Printer-friendly version Reader Comments

Sen. Olympia Snowe offers her fellow Maine senator a strong endorsement.

The Associated Press May 4, 2008

AUGUSTA — Sen. Susan Collins took a few pokes at her all-but-certain Democratic re-election challenger and mocked Sen. Barack Obama's troubles in his presidential bid as she turned up the volume of rhetoric Saturday from the Maine Republican Convention podium.

Collins, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, contrasted her record in Washington with that of Allen, Maine's six-term 1st District congressman and the odds-on party favorite to challenge her in November.

But the top-of-the ticket Maine candidate also drew a distinction between her party and the Democrats by pointing to Obama's efforts to distance himself from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright following Wright's inflammatory statements from the pulpit.

"When Republicans distance themselves from their pastor, they do it by sitting in the back of the church," said Collins.

Collins addressed the convention following a video introduction featuring former President George H.W. Bush, presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain, former Sen. and Secretary of Defense William Cohen and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has become a Capitol Hill ally with Collins on homeland security issues.

Fellow Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, speaking before Collins, also offered a strong endorsement: "Certainly the quality of her service has not gone unnoticed ... We need Susan. But most importantly, Maine and the nation need Susan Collins for the next six years."

While allowing that she and Allen both care deeply about Maine, Collins said "the similarities pretty much end there" and ticked off a list of areas in which she and the congressman differ.

Collins said she supported Republican tax relief efforts, which Allen opposed. Collins said she voted for Medicare Part D drug coverage while Allen opposed it, and that she supported allowing the government to intercept overseas phone calls "of terrorists plotting to kill Americans" while Allen did not.

Allen campaign spokeswoman Carol Andrews acknowledged Allen's opposition to President Bush's tax cuts, saying they favored upper-income earners while Allen supports tax cuts that benefit the middle class.

Andrews said Allen opposed the Medicare drug bill, which she said was written by the pharmaceutical industry. She said Allen believes better alternatives can be achieved. And Allen opposed the law to allow government monitoring of phone calls because it violates privacy rights, said Andrews.

"I'm glad she wants to talk about some issues," Andrews said of Collins' statements.

Collins touted her own record of helping to steer through legislation to protect the security of cargo, reorganize federal intelligence programs and make changes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency following Hurricane Katrina.

Collins also said she is best positioned to work in a bipartisan manner, while Democrats say she voted with the Bush administration 81 percent of the time.

Both Collins and Snowe urged Maine Republicans to rally behind McCain, who finished a distant second to Mitt Romney in the party's February caucuses.

In a reference to the ongoing Democratic primary battle between Obama and fellow Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Snowe said, "Every day they are fighting, we are getting one step closer ... to electing John McCain as president ... This is a man to be trusted. This is a man who couldn't be more ready to serve in the highest office in the land.

"If that phone call comes to the White House at 3 o'clock in the morning, or any other hour for that matter, we want John McCain to answer that call."