Just curious: when was the last time Susan Collins voted with the Democrats ?

[steve2470]

Affordable Care Act in 2009 ? She seems to do this elaborate dance every time and then votes with her buddies.

eta: She didn't vote for the ACA in 2009, thank you for the information.

[PoliticAverse]

1. She's a Republican and no Republican Senator voted for the Affordable Care Act. n/t

[steve2470]

2. ok thanks, somehow it got in my mind she did nt

[rogue emissary]

3. I was surprised by the below link.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/susan-m-collins/

She has voted with us on some big Liberal issues like Abortion rights and Net neutrality recently.

[steve2470]

4. thanks for that link! nt

[rogue emissary]

5. On the ACA specifically.

She voted with us and against Donny's positions at least three times in 2017.

Senate "skinny repeal" health care bill (49-51)
Repealing major parts of the Affordable Care Act, with a transition period for replacement (45-55)
The American Health Care Act of 2017 (Senate motion to proceed) (51-50)

[unblock]

6. the key is when she votes with democrats *when it matters*

ideal strategy for a majority political party is to organize more than enough votes for victory, then dole out exceptions to vulnerable party members. this allows optimal use of unneeded, excess votes.

collins is a republican in a blue state, so she is one of the ones who needs to play the game of sometimes voting against her party.

senate leadership's job is to give her chances to do that on votes where they don't need her to win.


a couple of her votes on the aca repeal attempts are among the rare cases where she voted with democrats *when it mattered*.

other times when she votes with democrats, we have to take those with a grain of salt because she might well have voted with republicans had they really needed her vote.

[dem4decades]

7. How does she look Maine voters in the eye?

I've been to Maine and many need assistance and many are young and would benefit from Democratic ideas.

[FBaggins]

8. More than you might inagine

Things she won’t support likely never come to a vote due to the narrow margins.