Lincoln Project’s Lincoln Women Coalition: Donald Trump is inflicting harm on America

Former top Snowe aide: I can no longer support Collins:

A former top aide to former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said in an op-ed published on Sunday that she would not back Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-Maine) reelection bid, arguing that the longtime incumbent has proven unwilling to break ranks with her party and President Trump.

This echo opinion was published in the New Hampshire Seacoastonline.com and republished in The Hill, a Washington DC newspaper:

I was raised to believe I should cast my vote for the person with the best ideas, regardless of their party. My father took me down to Bangor City Hall, in Maine, when I turned 18, to get me registered to vote. He jokingly said he was afraid I would register as a Democrat – perhaps because our neighbor, who was a Democrat, worked there. That had never been my plan. In fact, I remained a registered Republican, even when I lived and worked in Washington DC, where I was one of a minuscule number of Republicans.

For nearly 20 years I proudly worked for Senator Olympia Snowe, in the House and the Senate.

Like my former boss, I have always formed my views and opinions based on the individual issue and the facts, not the person or party pushing the issue.

That’s why, when former Rep. Mike Michaud, a Democrat, asked if I would come help him during his last couple of months in office, I did. Mike had a reputation as a hard worker and one who worked with people from both sides of the aisle to get things accomplished. I did not agree with Mike or Olympia all the time, and was known for voicing my opinions, sometimes rather “passionately”, as Olympia liked to point out. Our disagreements, however, didn’t stop me from working for them because where we agreed outweighed our differences.

Sadly, I can no longer support Senator Susan Collins. She has proven unwilling to stand up to the President and too enamored of political power to speak up for the good people of Maine. I am tired of hearing about how “concerned” she is. These times demand strength and action and she has shown neither.

I put up with a lot of grief in Washington because I worked for a “moderate” Republican. And I swore for decades that I would not be driven out of my own party, despite what I saw as their best efforts to do so.

The election of Donald Trump, as a Republican, however, was the last straw. Trump chose the Republican party because there was an open slot, not because he possessed any strong belief in the party and its’ policy goals, so, reluctantly, I changed my party registration.

Not because I wanted to leave my party, but when they nominated Trump to represent the Republicans as their presidential candidate, the GOP left me.

After nearly 30 years in Washington I witnessed up close, the fact that no one party and no one politician has all the right answers. The best ideas often come from a willingness to work together and find a compromise or from a spirited debate that sways some people to change their mind based on the facts.

America needs more spirited debate and open minds if we are to move forward, together to make our nation stronger. 

That is why I said "yes" when I was invited to join the Lincoln Project’s Lincoln Women Coalition. 

We are a group of current and former Republican women who are fed up with the civil unrest, blatant misogyny and failed leadership of Donald Trump, over the last four years.

It is not because we disagree with Trump on one issue or three, it is because his entire approach to governing is inflicting harm on our nation. His unwillingness – or inability – I’m not sure which - to address the COVID-19 pandemic is unbelievable and unforgivable, and only one of many examples, though the most damaging to date, of his unwillingness to protect the American public. He has spread misinformation about medications, refuses to tell people to wear a mask, ignores and then sidelines actual medical experts, and he has left all 50 states on their own to figure out how to deal with this pandemic.

Every American president recites the same oath when being sworn in ”...to protect and defend” America ” against all enemies, both foreign and domestic”. I’m tired of waiting for the current president to live up to his oath of office, and that is why I am a Lincoln Woman.

Jane Calderwood, of Brunswick, Maine, is a former chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. 

#ByeByeSusan