We start this week by dealing with the ProPublica report, which accused Susan Collins of engineering a pay to play scheme with a disgraced defense contractor. The accusation comes from a self-interested criminal who is currently in jail for fraud, and he was clearly attempting to pass information to the FBI in exchange for early release. Are the accusations credible? No. Does Susan Collins have any kind of history of corruption? No. Does any of this sound rational? No. But that won’t stop the campaign ads that are about to show up about it.
We also take a look at not one, not two, but three new polls we got this week. New York Times, UNH and UMass Lowell all took a look at Maine’s Senate race, and we also got news on the gubernatorial race, Janet Mills’ approval rating, and even some about voter impressions about key issues like AI and socialized healthcare.
We wrap by talking about the gubernatorial race, and specifically the most recent financial reports. Questions about Rick Bennett’s presence in the race, with very little cash on hand and single-digit polling, are perhaps the major element of the current race’s dynamics.
All that and more this week on the Pine Tree Pulse.