Over the years, Daily Kos has frequently called out issue groups for endorsing Republicans. These groups do that to show their bipartisanship, choosing Republicans who, despite casting the occasional decent vote on the issue, will ultimately move us backward by voting for Republican leadership in Congress and the agenda that entails. The Sierra Club has done it repeatedly. NARAL has done it. And, yeah, Planned Parenthood has done it.
This week, Planned Parenthood undid one of their mistakes. Having backed Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins in 2002, they've switched their endorsement to Democratic Rep. Tom Allen. The Collins Watch blog lays it out:
And because Planned Parenthood backed Collins in 2002 (and frequently endorses Republicans) its support for Allen represents a serious, non-partisan challenge to Collins' carefully-cultivated "moderate" image.
The landmark nature of the decision underscores just how far Collins has strayed on abortion, privacy and related issues over the last several years:
--This is the first time Planned Parenthood has backed the challenger to a senator it had previously endorsed.
--This appears to be the first time Planned Parenthood has backed a Senate challenger over an incumbent who identifies as pro-choice.
When you're reminded that Collins voted to confirm Alito to the Supreme Court, and other horrendous Bush judicial nominees to other seats, you have to say "about f'ing time." But it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Planned Parenthood would break with their previous practices like this. Kudos to them for doing so. And it should be a boost for Allen, who's never slipped out of contention but has never seemed to gain the kind of traction he'll need.