New York Magazine - USA (2020-02-17)

february17–march1, 2020 | newyork 39

andif we’renothelpingpeople,weshouldgo thefuckhome.” That

wasin 201 7, a coupleofmonthsbeforeCollinswouldindeedhelp

peoplebycastinghervotetoblocktherepealof theAffordableCare

Act.(Gillibranddeclinedtocommentforthisstoryandhasalready

announcedhersupportofSara Gideon.)

Buttheidealizationofpractical,cooperativewomeninpolitics,

theno-nonsensegalswhoworkwellwithothers,hastakena hitin

recentyears.That’sinpart thankstoa long-overduereckoning,post-

2016,withthemore thanhalfof whitewomenwhovotedforTrump

and,fordecadesbefore him,abettedtheriseofhisever-more-

punitive,patriarchalRepublicanParty:Forwhat, withwhom,and

towhosebenefit,havethesewomenbeenwillingtocompromise?

WhenCollinssaysof thepresidentsheoncedeemedunfitthat

sh e believeshe’slearneda “prettybig lesson”throughhis impeach-

menthearing,as shesaidto CBSwhenshecasthervoteto acquit

hi m,it’snotan accidentthatoneof thefirstsocial-mediaresponses

was a jokefromtheWashingtonPost’s AlexandraPetri:“Let’sNot

DoAnyFurtherHarmto ThisPromisingYoungMan’sCareer!”

It ’s a referenceto thepatternnowfamiliarfromthedefensesof

KavanaughandconvictedrapistBrockTurnerandpeoplewho

th ink is a e in ng of m

nal con r th ell f ve ab

th eirpower,thekindof concernthatis increasinglyassociated

witha strainof reactionarywhitefemininity.

MOST EVERYONE WHO TALKS ABOUT Susan

Collins acknowledges her defensiveness and thin

skin. In late December, Maine Momentum, the (c)

(4) arm of a statewide progressive group, began

airing an ad featuring brewery owners in Lubec, a

small fishing town on Maine’s northern coast, who

talk about how the tax bill hurt small-business

owners while affording big corporations $100 bil-

lion in tax breaks. “I have always voted for Susan

Collins,” says the woman in the ad. “And I have

seen her voting record change.”

Within a few weeks, Collins’s campaign released

a digital spot taking direct aim at the Lubec ad,

calling it the product of “dark-money lies” put

forth by “Sara Gideon’s extreme allies.” Soon came

a longer ad, featuring shots of the tinytown of

Lubec—population 1,300—and ending with a

woman holding Collins’s hands, thanking her

tearfully for the $20 million breakwaterbuilt to

protect the community’s fishermen.

Collins paints much of the criticism as seeded

by dark-money groups. “I would support a bill to

require all groups to disclose their donors,” Collins

said in the fall. (In 2010, Collins voted against the

Disclose Act, which would have required groups

to disclose their donors, claiming that it offered

too many exceptions.)

Her impulse to hit back against criticism, and

to trumpet the degree to which she is being tar-

geted, strikes many who know her as increas-

ingly pronounced, probably because she’s being

attacked more now than ever, something she’s

anxious to let people know. In the fall of 2018,

Collins told the New York Times all about how

“not fun” it has been for her to receive death

threats, to be crowded by protesters when she

goestovote.In January,shetolda similarstory

toJenniferSteinhauerat theTimes,recalling

howonestafferquitinresponsetothehostile

callsthatpouredinpost-Kavanaugh;howher

husbandhadtoweara hazmatsuitbecauseofa

threat ofricinina lettersenttoherhome;howa manfollowed

herhomeaftersheparkedhercarintherain.

“Itjust madethewholetimevery unpleasant,” Collinstoldthe

Times.Andyes!Thiswholeperiodhasbeenvery unpleasantforlots

ofpeople,includingthoseseparatedfromtheirchildrenat thebor-

der, a Trumppolicy Collinscalled“traumatizing[and]contraryto

ourvaluesinthiscountry”whilelatercastingthedecidingvoteto

confirmKathleenKraninger,whowasinstrumentalinthefamily-

separationpolicy, toheaduptheConsumerFinancialProtection

Bureauin 20 18.

Collins’scomplaints—forinstance,grumblingaboutrudetreat-

mentatthehandsofcollege studentsinfrontofconstituentsthere

totellherharrowingstoriesof tryingtoobtainabortioncare—arein

linewitha broadersenseofvictimhoodamongthepowerful,who

haverecentlycomeinforsharpcriticism,protest, andpushback:It

re flectsthepanicthat inbeingharshlyjudged,they are being

unjustlymaligned,canceled,witch-hunted,lynchedbyravening

mobsofleftists.

THEVINDICTIVENESSOFTRUMP’SBASEis somethingthat Col-

linsis wellaware of, especiallyintheweeksbeforetheMarch 16

filingdeadlinefora primary competitorfromtheright.Theday of

hervoteforwitnesses,oneGOPadvisercalledCollinsa “dead

womanwalking”;the(laughable)view of her

During the Kavanaugh hearings in 2018.

PHOTOGRAPH: DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES (Continued on page 89)

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