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Activists are trying something new in the battle for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's bid for crowdfunding to persuade a Republican senator to vote no on his nomination.
In this case, the senator is Susan Collins of Maine, a centrist who is considered by many to be something of a swing vote in the very partisan struggles of Congress, including the Kavanaugh investiture. After all, Collins supported the right to abortion and was one of three GOP Senators (alongside Lisa Murkowski and the late John McCain in Alaska) to vote against the repeal " skinny "of the Affordable Care Act of Trump in 2017.
The campaign was launched by the Maine People's Alliance, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, and "Be a Hero" activist, Ady Barkan, who is working to mobilize voters for the 2018 mid-term elections.
Their goal is to raise funds to finance Collins's Democratic opposition in the 2020 elections if it votes to confirm Kavanaugh. If Collins votes against Kavanaugh, all the money will be donated to the donors. So far, the group has raised $ 1.1 million from more than 40,000 pledges and numerous debates.
"The people of Maine are asking you to be a hero, Senator Collins," reads the description of the campaign. "Your advance poll could decide whether a rubber stamp for Trump's anti-health, anti-women, and anti-labor agenda will be upheld in the Supreme Court – costing millions of Americans their health care, their right to choose and their life. "
Collins herself told the conservative publication Newsmax that the effort would not change her vote on Kavanaugh, likening her to a bribe, and saying, "I think this shows the new declines to which the opponents leaned over ".
An op-ed by the the Wall Street newspaper called the campaign a "strong arm" tactic and suggested, "it's not clear that it's even legal."
3 / in the political system. This becomes very problematic when it is unlimited. But that is not it. It is a very simple, ethical and legitimate way of expressing oneself politically. This is no different from any other kind of hard money contribution.
– Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 12, 2018
The campaign reflects the brutal reality of our political system: if the Koch brothers can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence politicians, it might be logical for average citizens to band together and exercise similar power with their wallets.
Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Ethics and Responsibilities, said at the Washington Post"It's a little disgusting, but it does not correspond to the level of corruption because there is no agreement.It's just the way money and politics tend to work these days. . "
The campaign is only one of many initiatives aimed at influencing Collins's vote on Kavanaugh, which opponents could call fifth vote in a majority decision of the Supreme Court to overturn. Roe v. Wade. Collins' office received 3,000 hangers as well as calls, some of which were vulgar or abusive.
For what it's worth, a Democratic challenger and a Republican challenger announced their intention to run against Collins in 2020.
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