Press release from the Collins for Senator campaign:

TOM ALLEN VOTES (AGAIN) TO JEOPARDIZE THE SAFETY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE

Congressman Tom Allen chose politics over the safety and security of the American people by voting Friday with a small minority against a bipartisan compromise that would modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. FISA is one of the most important tools in the war against terror, allowing our nation's intelligence community to conduct lawful surveillance of suspected terrorists. FISA has helped our intelligence agencies protect our country, and our military troops in the field, by granting these agencies the authority to intercept terrorist plots. The compromise bill provides our intelligence agencies with the tools they need to help protect against possible terrorist attacks, while protecting civil liberties.

"Tom Allen had a chance to help protect our nation's safety and security. Unfortunately, he caved in to the pressure of partisan special interest groups and voted to deny our intelligence community the necessary resources to continue monitoring foreign-based, terrorist communications," said Kevin Kelley, spokesman for Collins for Senator.

WHAT TOM ALLEN'S DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING ABOUT FISA LEGISLATION:

• SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) "Our troops in the field depend on timely and reliable information." "Good intelligence is necessary for us to know the plans of the terrorists." "This bill does not allow warrantless surveillance of Americans."
• HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER STENY HOYER (D-MD) "This bipartisan bill balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans' civil liberties, and provides critical new oversight and accountability requirements," said Hoyer. "It is the result of compromise, and like any compromise is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance. Furthermore, we have ensured that Congress can revisit these issues because the legislation will sunset at the end of 2012."
• HOUSE ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN IKE SKELTON (D-MO) "This bipartisan compromise strikes the right balance between providing our intelligence community with the tools they need to find and fight terrorists and protecting our constitutional rights."
• SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV) "At its core this historic, bipartisan agreement to modernize FISA is about providing an essential tool in the fight against terrorism. It meets our dual obligations to make our Nation safe and restore the privacy protections and civil liberties Americans require."

TheAtlantic.com's Marc Ambinder published "The first in an occasional series of posts ranking the competitive Senate races."

Ranked by competitiveness, Maine's race was listed dead last:

Mainers don’t seem to be in the mood to kick out Sen. Susan Collins; it’s a stretch to label her a “Bush Republican,” as Democrat Rep. Tom Allen is finding out.

Our campaign website won TechMaine's 'Best of the Web' award for the Corporate Image category the other night, here's the press release:

COLLINS FOR SENATOR CAMPAIGN WEBSITE TAKES TOP HONORS AT TECHMAINE AWARDS

www.susancollins.com Wins First Prize in Corporate Image Category

Portland, ME – Portland’s Eastland Hotel was the scene last night for the annual TechMaine Technology Awards Gala. It was also the site of an on-line victory for the Collins for Senator campaign. The TechMaine awards honor excellence and accomplishment in the state’s technology sectors. TechMaine gives five awards in the area of technology and four under the heading of Best of the Web. All entrants were winnowed down to three finalists each in the categories of Corporate Image, Arts & Entertainment, Non-Profit, and E-Commerce.

www.susancollins.com won the Corporate Image category. The site was lawded for incorporating “great multi-media” and integrating “the top social networking sites, making it easy to contribute to the campaign”. Also cited for excellence was “a great blog from Susan Collins herself.”

The site is the work of Lance Dutson, the Collins for Senator Internet Communications Director and owner of Maine Coast Design, a Maine-based web marketing company.

“Considering the ever-increasing role of websites and the Internet in political and corporate life, I’m delighted that the effort we’ve put into a strong online presence was recognized in this manner,” said Senator Collins. “I commend Lance for the great work he’s doing in directing our on-line communications – and, of course, I urge everyone to visit us at www.susancollins.com .”

More about TechMaine (formerly MESDA) >>

The Washington Post's Chris Cilizza has downgraded the Maine senate race to #10 in a list of Senate sets likely to change hands this fall. Once regarded one of the most competitive races in the nation, the Allen- Collins matchup is now pretty universally regarded as a might-have-been for Democrats:

10. Maine: There is a simple fact dominating this race: voters like Sen. Susan Collins (R) and overwhelmingly approve of the job she has done in the Senate. Unlike some Republican incumbents working hard of late to distance themselves from President Bush, Collins has a long record of moderation. Rep. Tom Allen (D) is a good candidate and has a very solid team around him. But, it's hard to see why voters would fire Collins. (Previous ranking: 9)

The Maine GOP sent out this press release today, detailing the fact that Susan Collins continues to hold a strong lead in fundraising, cash-on-hand, and poll numbers.:

Some interesting numbers on the Maine Senate Race

Financial Reports released today show that:

1.Senator Collins beat Congressman Allen for the 5th consecutive quarter; and

2.The Collins campaign has $1.8 million more cash-on-hand than the Allen campaign.

The Polls:

The most recent poll on the Maine Senate race shows Senator Collins extending her lead to 23 points from the last published poll in November, which showed her ahead of Tom Allen 54-34. The poll also shows Collins with a lead among Union and non-Union households. From Roll Call:

Business Coalition Polls 3 Senate Battlegrounds

In releasing polling Tuesday that sought to bolster its argument that Americans oppose “card-check” legislation for unionized workers, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace also released polls on three of the most hotly contested Senate races of the cycle.

In Colorado, the Republican polling firm McLaughlin & Associates found Rep. Mark Udall (D) leading former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R), 44 percent to 32 percent. The survey of 400 likely general election voters taken March 6-9 had a 4.9-point margin of error.

In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R) had a solid lead over Rep. Tom Allen (D), 54 percent to 31 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters March 6-9 had a 4.9-point error margin.

In Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman (R) had a 46 percent to 40 percent lead over comedian Al Franken (D) in the McLaughlin poll. The pollster interviewed 500 likely voters March 6-9. The poll had a 4.5-point error margin.

The poll found in all three states that non-union households were far more likely to support the Republican candidates, and also suggested that voters are less likely to support candidates who favor a card-check process for union membership, a provision favored by unions and many Democratic leaders.

— Josh Kurtz

(cross posted at RedState)

Waterville Mayor Paul LePage has an op-ed in the Morning Sentinel today:

Unlike the Presidential election this fall, Mainers have a clear-cut choice for who should represent our state in the United States Senate. For the past 12 years, Sen. Susan Collins has amassed a voting record second to none, which we have not seen in our state since the glory days of the Honorable Margaret Chase Smith. Sen. Collins is emulating the work begun by Sen. Smith, and unmistakably deserves the support of all Maine voters to return her to Washington as our U.S. senator.

We should feel enormous pride for having Sen. Collins represent our state. She is not timid in challenging her party leadership, while maintaining the single-minded purpose of prioritizing the needs of the people of the state of Maine. She remains reliably in the mainstream and has done so without missing a vote in the time she has been in Washington.

Her opponent on the other hand, has time and again revealed an inability to show up to work in Congress. Unfortunately for Maine citizens, Rep. Tom Allen has been absent for well over 100 congressional votes. Mainers deserve better, and we must demand that when elected, our elected officials show up for the debate.

Read more >>

Susan Collins has a new blog post on her campaign site, where she describes awarding medals to a Biddeford WWII veteran:

The Portland Press Herald ran an op-ed by Edward Erickson, a graduate student from Bowdoinham, that lays out an interesting perspective on the relationship of the Iraq War to the upcoming Maine Senate contest:

Allen may be misreading discontent over war
Iraq doesn't seem to have been the driving issue for Maine voters in 2006, and likely won't be this year.