Senator Susan Collins of Maine is one of the highest profile Republicans to announce she won’t back Trump. She did not elaborate this week as to whom she would support, but will she cause the avalanche of Republicans jumping off the sinking ship?
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday said she won’t back GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, joining a handful of other Republican senators who say they cannot support him because of his rhetoric and temperament.
“Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values, nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country,” Collins wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. – huffingtonpost.com
One writer over at Gawker.com released a lovely post entitled "Susan Collins Is An Asshole."
Maine Senator Susan Collins, the dictionary definition of “Olde-Timey Moderate Republican,” is making headlines today for her announcement that she won’t vote for Donald Trump. Wow—give her a fucking medal, why don’t we?
… (blah blah blah there's more to the post, go to gawker to read it all.)
Despite citing many grotesque things Donald Trump did and said many months ago, Collins’ published explanation says that—against all common sense—she continued to hold out hope that “we would see a ‘new’ Donald Trump” who would “develop more thoughtful policies.” That hope lasted, we are led to believe, until this week. Is Susan Collins dumb as hell, or a liar? One or the other must be the case.
Susan Collins have you ever seen The Apprentice? That’s the guy your party nominated for president. Same guy. The exact same. No big change.
Deciding not to vote for Donald Trump fourteen months into his campaign does not make you a hero. It makes you woefully late. It means that you tolerated everything Donald Trump did until now. It took this long to reach your breaking point. Not when he called Mexicans “rapists.” Not when he said he would ban Muslims from entering America. But now.
There is no way for this to be true unless you are an asshole—big time.
Congrats. – gawker.com
Gawker writer Hamilton Nolan had to vent I guess. Susan is far from an asshole as he contends. She's just a little late in speaking against someone that fellow Republicans have picked to lead their party. And she has been saying for months (see below) that she will most likely not support Mr Trump. It would be interesting if we will see Nolan will give the 'asshole' label to all the future Republican Senators when they denounce Trump.
But who has denounced him so far? On June 30th, WashingtonExaminer.com published a list of all the Republican senators and representatives and where they stood on Trump.
Republican Senators who will not endorse Donald Trump (6):
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. — On May 4, Sasse wrote an open letter reiterating his refusal to support Trump.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. — "I just can't agree with some of his positions," Heller told the Associated Press on May 4. Heller added he "vehemently" opposes some of Trump's comments, and said he "would not commit" to vote for Trump.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. — Following Trump's controversial comments regarding the heritage of a Trump University judge, Flake told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough he couldn't endorse Trump "at this point" on June 6. On June 7, Flake suggested to reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump's rhetoric could "spur" a challenge at the GOP convention in July.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — Graham told CNN he is still "not supporting" Trump on May 23, despite recent allegations claiming Graham was pushing lawmakers to unite around the presumptive GOP nominee.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. — Following Trump's controversial comments regarding the heritage of a Trump University judge, Kirk retracted his support for Trump via a statement on June 7: "While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump's latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party's nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party." Kirk had previously told CNN in March that he'd "certainly" support Trump if he were the nominee.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah — On May 11, Lee told constituents Trump "scares [him] to death," and reiterated he hasn't supported nor endorsed Trump up to this point. On June 28, Lee reiterated he has "not endorsed Mr. Trump," and suggested Republicans would "rally more aggressively" behind the presumptive nominee if he embraced the Constitution. – washingtonexaminer.com
At the time of the WashingtonExaminer.com post on June 30th, this is where Collins was:
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine — Following Trump's controversial comments regarding the heritage of a Trump University judge, Collins told the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza it was unlikely but possible she would vote for Hillary Clinton over Trump on June 9. – washingtonexaminer.com
So is she an asshole? Is she late for the meeting? Is she just getting the memo that Trump is not the right one?
She is not fully respected in her home state of Maine, but she is respected in Washington D.C. Ever since I have been alive, Maine Senators have had great respect in our nations's capital. She is definitely more respected than Ted Cruz who missed his time at the RNC to denounce Trump, but basically did so the next day at a much smaller speaking opportunity.
I feel that she is too late to save her party's chances for this 2016 election, but she is not too late to save her party. The Republicans still thinking that they may have a chance of winning this election are trying very hard and foolishly to get Trump under control and change his image, but we have to thank Sarah Palin for this so accurate 8 year old statement that is truly applicable to Trump. "The difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull …"
… lipstick." Trump has been flapping his lips way too long to be able to cover up his mistakes, hatred, racism, and narcissism with lipstick. There's no way around Trump being the wrong candidate for America. Republicans have to realize that. Sometimes you have to take one for the team and letting Trump go to save our country (team) needs to happen. I feel that if there is an avalanche of anti-Trump Republican Senators and Representatives proclaiming their dislike for their party's chosen candidate, the Republican party may save some face, no lipstick needed.
We hope that Senator Susan Collins has started that avalanche. If you were a Republican Senator / Representative, would you rather be riding out Donald's sinking ship or be on Susan's life raft?
Is she the trend setter we need? The avalanche catalyst a.k.a. the stick of dynamite at the top?
Or is she an asshole?
UPDATE
Is she voting for Clinton?
Asked who she would support, said she has “a lot of concerns about Hillary Clinton” and would not support her, either. She praised Libertarian vice presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld but expressed concerns about former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee. – politico.com ( August 9, 2016 1:30 PM)
This is my opinion and not that of Instinct Magazine – Adam Dupuis