Collins at the Convention

The AP runs the first extended piece on Sen. Collins' remarks at the Maine GOP convention. Here's the meat of the article:

While allowing that she and Allen both care deeply about Maine, Collins said "the similarities pretty much end there" and ticked off a list of areas in which she and the congressman differ.

Collins said she supported Republican tax relief efforts, which Allen opposed. Collins said she voted for Medicare Part D drug coverage while Allen opposed it, and that she supported allowing the government to intercept overseas phone calls "of terrorists plotting to kill Americans" while Allen did not.

[...]

Collins touted her own record of helping to steer through legislation to protect the security of cargo, reorganize federal intelligence programs and make changes in the Federal Emergency Management Agency following Hurricane Katrina.

Collins also said she is best positioned to work in a bipartisan manner, while Democrats say she voted with the Bush administration 81 percent of the time.

Several points.

First, it's encouraging to hear the junior senator being upfront about her support for--and Rep. Allen's opposition to--the budget-busting Bush tax cuts for the super-rich. Why she wants to flaunt her soft spot for billionaires at a time when one in eight Mainers uses food stamps is beyond me. But good for her for being honest about it.

Second, Medicare Part D was, of course, a drug industry-sponsored sham, and it's since proven to be a boondoggle. So her pride in that vote is also hard to fathom.

Third, the bit about wiretapping (assuming it's been conveyed accurately) is a bald-faced lie. No congressional Democrat that I know of--Rep. Allen included--objects to wiretapping terrorist phone calls. What they take issue with, instead, is President Bush's illegal program of warantless eavesdropping on Americans.

Collapsing the distinction between these two issues is a disingenuous cheap shot and a smear. It would be like calling Sen. Collins an ally of North Korea because both she and Kim Jong Il don't object to the US staying bogged down in Iraq indefinitely.

Finally, while I understand what the reporter was driving at in the last sentence quoted above, the wording is unhelpful: Readers aren't interested in what Democrats say about Collins' voting record. Either the junior senator has voted 81 percent of the time with the Bush administration or she hasn't.

Which is it, AP?

UPDATE: In line with Gerald's complaint here, I'm also struck by how little coverage there's been of the convention in the Maine press. I understand it may not be front page news, but when a state party with two incumbent senators gathers in a presidential year, surely it deserves some attention.

There is one media organization in Maine that's treated the convention as important news: The one that's New York-owned, web-based and operated on a shoestring.

No, we're not patting ourselves on the back. We're talking about PolitickerME.com.