Reply #16: At the right time, she had a uterus, and no track record.

[Davis_X_Machina]

When Collins ran for the Senate the first time, there was a splendid old-school Dem, Joe Brennan -- former state AG, two-term governor, two-term US Rep, the man who appointed George Mitchell to the Senate, among other things, running against her.

But the country was doing well in '96, and people didn't think politicians should have any political experience, and there was no difference between the parties, and Joe was so yesterday, and a man. So Collins, whose only civilian job was as a campaign consultant to other GOP campaigns, won, with the help of a Green Party candidate, Rensenbrink, who split the Dem vote, and Dem women, who thought having two women senators would send a message.

And now, with the power of the incumbency, and thanks to our state's fixation with 'independents' and non-partisanship (James Longley, Angus King) we'll never get rid of her.

She's an idiot. She may be the dumbest member of the Senate, Inhofe et al. not excluded. One of my old students works in her constituency service operation, and he thinks she's the dumbest member of the Senate. She is certainly 100% run by her staff, and lobbyists. But she's relatively quiet, so she gets away with it.