Ok, I wasn't planning on writing a lot about the Maine U.S. Senate race because I figured Senator Susan Collins (R. ME) was a shoe in for re-election. But then I started looking into Shenna Bellows (D. ME) campaign and I see why people here are excited about her:
http://www.salon.com/...
What’s your view of the role that Edward Snowden and the information that he released have played in shaping this debate?
I think Edward Snowden has played a very important role. I think we need more protection for whistle-blowers so that we can have an open conversation about what’s appropriate. His revelations have been a catalyst for a national conversation that we really need to have.
Should he be punished?
You know, Daniel Ellsberg wrote a really interesting Op-Ed in which he talked about how his revelations in the Pentagon Papers would not have been possible under current law that prohibits whistle-blowers from coming forward. And the ACLU and other civil liberties groups have been involved in Snowden’s defense, and I think his revelations have created a really important conversation. We have too much secrecy surrounding these programs …
Do you believe that Snowden should be either charged with a crime or detained by the U.S. government?
I do not think that speaking out about matters of national import should be criminalized.
Your career included organizing to try to stop the Patriot Act. What did you learn from that experience – what struck you about that political fight?
What I learned was the importance of reaching out across ideological lines and backgrounds to work together. At the ACLU we worked with very unusual partners. I helped organize a coalition that included the American Library Association and Veterans of America working together to try to rein in the abuses of the Patriot Act. And that became a model for the work that I did here in Maine …
You mentioned …
I want to go back to the Snowden question. Snowden is absolutely a whistle-blower and should be treated as such. His revelations revealed government illegality and abuse of authority and we as a country depend upon truthful information about what the government is doing, particularly … when activity infringes on individual rights. So we could not have had a properly informed public debate about spying without Snowden’s leaks. Now unfortunately there are exceptions in the federal whistle-blower protection act that do not provide for effective avenues internally to report illegal activity. So I think that Snowden should be treated as a whistle-blower and not a criminal. - Salon, 10/30/13
Remember Andrew Ian Dodge? It's ok if you don't. He was the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate last year. Well he had some very nice things to say about Bellows:
http://www.timesrecord.com/...
It seems that Senator Collins is going to have a challenge on her hands from a capable woman in the form of Shenna Bellows.
As it looks like no liberty-minded Republican has the guts to challenge Collins in the primary, this just might be the showdown in that race.
Bellows worked for the Maine branch of the ACLU, which is an admirable organization with whom I have had quite a bit of contact of late. The Maine ACLU has been consistent in standing up to both the national and Maine governments when they step on citizens’ rights.
The ACLU of Maine has worked with liberty-minded folks on subjects such as food sovereignty, warrants to access mobile phone calls, and drones. They have even been willing to give small bits of advice to those wishing to lobby Augusta on other issues of importance. In short, it is a good organization that shares the concerns of those wishing to stand up for their rights in face of government aggression. - The Times Record, 10/29/13
I also like this about Bellows:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Bellows said that, if elected to the Senate, she would work to be a leader on the issue of marijuana legalization, citing her admiration for the work of Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) on the issue.
"I think it's unconscionable that the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, and more people per capita than any other country in the world," she said. "I think the war on drugs has failed. It wastes taxpayer dollars and harmed our community safety." - Huffington Post, 10/23/13
Now beating Senator Susan Collins (R. ME) is going to be a difficult battle but Bellows is very well aware of that and ready to fight:
http://portland.thephoenix.com/...
Shenna Bellows knows she’s facing an uphill battle to unseat US Senator Susan Collins, the Republican from Caribou. Collins, an incumbent who enjoys her carefully crafted reputation as a moderate conservative, handily beat former US representative Tom Allen in 2008. She was instrumental in brokering a compromise to end the government shutdown earlier this month (a shutdown she actually voted for before she tried to end it, but nevermind that). She has more than two million dollars in the bank, which won’t be depleted before the general election unless she faces a right-wing primary challenger, and one has yet to emerge. In light of all this, a friend recently advised Bellows to “enjoy the freedom of being the underdog.”
But while Collins is a formidable opponent, she will face a legitimate challenge from Bellows, who just stepped down as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, a post she held for nearly a decade. The 38-year-old Hancock native presided over the state chapter of the ACLU as it achieved significant victories, including requiring police to obtain probable-cause warrants before tracking individuals through their cell phones, marriage equality for same-sex couples, and rejection of the Real ID Act in Maine. Some of these efforts have won the Democrat unlikely champions in the form of those who lean libertarian.
Bellows, who formally launched her campaign at the Rising Tide Brewery in Portland this Wednesday at noon, recently hit a $50,000 fundraising goal, but admits this aspect of campaigning isn’t her favorite. “One of the things I’d like to change if elected is our campaign finance system,” she says. “There are enormous barriers to entry. People like me don’t usually run for federal office. And that’s why we have a Congress of millionaires instead of average people, and that’s a problem.”
When it comes to her millionaire opponent, Bellows speaks adroitly, but with pointed criticism.
“I respect Susan Collins’s work ethic,” Bellows says, acknowledging the senator’s long tenure of public service — the year Collins was sworn into the US Senate, 1997, is the same year Bellows graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a degree in international politics and economics. “But in those nearly 20 years we’ve experienced an economic crisis, a constitutional crisis, and an environmental crisis. I’m interested in working in all three of those areas to restore economic fairness, restore our Constitutional freedoms, and address, in a significant way, the looming crisis of climate change.” - The Portland Phoenix, 10/24/13
So Bellows certainly sounds like a great candidate that we should all get behind but again, this race isn't going to be easy. Collins has been getting a lot of good press for helping end the government shutdown:
http://www.usatoday.com/...
The male Senate leaders may have tied the bow on a deal aimed at ending the government shutdown, but credit for shaping the package is being given to a group of women, led by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Collins, a moderate Republican in her third term, was the leader of a bipartisan group of 14 senators — six of them women — who developed a compromise to end the 16-day partial federal shutdown and temporarily raise the debt ceiling so the nation isn't on the brink of default.
While the group's proposal was not left intact, Collins and other senators who participated say elements have been incorporated and helped provide the framework for the final deal hammered out by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. - USA Today, 10/16/13
And of course there's her support for ENDA:
http://bangordailynews.com/...
As of Wednesday, at least 58 senators were sponsoring the measure or planning to vote for it. The tally encompasses all 52 Senate Democrats, the two independents and four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat — who is scheduled to be sworn in Thursday as the successor to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died in June — is also expected to support ENDA, providing the 59th vote. - Bangor Daily News, 10/30/13
So Collins has had some good press lately painting herself as the common sense "moderate Republican" who can work across the aisle and defy the Tea Party half of her party. The press treats Collins like an endangered animal and she is in her own party. But she's still center-right but she's hoping that moderates will return to the GOP:
http://www.pbs.org/...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I don't know, Senator, if you consider yourself a moderate Republican, but I know many other people who watch politics closely do.
Why do you think there are so few moderates left in elected office in your party?
SUSAN COLLINS: In the last few years, we have seen, through a combination of factors, including gerrymandering, I would argue the 24/7 news cycle, a lot of different factors have combined to elect people who are at the extremes of both parties, the far left and the far right.
And that has led to a shrinking middle. But I think that the pendulum is starting to swing back. And evidence of that is the group of 14 senators that I put together, seven Republicans, six Democrats and an independent, to work together on a plan to pave the way to the end of the shutdown impasse.
That's a pretty -- pretty large number of senators working together and ultimately agreeing on a six-point plan. And that gives me hope that the center will come back. In addition, I think the center is where most people of this country are, and they just need to make their voices heard. - PBS News Hour, 10/31/13
Yeah, don't hold your breath on that one. Bellows has an uphill battle ahead of her and there's no evidence that the Tea Party is going to pose a serious threat to Collins. But Bellows has an energy and is on the side of the vast majority when it comes to civil liberties. She just needs to execute that message perfectly. Luckily for her, she's running in a year where Tea Party Governor Paul LePage (R. ME) is incredibly unpopular and Maine voters are going to make history by making Mike Michaud (D. ME) the first openly gay Governor. But of course there's the whole "split-ticket" voting mentality. Despite Maine being deep blue, voters view Collins as someone who will help balance the power but Bellows can prove that she's someone willing to work independently and can united Liberal Democrats and Libertarian-leaning Republicans in the Senate. Maine Democrats certainly are serious about winning big next year and Governor Peter Shumlin (D. VT) is helping them raise money:
http://www.necn.com/...
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is delivering the keynote speech at the Maine Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.
About 200 people are expected at this year's fundraiser, which is being held Saturday night at The Portland Club in Portland. Shumlin is the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.
U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree are also expected to be on hand.
Also attending are Shenna Bellows, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and state Sens. Troy Jackson and Emily Cain, who are running for the 2nd District seat being vacated by Michaud. - NECN, 11/2/13
Then again, we could get lucky and Collins could end up being the Lincoln Chaffee of the 2014 election cycle. What I do know is a Bellows victory would be a great message to Congress that we demand an end to domestic surveillance. Bellows campaign certainly deserves our attention and our support.
If you want to donate or get involved with Bellows campaign, you can do so here:
http://bellowsforsenate.com/