ME, CO, IA, SC, NC & AZ-Sen: Colllins' (R) Brett Kavanaugh Problem Is Also These GOPers Problem
First off, she needs to be called out for her bull shit:
Embattled Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement Monday that she agreed with the Supreme Court decision striking down Louisiana’s draconian abortion law, adding that while conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the minority, his opinion “gave no indication” that he would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Some have tried to suggest that this opinion is an indication of now certain justices would vote on the question of whether abortion remains legal. That is reading too much into this specific decision,” said Collins, almost the last nominally pro-choice Republican in national politics.
“As Justice Gorsuch noted, ‘In truth Roe v. Wade is not even at issue here,'” Collins continued. “And while Justice Kavanaugh called for additional fact finding in the case, he gave no indication in his dissenting opinion that he supports overturning Roe.”
Collins, who has won four consecutive Senate races in Maine, finds herself trailing Democratic challenger Sara Gideon in a campaign haunted by her 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh, despite credible allegations of sexual assault and a common understanding that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade — and indeed was chosen specifically for that purpose.
Ahead of that vote, Collins famously claimed to believe that Kavanaugh would respect the precedent of Roe, and would not erode women’s reproductive rights.
Second, Sara Gideon (D. ME) has been hitting Collins hard on this:
Democrats hoping to flip the Senate seized on a major Supreme Court ruling on Monday striking down a Louisiana law that would've restricted abortion access, attacking Republican candidates in crucial races across the country for supporting conservative justices who dissented in the case.
Nowhere was that more evident than in Maine, where state House Speaker Sara Gideon sharply criticized Sen. Susan Collins for voting to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, even though Collins supported the court's decision.Gideon touted her endorsements from groups supporting abortion rights like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action and publicly questioned whether Collins still believed that Kavanaugh viewed Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision in which the court ruled that the Constitution protects a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion, as “settled law.”In a video conversation with NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue, Gideon charged that Kavanaugh “did the exact opposite of what Susan Collins professed over and over again that she was sure that he would do — and that is respecting the precedent of Roe v. Wade.”“We are still very much in danger in terms of reproductive health care and access to that for all people in this country,” she added.
Third, Kavanaugh’s vote isn’t just a problem for Collins this year:
She is not alone: The ruling, which struck down a Louisiana law that could have left the state with just a single abortion clinic, reverberated rapidly through Washington and beyond, adding a new focus on one of the most divisive issues in American politics to the critical Senate races that will determine which party controls the chamber in 2021.
Advocacy groups both for and against abortion rights signaled that they would use Monday’s ruling — and especially the fact that President Trump’s appointees, Justices Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch, dissented — to try to motivate voters. And political strategists said that although many voters’ opinions on abortion were immovable, Monday’s ruling had vaulted it back into the national conversation after months of focus on the coronavirus and racial inequality.
“Everyone who voted wrong, we’re coming for you,” Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, wrote in a tweet that named Ms. Collins and Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, all of whom voted to confirm Justice Kavanaugh.
Ms. Collins said in a statement that she supported the ruling, and that it was “reading too much into this specific decision” to say Justice Kavanaugh’s dissent indicated that he would vote to outlaw abortion.
“As Justice Gorsuch noted, ‘In truth, Roe v. Wade is not even at issue here,’” she said. “And while Justice Kavanaugh called for additional fact finding in this case, he gave no indication in his dissenting opinion that he supports overturning Roe.”
Ms. Collins, Mr. Gardner and Mr. Tillis are seen as three of the most vulnerable Republicans in the Senate. And Ms. Ernst’s and Mr. Graham’s seats, while nowhere near as competitive, have become more so than they were a few months ago as President Trump’s popularity has eroded.
High-profile Democratic lawmakers like Senators Kamala Harris of California and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York were quick to applaud the decision on Monday as a victory for reproductive rights. But in a sign of what is at stake in November, Democratic officials and Senate candidates like Ms. Gideon also moved swiftly to condemn their Republican opponents, and to emphasize that if Mr. Trump gets another Supreme Court pick, the next ruling could go the other way.
“Republican leaders will continue to go after the rights of women and anyone seeking reproductive care to make decisions about their own bodies, their own families and their own futures,” top Democratic National Committee members said in a joint statement. “Democrats are doing everything in our power to flip the Senate, defeat Donald Trump, and make sure Roe remains the law of the land.”
Nearly all sitting Republican senators voted to confirm Justice Kavanaugh, including those in competitive races this year. Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, a Republican who is in a tough battle against Mark Kelly, a Democrat, had not been appointed to her Senate seat at the time of the October 2018 vote, but indicated that she would have voted in favor.
All these GOPers need to be punished for putting Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Click below to donate and get involved with Joe Biden and these Senate Democrats campaigns:
