Would 2 Democrats be better than 2 RINOs in Maine? We have 2 RINOs in Maine right now. I will not be voting for Snowe in November 2012. Snowe can be beaten by a tea party challenger if the tea party challenger is credible. But, I’m not entirely hopeful that a credible Conservative challenger will appear. There just aren’t too many credible, Conservative Republicans in Maine who are willing to directly challenge a Republican incumbent Senator with no help at all from the Conservative Republican Governor. Snowe and Collins are both roughly about as Conservative as Maine is. They pretty much vote for what most Mainers want. They’re both pretty popular with Mainers and both would win in November if they were the Republican nominee. They’re also both less popular with Republicans than Democrats, and Snowe would lose a Republican Primary if the Tea Party challenger was credible. A challenger who is not credible will not beat Snowe. Marginal kooks do like to run for office in Maine, and it’s certainly possible that Snowe runs in 2012 against a bunch of unknown wacky kooks. The “tea party” (whichever “tea party” gave $$$ to Christine) might have to do a substantial amount of work to find someone in Maine that is willing to risk their political career to run against a very well liked Republican. They might have to find someone who is not in politics. There is a pretty good chance of tea party fail in Maine. I hope not, because she would lose to a decent candidate with tea party $$$. I think a normal conservative person with a normal educational background, a normal job, and above average charisma would do it. But I don’t think that person is necessarily going to run for US Senate without being prodded by the tea party.
If there’s a Maine version of Christine O’Donnell, she’d beat Snowe.
So, I’m with you. I’ll likely be voting for a Democrat in Nov 2012 against Snowe. Top Dems aren’t planning on running against Snowe. Snowe’d likely win even if Conservatives vote for the Dem, just to get rid of RINOs, unless someone like Rosa Scarcelli runs.