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Susan Collins Campaigns With Joe Manchin in Lewiston, Praises Bipartisan Record
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Manchin campaigns with Collins in Maine to highlight bipartisan record Collins frames independence and debunks idea she enables Trump
7 outlets told this the same way.
Collins with Manchin
Sen. Susan Collins promoted her independence in Maine by campaigning with former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who had endorsed her and spoke to reporters after a campaign stop in Lewiston.
“Manchin said to lose Collins would be ‘to lose the soul of the Senate.’”
Manchin told the crowd that losing Collins would be “to lose the soul of the Senate,” and he praised her independent streak and her willingness to buck Republican President Donald Trump.
Collins and Manchin made appearances after stopping for breakfast at Simones’ Hot Dog Stand in Lewiston, where Collins said she and Manchin were “part of every piece of bipartisan legislation that passed and became law” during their time together in office.
Troy Jackson, Collins’ Democratic challenger, was described as scheduled to campaign Thursday in Portland with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while Collins, 73, sought her sixth term and faced what the AP called her toughest reelection fight.
The AP also said Collins was trying to fend off Jackson’s challenge as the election neared, with a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finding that a strong majority of voters want change in Washington.
Economy and checks
Joe Manchin told reporters during a diner stop with Sen. Susan Collins in Lewiston that President Donald Trump “owns this economy,” framing the comment around headwinds facing Maine.
Manchin said Democrats “paid the price” for Biden’s policies and that Collins would serve as a check, adding, “They own this economy,” and “This is their economy, and they have to face up to that.”
Collins brought Manchin to Simones’ Hot Dog Stand to argue she is no rubber stamp for the unpopular president, and the Bangor Daily News described the exchange as showing Collins confining her critiques to specific issues rather than running expressly against Trump.
Collins also said yes when asked whether Trump should reverse his decision to buy Russian diesel despite a sanctions law passed last month, and she said the deal won’t increase U.S. supply “in any measurable way” but will give Russia more money “to attack Ukraine.”
The Bangor Daily News reported that Collins was one of six senators, four of them Republicans, who called on Trump this month to reverse course, and it said she had last month called Trump’s cancellation of nearly $1 billion in spending illegal.
Bipartisan bills and stakes
Collins’ campaign said Manchin would stump with her in Lewiston beginning at Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, and WGME reported that the event was set for Wednesday as the election approached.
“‘Those were the product of Joe and I bringing together Democrats and Republicans to work to produce a bipartisan bill,’ Collins said.”
Collins told WGME that “Those were the product of Joe and I bringing together Democrats and Republicans to work to produce a bipartisan bill,” and she said Manchin was “a good friend, and I'm thrilled that he's coming to Maine.”
WABI said Collins and Manchin would appear at events in Lewiston and Norway Wednesday, and it quoted Collins praising Manchin for putting state over party and saying, “He represented his state. He put his state over party.”
Scripps News said all eyes were on Maine as a critical Senate race drew closer, and it described Collins as seeking reelection while she faced Democrat Troy Jackson.
Scripps News also said Manchin endorsed Collins earlier in the election cycle and called the senator “the soul of the Senate,” while noting Collins was in a tough reelection fight for her sixth term.