It’s beautifully ironic that President Donald Trump’s best, perhaps last, hope for salvaging the final two years of his second term hinges on a moderate Republican whom he has vilified with a gusto usually reserved for the far left.
Sen. Susan Collins’ fate on Election Day matters far more than who will represent Maine for the next six years. A Collins win may well keep Republicans in charge of the Senate. A loss likely means Democrats gain control of the chamber and put whatever remains of Trump’s agenda in the deep freeze.
Two recent polls, from Fox News and Trafalgar, show Collins and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, tied. The RealClearPolitics average of polls has Jackson leading by 1.4 points. Both Cook Political Report and RealClearPolitics rate
the race as a toss-up.
Collins, first elected to the Senate in 1996, has a history of winning when partisan winds have blown a gale against her.
Sen. Susan Collins is a Republican moderate the GOP needs
In 2020, Collins won reelection to a fifth term at the same time Joe Biden won the presidential vote in Maine by 9 percentage points.
Remarkably, Collins also won the state by 9 points, even though polls ahead of Election Day indicated she was trailing badly.
We’ll know soon whether history will repeat this time around. Regardless of the outcome on Nov. 3, Republicans need to learn something essential about Collins’ resilience, whom Trump has previously called "atrocious" and said she should "never be elected to office again."
She’s a right-moderate who learned long ago how to listen to and respect independent and moderate Democratic voters. In Maine, a Republican flamethrower who smirks at compromise would have faded into irrelevancy decades ago.
After the thumping that surely awaits Republicans on Election Day, conservatives need to adjust how they talk about and work with moderates like Collins.
Granted, she never will be a conservative favorite. Heritage Action, the Heritage Foundation’s advocacy affiliate, gives Collins a lifetime rating of only 25% (the average GOP senator scores 78%).
MAGA needs this 'RINO' to help keep control of the Senate
But if you’re on the right side of the political divide, would you rather have South Dakota’s John Thune or New York’s Chuck Schumer serving as Senate majority leader for the next two years? Would you rather have a so-called Republican in name only (RINO) like Collins representing the Pine Tree State or a dipped-in-dark-blue progressive like Troy Jackson?
One of the brilliant features of the American political system is that it’s designed to force coalition building. A Maine Republican is not the same – cannot be the same – as a Texas Republican. That’s a strength, not a weakness.
For at least a decade, however, hard-line conservatives have worked to push moderates like Collins out of office and out of the party. That approach can work in a strong Republican election cycle. But in a down year like this one, it’s a quick path to minority status.
Even if Collins holds on in Maine, Republicans may still lose the Senate because Trump and his team pushed out two GOP incumbents who had the gall to say no to the president – Thom Tillis in North Carolina and John Cornyn in Texas.
Republican insiders acknowledge that the North Carolina race is lost heading into Election Day, and the Texas seat is in apparent jeopardy.
Political purity comes at a cost – and the price this time might well be the U.S. Senate.
Republicans aren’t the only ones who have forgotten the importance of a big tent. Progressives are already targeting Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who is up for reelection in 2028, because he’s viewed as too moderate by the far left.
If Democrats do push aside Fetterman, they may regret running a more liberal candidate in a state Trump won twice. But that’s distant thunder from beyond the horizon.
Now, it’s conservatives who desperately need the RINO from Maine to help MAGA keep control of the Senate, and Trump avoid becoming the lamest of roasted ducks.
Tim Swarens is a former deputy opinion editor for USA TODAY and former opinion editor of The Indianapolis Star.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump vilified Collins. Now she can save his presidency | Opinion
