538 bravely tells the truth Atlas ignores: Susan Collins is a moderate

[BuckeyeNut]

Collins only votes against her party when she'll be the 48th or 49th vote. Never the 50th, if you get what I mean.

This is the going theory in ME Dem politics.

And it's the sort of thing that 538's brand of sterling #analysis usually fails to capture.

Susan Collins is only a moderate/liberal when you don't need her.

[publicunofficial]

Susan Collins is as big a moderate as John McCain is a maverick. I'll put it that way.

[DC Al Fine]

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Man, only 85% of the time? Wow, real moderate.

You're picking and choosing data. If you have read the whole article, you'll see that she has actually voted against her own party on average 40% of the time over the last 18 years, and the fact that in some terms, she voted against the GOP nearly 60% of the time. That's a lot, considering she has NEVER missed a single vote in her career

The definition of moderate is stretched beyond all credbility, if a politician can vote against their party a majority of the time and still be considered a hack.

Seriously posters who disagree, what is your definition of moderate in the American context? Some of the people here seem to have arbitrarily decided that centre means the Democratic Progressive Congress and worked their way from there .

[Trapsy]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

[Badger]

Collins only votes against her party when she'll be the 48th or 49th vote. Never the 50th, if you get what I mean.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I get why Democrats don't like Susan Collins, but the outrage is exaggerated. She's like the only Republican Senator from a blue state, right? (Okay, if we count Gardner, there's 2). And it's not as if Maine is solidly Democratic anyway. However, there's five Democratic Senators in states Trump won by at least 15 points and they're all way to the left of their states (with the exception of Manchin). I've never seen Democrats call them "fake moderates". This is a Republican problem, not really a Democratic one.

If you want Republican policies, you should vote for a Republican candidate for Congress, no matter how hard the Democratic candidate tries to be a " nice guy moderate FF who will clean up the mess in Washington ". Same is true for other side as well, of course. Atlas generally understands this (okay, most of Atlas does), but the typical American "swing" voter does not. I'll never understand how a Republican can vote for Heidi Heitkamp for Senate or how a Democrat can vote for Susan Collins. This is just dumb.

Solid Rs/Ds don't vote against their party. But even in states like North Dakota and Maine, there are a lot of registered independents, plus people who are only registered with a party for reasons related to the primary season. Sure, they may vote one way or the other 80% of the time, but they don't mind the occasional Susan Collins or Heidi Heitkamp, both of whom are moderates by any reasonable standard.

[Xing]

I love how some people think terms like "moderate" aren't subjective.

Collins, on average, in past congresses, has only voted with her party 60% of the time. If that doesn't count as moderate, then NOTHING does.

All that proves is that she's to the left of her party, which isn't saying much.

[Lachi]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

LOL

[BuckeyeNut]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

LOL

I'm crying. Kasich only looks like a moderate since he's surrounded by mad men.

[Figueira]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

Charlie Baker? Phil Scott? Larry Hogan?

[Maxwell]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

Charlie Baker? Phil Scott? Larry Hogan?

hell, even Brian Sandoval and Bill Haslam.

[hopper]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

Kasich's congressional voting record when he was in the US House from 1983-2000 is more conservative than Collins's Congressional Voting Record.

[hopper]

I get why Democrats don't like Susan Collins, but the outrage is exaggerated. She's like the only Republican Senator from a blue state, right? (Okay, if we count Gardner, there's 2). And it's not as if Maine is solidly Democratic anyway. However, there's five Democratic Senators in states Trump won by at least 15 points and they're all way to the left of their states (with the exception of Manchin). I've never seen Democrats call them "fake moderates". This is a Republican problem, not really a Democratic one.

If you want Republican policies, you should vote for a Republican candidate for Congress, no matter how hard the Democratic candidate tries to be a " nice guy moderate FF who will clean up the mess in Washington ". Same is true for other side as well, of course. Atlas generally understands this (okay, most of Atlas does), but the typical American "swing" voter does not. I'll never understand how a Republican can vote for Heidi Heitkamp for Senate or how a Democrat can vote for Susan Collins. This is just dumb.

Colorado is a Purple State not a Blue or a Atlas Red State.

[Kingpoleon]

Lol, Atlas still denying it. Have one look at her policies, she's is moderate.

Have one look at her votes; she's conservative.

There aren't regular votes on SSM, abortion, or similar other major issues.

[Santander]

Lol, Atlas still denying it. Have one look at her policies, she's is moderate.

Have one look at her votes; she's conservative.

There aren't regular votes on SSM, abortion, or similar other major issues.

Not to mention there are a bunch of more or less procedural votes that have basically become party loyalty votes that pad everyone's partisan voting records.

[MarkD]

Here is how I determine that, yes, she is a moderate: for the years 1997 to 2015, the American Conservative Union has given her an average of 46% approval rating for her votes (which is the lowest average of any current Republican Senator), while the Americans for Democratic Action has given her an average of a fraction under 45%.

http://acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-legislative-ratings/
http://www.adaction.org/pages/publications/voting-records.php

(These two organizations have not yet given approval ratings for the year 2016.)

[Figueira]

I get why Democrats don't like Susan Collins, but the outrage is exaggerated. She's like the only Republican Senator from a blue state, right? (Okay, if we count Gardner, there's 2). And it's not as if Maine is solidly Democratic anyway. However, there's five Democratic Senators in states Trump won by at least 15 points and they're all way to the left of their states (with the exception of Manchin). I've never seen Democrats call them "fake moderates". This is a Republican problem, not really a Democratic one.

If you want Republican policies, you should vote for a Republican candidate for Congress, no matter how hard the Democratic candidate tries to be a " nice guy moderate FF who will clean up the mess in Washington ". Same is true for other side as well, of course. Atlas generally understands this (okay, most of Atlas does), but the typical American "swing" voter does not. I'll never understand how a Republican can vote for Heidi Heitkamp for Senate or how a Democrat can vote for Susan Collins. This is just dumb.

Colorado is a Purple State not a Blue or a Atlas Red State.

It was more Democratic than Maine in 2016, and it's certainly trending leftward.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

ROTFL

[Blackacre]

^And this is true of every red state Democrat as well.

You mean besides the Manchin-Toomey bill

[hopper]

Determining if someone is moderate based on their votes is tricky. imo Collins is a 90s republican. The most moderate republican in my eyes is Kasich.

No Collins is still more Moderate than a 90's Republican was.

[Nichlemn]

What statistics do we have on "deciding votes", for those who say Collins only votes against her party when it doesn't matter? Also, a politician may vote for their party's bill, but only after it was modified to suit their preferences (I believe this occurred with Obamacare?)