Dudley Reacts

Via KayinMaine over at Turning Maine Blue we get Maine Democratic Party Chairman Ben Dudley's response to Collins' vote on the Cochran amendment:

Dudley today called on Senator Susan Collins to explain her statement following yesterday's vote in the Senate when she supported an amendment to remove a timetable to end American involvement in the Iraqi civil war.

[...]

"It seems that Senator Collins is reading from the President's talking points," said Dudley. "But Maine needs a leader who will stand up and tell the President that it's time for a new direction that will end the War in Iraq."

"Senator Collins voted to go to war in 2002, and despite what she may say when she's home in Maine, Collins has consistently supported the President's failed policies in Iraq," Dudley said. "In Maine she says she is an independent voice, but when George Bush needs her vote to stay the course in Iraq, she's with him, not the vast majority of Maine people who want our Armed Forces to come home from Iraq and return safely to their families."

The Cochran amendment vote is destined to be a central issue in the 2008 race.

If Collins is figuring otherwise, she's miscalculated.