It is sooooo tempting today to pile onto Susan Collins and her big shiny bribery scandal. This investigation - that mysteriously went away when Trump returned to office - is just the latest reason to retire her. Thing is, I’m afraid we’re so busy talking about why she has to go that we aren’t spending enough time talking about why we should vote for Troy Jackson instead.
So, besides that he has no history of bribery, what’s the case for the logger from Allagash? In no particular order:
He doesn’t take campaign contributions from corporate PACs. Or AIPAC. Or lobbyists for Big Oil or Big Pharma.
He doesn’t own stocks, and supports a ban on members of Congress trading stocks.
He supports a tax on millionaires and making sure corporations pay their fair share. He thinks working families should get the tax breaks.
He opposes cuts to Social Security, higher retirement ages, and privatization.
He supports getting rid of the cap that prevents high-income earners from paying Social Security taxes on income over $184,500.
He would push for universal childcare and free school breakfast and lunch for all kids, which he did successfully in Maine.
He supports Medicare for All.
He protected the Medicare Savings Program, helping some 45,000 elderly Mainers pay out-of-pocket health care costs.
He passed bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs and would push negotiations with drug companies.
He supports strict regulation of data centers and requiring them to pay their own energy costs.
He would not have voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
He has evolved to believe in a woman’s right to choose, and in LGBTQ rights, and he’s not afraid to say he was wrong earlier in his career.
He would be one of only two current Senators belonging to a union - and he belongs to three unions.
He would abolish ICE.
He opposes the violence in Gaza and doesn’t think the US should be providing weapons for it.
He wants to overturn Citizens United and get dark money out of politics.
Here’s a printable PDF of these bullets for your convenience (minus the hyperlinks).
We’ll look more at the latest Pine Tree State Poll from the University of New Hampshire coming up next week, but here’s the topline most related to this post: it has Troy Jackson beating Susan Collins 51-47. It’s the first time a poll for these candidates has had a result outside the margin of error (in this case the MOE is 2.7 points), and it’s by more than a point.
Troy Jackson is a real person, a genuine person. He’s not a stunning orator (though he gets better each time I hear him), but as someone said, he’s someone you would expect to run into at the hardware store. You won’t run into Collins at the hardware store.
He’s at ground zero in the internal war for the Democratic Party, with the establishment trying to push him toward AIPAC. He needs to stand firm, because we’re done with the establishment Dems.
Excellent summary - thanks, Wayne!
And so much for Susan Collins's vaunted Approprations cred. NOW she's upset with Trump, because his DEI and immigration "pocket recissions" make her look weak and powerless. Gee, I really thought he'd learned his lesson...
GO TROY!!
Thanks so much for this! I’m going to share it all over!