One on One

Lost in the tumult of the last few days was a striking admission from Sen. Collins: That her face-to-face conversation with President Obama last week represents the first time she's had a 30 minute one-on-one meeting with a sitting president. (Hat tip: Maine Politics.)

Think about this for a minute.

For eight years, Collins backed President Bush down the line on Iraq, unaffordable tax cuts and torture. She did his bidding when it came to Samuel Alito, telecom immunity and war contracting.

And yet securing her support for these egregious policies--which have crippled our economy, undercut our security, violated the Constitution and diminished our international standing--required not a single block of one-on-one persuasion from the former president.

She was, I guess, already on board.

This tells us something about President Obama. And of course, it's in keeping with what we knew about the other guy.

But surely, it speaks volumes about the junior senator.