I went to Maine to figure out why voters were changing their minds about Susan Collins. What I found were many, many former Collins voters who, in the years since Trump's election, have become deeply engaged in politics for the first time. 1/x https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

The more they learned about how their government worked, the worse Collins looked. They trusted in her image as an independent-minded, values-driven legislator. Then, suddenly, they were able to see the partisan strategy behind her "bipartisan" facade. 2/x
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

They believed they were doing their patriotic duty by organizing against Trump's agenda, only to be dismissed by Collins as "paid activists." They tried to meet with her, over and over again, only to be smeared as uncivil agitators. 3/x
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

Maine's population is the oldest in the country. Many of these new activists are retired, spending their weekdays making appointments with Collins' local staff and organizing protests in the dead of winter and the heat of summer. 4/x https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

It was incredibly energizing to meet so many 65+ voters who'd had a radical political awakening, a profound change of heart, and committed their time to political action for the first time in their lives. 5/x https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

I was also extremely impressed by state senator @shennabellows, who lost to Collins in 2014 and has a clear-eyed view of how Maine voters have changed since then. Her thoughtful analysis was essential to my understanding of the landscape. 6/x
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html

I am grateful to all the Mainers who invited me into their community centers, strategy sessions, and livestock pens. This one was the fluffiest. 7/7
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/maine-turned-on-susan-collins.html