Sen. Susan Collins' (R-Maine) support for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has earned her a lot of enemies — including, perhaps, an ex-national security adviser.
Collins seemed to be one of the last senators undecided on whether to vote to confirm Kavanaugh, but her lengthy Senate floor speech Friday in support of Kavanaugh suggested a good deal of preparation. Her decision also incensed a lot of Democrats. As soon as she was done, a few potential candidates stepped up to take her down in 2020.
Maine's speaker of the House, Democrat Sara Gideon, was the first to say she'd consider running in a Facebook post after Collins' speech. Then, former President Barack Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice threw out this cryptic sign.
Rice later tweeted that she's "not making any announcements," but did reaffirm that "Maine and America deserve better" than Collins' vote for Kavanaugh. But no matter who opts to oppose Collins when she's up for re-election in 2020, they'll have a good chunk of change on their side. In September, a group of activists launched a Crowdpac fundraiser for a to-be-determined Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, provided Collins voted "yes" on Kavanaugh.
The campaign was nearing $2 million as Collins took the floor on Friday, and, as you can see below, that speech certainly didn't do her any favors. Kathryn Krawczyk