MPBN's Maine Things Considered aired a report last night that was pretty blunt about the direction of the Tom Allen for Senate Campaign so far. Here's how it started:

As Senator Susan Collins and First District Representative Tom Allen inch closer to a political showdown in the race for US Senate, two pollsters from opposing political parties say Allen must change his strategy for defeating the Republican incumbent. They say that means relying less on Iraq policy as the cornerstone of his campaign. But as AJ Higgins reports, Allen remains confident that Iraq is the flashpoint issue that distinguishes him from Collins. Since announcing his bid for US Senate last May, First District Congressman Tom Allen has posted a total of 11 press releases on his campaign website. With the exception of 2, all either deal with his opposition to the Iraq war, or make the point that his Republican opponent has been wrong about Iraq since the war began in 2003. But the most recent statewide poll shows Senator Susan Collins outpacing Allen by 20 points, and now Democratic and Republican strategists say it's time for the congressman to change course if he hopes to winnow down Collins' lead.

Click the audio link above to hear the whole report.