elwood

Sun Jul 15, 2007 at 15:46:56 PM EDT

The column is about the need to further empower the Republican Nanny State to spy on Americans:

Another important provision for inclusion in the final bill would encourage the general public to report suspicious activity. Ever since Sept. 11, US authorities have asked the public to be vigilant, urging, "If you see something, say something." Remember, it was an alert store clerk who tipped law enforcement off to the plot to attack Fort Dix, N.J., after viewing a suspicious video dropped off by one of the conspirators. Citizen assistance of that sort should be encouraged, which is why we are trying to make it more difficult to sue those who, in good faith, report their suspicions to authorities.

The reason for tearing up still more of the Bill of Rights? A few half-witted doomed-to-failure terrorist plots that were blocked by standard police operations.

It's difficult to tell how reviled Joe Lieberman is these days.  If he is half as unpopular as I think he is, Collins is making a very big mistake aligning herself so closely with him.

Lieberman to Hold Fundraiser for Sununu in Manchester Tonight

by: Dean Barker

Thu Jun 21, 2007 at 07:37:36 AM EDT

Because it is a cold, hard reality for thousands of decent, hardworking Democrats just to our east in Maine. Last year's Connecticut Democratic senate primary loser Joe Lieberman will continue to kick his former party in the teeth by holding a fundraiser for Republican Susan Collins tonight.

Think about the collision of these two statements:

1) Those who have been following Lieberman lately know that, issues and parties be damned, Joe is really all about Joe. And pro-Iraq war Joe is a senator in overwhelmingly anti-Iraq war New England.  He's a bit lonely right now.

2) Collins, a vulnerable New England Republican up for re-election, continues to enable the president on his "Iraq 4evah!" mission.  Sound like anyone you know?

It's only a matter of time before John E. reaches out for some Joementum cover.  But you can help put a stop to that by heading him off at the pass now.

Maine's Congressman Tom Allen, who is running to replace Collins, is holding an all-day virtual fundraiser to combat Lieberman's support for Collins.  And he even wrote about it at our counterpart, Turn Maine Blue.

I know we've got a lot of pennies to save for our own candidates, but as they say, an ounce of prevention...

I repeat: don't let the headline of this post become a reality.

Morning After Update: I take it back! Turns out having Lieberman come to town for Sununu would be a cash cow for our Dem nominee.

Pressure Works; Replacement Works Better

by: Dean Barker

Thu May 10, 2007 at 06:54:00 AM EDT

"I am outraged, as are the majority of Americans. I'm a lifelong Republican, but it's past time for change," retired Major General John Batiste told reporters.

...Other veterans promoted the campaign at a news conference in Manchester, the start of a six-state publicity tour targeting Republican Senators John Sununu of New Hampshire, Susan Collins of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, and John Warner of Virginia, as well as nine House members. 

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Sununu, R-N.H., said they are open to considering conditions on foreign aid to Iraq if the Baghdad government fails to meet certain benchmarks.

Steve Marchand
Katinra Swett

Tom Allen

Act Blue Hampshire
Roadblock Republicans
Turn Maine Blue Act Blue Page

ME-Sen: Start Your Engines!

by: Dean Barker

Tue May 08, 2007 at 19:14:44 PM EDT

The incumbent, Susan Collins, is a charter member of Sprintin' Sununu's UnFab Four Loserpalooza tour and is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Republican senators (though I have to say, John E.'s making Allen's life a little harder by voting so far to the right that Susan the Enabler can look quite the moderate sometimes).

Best of luck, Tom!  We'll be rooting for you just a little to your west.

Allen's campaign website is here, and (just because I think it's cool), take a look at his blogger connection page, on which you can sign up as a blogger to be sent to his press releases and other info.  Nice touch.

I still maintain that Olympia Snowe will be the last prominent Republican standing in all of New England, but in the meantime it will be interesting to see how the others play out.

Sprintin' Sununu Joins the UnFab Four Farewell Tour

by: Dean Barker

Fri Apr 27, 2007 at 20:28:01 PM EDT

The Senate's endangered Republican quartet is on tour -- a nationwide, months-long fundraising road show likely to stop at a hotel conference room near you.

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he expects to put together as many as 30 joint fundraising events around the country for the four most vulnerable senators of 2008: Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Susan Collins of Maine, Gordon Smith of Oregon and John Sununu of New Hampshire.

Hits include: Stop Your Sobbin' (about Health Care), Nobody Knows the Trouble I'm In, Stand By Your President, Between Iraq and a Hard Place, and Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

This is their final tour, and a reunion is highly unlikely, so get your tickets now!

(Photo collage of public portraits from Beyond Chron)

McCain's Surge Threatening to Drown Sununu

by: Dean Barker

Tue Jan 02, 2007 at 20:32:08 PM EST

Two recent events have thrown their relationship into choppy waters, however.  First, the Granite State's turn to the indigo, assisted by constant attention to the phonejamming saga, has helped take Sununu from a guy facing a reasonably tough re-election bid to one of the most vulnerable Senators from either party.  Second, McCain's politically-driven "surge" idea has pretty badly blown up in his face, now that Bush is actually insane enough to endorse a similar escalation.

What will Sununu do (do)? Stick it out with Straight Talk and hope for favors down the road, or split with him for fear of being flushed down  Bush's historic disapprovals?

I think Johnny's stuck, so he's stalling.  Read the excerpt below (WaPo) and ask yourself, "Which one of these highly endangered Republicans is not like the other?":

Two Senate Republicans with potentially tough reelection contests in 2008, Minnesota's Norm Coleman and Maine's Susan Collins, returned from recent trips to Iraq saying they did not think sending more troops was a good idea. Branding the U.S. war effort "absurd," Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) made waves in early December with a speech questioning the continued presence of troops.

< snip >

Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee who also is up for reelection in 2008, said the president's new plan must address "not only the security needs of large cities like Baghdad, but also the very significant internal changes that need to take place in Iraq to assure long-term stability." ...

Sununu declined to say what he thinks about more troops, but one of his colleagues from the Northeast, Maine's Collins, said she was flatly opposed to the idea after discussing it with commanders and Iraqis during a trip with McCain, Graham and Lieberman.

I say that as long as our public servant declines to offer his opinion on a matter in which US lives are in the balance, we continue to highlight that fact to help usher in better representation.

Update:  Jonathan Singer over at MyDD has a list of the 2006 voting records for all Senators up for re-election in 2008.  Guess who voted with the President 90% of the time? (Compare that, e.g., to Maine's Collins who clocks in at 79%) Says Singer: "Judging by these numbers, John Sununu and Wayne Allard, more than any other Republican Senators up for reelection in 2008, are out of touch with their constituents."