They Write Editorials

From the Kennebec Journal:

Politics is a rough business.

That was amply demonstrated this past month when Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins' campaign produced a particularly pungent video for use in fund raising against her Democratic challenger, Rep. Tom Allen.

[...]

It features unflattering and downright provocative images of what the campaign calls Move on.com's [sic] "extreme allies," including a flag burning and an image of anti-war demonstrators holding aloft a banner that says, "We support our troops when they shoot their officers."

[...]

This is a hotly contested campaign, with huge stakes given the close divide in the Senate. Strong partisan appeals, with all their potential for ugliness, will likely be a constant part of the next eight months of this campaign. Anyone who expects the Collins-Allen race to be a polite tea party is out of touch with reality.

That said, we're bothered by one aspect of the video affair. Collins' Maine campaign manager, Steve Abbott, told Blethen Maine News reporter Jonathan Kaplan that Collins had not seen the video until after it had run.

[...]

But in an interview with an editorial board member of this newspaper, Abbott said, "It's not like she didn't know that we were doing it." Indeed.

It's a rare politician who leaves even the details to campaign surrogates, let alone the substance of campaign appeals. Abbott's explanation of Collins' lack of involvement in the video then took a strange twist: Had the appeal been to Mainers, he said, Collins would have been much more involved in it. But this was an appeal to out-of-state contributors whose primary focus was on Moveon.org, not the actual candidates, so she didn't review its final form.

That's one of the most peculiar forms of constituent service we've ever heard of.

Collins can't have it both ways.

The materials produced by a candidate's campaign to drum up support are a reflection of the candidate. Especially when the message is this edgy and powerful, it's incumbent on a candidate to take responsibility for it--yet Collins herself has remained silent about the video.

The fundraising video is strong stuff. There's no legal requirement for the senator to have vetted the video before it went out, but neither the senator nor her campaign should be hiding behind those legalities.

We have nothing against the video--it's the lack of accountability by the senator that's the problem.

Kudos to the KJ for (finally) taking up the issue.

Credit them for rejecting the junior senator's ridiculous attempt to distance herself from the attack, and for questioning Abbott's contorted logic.

That said, I'd take issue with the KJ's characterization of the video's tone and substance as unexceptional. In truth, the spot is a vicious smear, featuring the kind of incendiary images you'd expect only from a fringe candidate.

Let's not forget: Sen. Collins loves to present herself as a moderate who prizes comity and consensus above all else. The video demonstrates clearly and succinctly that it's all a posture and a sham.