This is in no way an endorsement of Republican policies or the Republican party, and I DISAGREE with Collins on most of her votes in the US Senate. However, she does have a moderate bent, and her very recent votes on the horrid GOP healthcare bills were the right votes. She should be thanked for these votes to stop the rotten GOP DEATHcare bills. They were votes where she resisted huge pressure from her GOP colleagues.

We need Collins to stay in the Senate. Here is why. WE DO NOT WANT HER TO LEAVE TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR!!! That is because the horrid rotten LePage would then appoint either himself or another far right winger to that US Senate seat and he or the other person would help Trump and the radical GOP kill our healthcare and do so many other rotten things. Collins is very popular in Maine and is at least a voice of relative moderation and reason who places a needed check and balance on Trump in the Senate.

Also, if she ran for governor because of her popularity she would likely win the governorship in a year when with the right Democratic candidate should be able to win the governorship back absent a Collins candidacy.

So, for these very important reasons, I urge you to please contact Sen. Collins via email and thank her for her courageous healthcare votes and ask her to please stay in the US Senate because that is right where we need her.

Link to email Sen. Collins: https://www.collins.senate.gov/contact

AND PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE.

Want healthcare? Fix the party, run good campaigns, vote, and win more elections. R's don't give a shit less about protests and they are a waste of time. Win more elections. Simple as that.

We have got to learn the great historical lesson: ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. The Dem Party has been seriously broken and gutted all over the country. And too many Dems/Progressives don't vote. It's that simple. If you don't win elections, the Republicans own the power and will do rotten horrid things. If you don't like those rotten horrid things then WIN MORE ELECTIONS. Simple as that.

The 3100 county strategy pushed by Keith Ellison is what the Dem party must do. And that means compete EVERYWHERE and have a strong jobs message for everyone everywhere. The Dem party has been GUTTED all over the country since 08 because it decided to be mainly an urban party, went corporate at the national level, and decided to just compete in presidential years.

MEGA FAILURE! MANY registered Dems in small towns and rural areas voted for Trump, not so much because they liked him a lot, but because when your town is dying, when mills and shopping centers have closed, when you feel your beloved town has no future, you want JOBS again and the middle class American dream again. And Trump and Republicans successfully addressed that anxiety with a strong, clear, simple jobs message.

Dems may not win all those areas back, BUT, as BARACK OBAMA said, you have to compete everywhere and get MORE of those votes to be a viable national party that can win.

When Obama came to office in 09 he and he and Dems did plenty of PROGRESSIVE things. In 2010 the "base", which should have been extremely happy and energized, went to sleep, at least in too many cases. And in 2016 if the thought of a Trump disaster and the first woman president couldn't energize the "base," then what would have? Sure, Clinton could have done a better campaign, but it's not as though it was a terrible campaign. Too many in the "base" stayed home. No excuses.

The party needs to compete EVERYWHERE, and it is needs a strong, clear, compelling JOBS JOBS JOBS message which works for EVERYONE EVERYWHERE. The party needs to build NATIONALLY from the school board to the Senate, and it needs to fight for votes EVERYWHERE including RED areas which we may not win but can at least get MORE of because in the big picture that matters bigtime.

GOOD JOBS FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE is the number one concern, always, and it plays well in both cities and out in the country. And we haven't had a strong jobs message at all. It has STUNK. People are far less concerned about divisive "civil rights" and "identity politics" issues than they are about having a good job, buying a home, have two vehicles, and taking a vacation every year. That is the middle class American dream that EVERYONE wants regardless of race, color, or creed. The other stuff is secondary to most people.

I'm not saying those issues are not important at all, I am just saying they are not the main priority for most people. What good are more "rights" if you don't have a good job and are struggling economically? Not much.