Readers might have been understandably confused by a misleading July 29 column by Greg Kesich headlined “Republicans stand firmly on Team Trump,” which suggests that Sen. Susan Collins serves as a rubber stamp for President Trump’s agenda.
The column cites a tally from the fivethirtyeight.com website, which shows Sen. Collins has voted with President Trump 78.9 percent of the time. What’s omitted, however, is that there is very little difference between Senator Collins’ score under President Trump and her score under President Obama over a comparable period. According to CQ Roll Call, Senator Collins voted with President Obama 77.3 percent of the time during his first two years in office.
Wondering why these scores are so similar? In addition to the fact that Senator Collins is consistently ranked as the most bipartisan member of the United States Senate and works across the aisle, both tallies score numerous, routine procedural votes that are often non-controversial.
In addition, in deciding whether to support bills or nominees, Senator Collins has always evaluated them based on the merits, not based on who is occupying the Oval Office.
Annie Clark
Director of Communications
Sen. Susan Collins
Washington, D.C.
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