Could an Unkown Civil Libertarian Unseat Susan Collins?...John Nichols, The Nation

[Stuart G]

The Nation
John Nichols,
April 16, 2014


http://www.thenation.com/article/179382/could-unknown-civil-libertarian-unseat-susan-collins#

The woman who could be the future of progressive politics in America is sitting at the back table of an Indian restaurant in Portland, Maine. It’s early evening, she’s got a list of names, and she’s wearing out her cellphone. US Senate candidate Shenna Bellows doesn’t do downtime. While she waits for a meeting, the upstart Democrat makes the calls she says will upset an entrenched Republican incumbent. These aren’t the kinds of calls most candidates make: to big donors in distant cities with agendas even more distant from the concerns of the people she hopes to represent. Bellows is calling the people: nurses and teachers, lobster-boat captains and farmers, students and union activists. And she’s asking them to counter not just big money but a broken politics that values party labels and personalities more than ideals and movements.

Bellows knows she can’t match the millions her opponent, three-term Senator Susan Collins, has banked—or the millions that wealthy donors are ready to spend in Maine and other states to make Mitch McConnell the Senate’s next majority leader. The Democrat is satisfied if the Mainers she calls give $5. That’s because Bellows isn’t really dialing for dollars. She’s dialing for activists. “We had over 200 volunteers gathering signatures in Maine to put me on the ballot. They were talking to friends and family members about who I am and what our campaign represents,” she explains. “We then invited the signature-gatherers to speak on my behalf at Democratic caucuses. So we had 100 volunteers speak at 150 different caucuses across the state. This is the movement that we are building: a movement for social justice, environmental justice and economic justice. And it’s working.”

[bvar22]

1. I wish her luck,

....and will might add her to my short list of candidates amongst which I can spread my few pennies.

Won't she have to survive a Democratic Primary?
Grass Roots Upstarts have a difficult time running against the Establishment in Democratic Primaries.


Her Website was a little thin on Policy, but it is early yet.
http://bellowsforsenate.com/

[bluescribbler]

2. Grass Roots Upstarts have a difficult time running against the Establishment in Democratic Primaries

Yeah, just look at the trouble Deval Patrick had running against Tom Reilly in Massachusetts.

[mainer]

3. No other Democratic candidates declared. She's it.

Shenna is the Dem candidate. And she is brilliant.

[Stuart G]

4. I think she has a chance..It is April 21.

Maine is not Texas. She can get around easily, she is very smart, and will know where to hit Collins. I wish her luck too. And anything is possible in politics. We did get ACA (it is a good start) from an Afro-American President.

[bvar22]

5. Has she issued any Policy Statements?

*Does she believe some corporations are "Too Big to Fail"?

*Does she support Organized Labor?

*Does she believe in "Free markets" and "Free Trade"?

*Medicare for ALL?

*Where does she stand on the Privatization of our Education System (Charter Schools)?

*Secret Drone Assassinations?

*Will she work to protect Whistle Blowers?

*Reduce Military Spending?

*Main Street... or Wall Street?

I checked her Website, and found it very thin on Policy.
These things are all important to me.

[Stuart G]

6. She will...Here are two accomplishment:

"When Maine Republicans eliminated same-day voter registration, she co-chaired the 2011 Protect Maine Votes coalition, which put it on the ballot and secured a landslide vote to restore it. A year later, with Mainers United for Marriage, she helped organize the referendum campaign that overturned a 2009 ban on same-sex marriage"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I believe that she will come out with true "progressive" policies. As head of the ACLU in Maine I believe that will be true..

[mainer]

7. Her positions are known and stated

She believes YES to Medicare for all
YES to reduce military spending
NO to Drone assassinations
YES to marijuana legalization

We've had long, frank discussions on a number of topics and she is the opposite of everything that Wall Street stands for. Without Shenna, Maine would never have passed gay marriage. She was the most powerful driving force behind it.