As Steve Benen points out, Richard Lugar, Brent Scowcroft, Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Reagan Secretary of State George Schultz, Reagan Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein, Reagan Chief of Staff Howard Baker, and Colin Powell--all of whom have urged ratification of the new START treaty--aren't enough for Susan Collins.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has reserved judgment on how she will vote until the resolution comes to the floor, said it could make a difference if Obama could get George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, both former presidents, to appear with him in support of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START. [...]
"It would be wonderful if President [George H.W.] Bush would come out for the treaty. That would be so powerful and definitely help," Collins said in a telephone interview last week.
Former GOP Sen. John Danforth is absolutely right, speaking about his party: "we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption.” That comment was in reference to a potential primary for Lugar because of his support for the treaty, but it applies here, and there's no if about it. Susan Collins is all the proof necessary that the Republican party is a lost cause.