Fund Susan Collins' Future Opponent

In October 2018, we had a simple message for Susan Collins: If you vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, we're going to fund your future opponent. 

This simple message quickly went viral (we literally crashed our website) — and inspired thousands of Mainers and Americans to join our fight to make sure Susan Collins understands the consequences of her betrayal. 

We ended up raising over $4 million for Susan's future opponent. And now, we will finally transfer the fund to the Democratic nominee after the results are in from the Maine primary on July 14th.

Susan has made it clear she's furious about this fund and has complained about it multiple times to her supporters as a reason why she needs donations. That's why we're launching a goal to add $250,000 to this fund for Susan Collins' future opponent before we transfer it after the primary. 

We want Susan to know that we will never forget her betrayal and that this movement is still committed to beating her on November 3rd. Tell Susan that her time is up: Chip in $20.20 or anything you can today.

Just in the past month, Brett Kavanaugh has already voted in support of restrictions that would've closed down 99% of all clinics that offer abortions in Louisiana and a recent ruling that allows employers to deny access to birth control for employees. 

We can never forget the consequences of Susan Collins' infamous vote. And we cannot allow another Republican think they can get away with a betrayal like this. 

Thanks for being a part of this,

Liz Jaff and the entire team at Be A Hero

When asked about Alabama’s radical abortion ban, Susan Collins said last week: “Obviously, it’s not something I would ever vote for.”

HA. Really?

This is precisely what she voted for when she cast the deciding vote to nominate Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

To make matters worse, she’s making a mockery of the nation’s panic claiming she’s confident that Kavanaugh will ‘keep his word’ and uphold Roe v. Wade.

Anyone who “trusts” Brett Kavanaugh is delusional and dangerous. We need Susan Collins gone – and together we can make it happen. Chip in to fund her opponent now.

Meanwhile, Susan Collins is shamelessly profiting from her Kavanaugh vote while thousands of women lose access to abortion care.

In the last three months, Senator Collins received the maximum allowable donation from Robert Mercer, the billionaire backer of Breitbart – the racist and bigoted website that proudly calls itself the “platform of the alt-right.” She received more money from Breitbart than from Maine residents.

It’s clear where her loyalties lie. Susan Collins has been bought off by right-wing extremists and special interests, which is why we need all of us to fight back and fund her future opponent.  

If you’re ready to unseat Susan Collins from the grassroots up, chip in $20.20 now - 100% of your money goes straight to the campaign of the person who will run against Collins.

Together we can make clear to every Congressperson that a vote against women’s rights will cost you your seat.

Susan Collins may be proud of her fundraising numbers this quarter – but she shouldn’t be.

Nearly all her campaign money – $1.1 million this quarter – came from corporate PACs, special interest groups, and big checks from large donors.

She only raised $15,000 from small-dollar donors. That's crazy.

Together, we’ve raised $4 million in small-donations for her opponent. In fact, we can raise more than $15,000 today.

Help us raise $15,000 dollars today to show Susan Collins that people power is stronger than the corporate donors and special interests who are funding her campaign.

Susan Collins betrayed us when she voted for Brett Kavanaugh, and now she’s betrayed us again by running a campaign for corporations, not people. That’s why we need all of us to fight back and fund her future opponent.  

Susan Collins made a terrible decision when she voted for Kavanaugh. She made also made a terrible decision when she decided to endorse Bruce Poliquin for Maine’s second congressional district.

Rep. Bruce Poliquin has represented Maine’s 2nd congressional district since 2015, but has he ever really represented the people? Just last year he voted to take away healthcare from millions of Americans, harming my family and so many others like mine.

In less than two weeks we’ll get our chance to make sure he can’t hurt us anymore. On November 6th, Mainers can vote him out. 

Rep. Poliquin betrayed my family and yours. Senator Collins, however, feels differently. She supports Rep. Poliquin and thinks he really fights for the people of Maine. Well, Senator Collins has shown us very clearly that she doesn’t care about what the people think or want. Mainers deserve better than Senator Collins, and they deserve better than Rep. Poliquin.

That's why we made this ad against Poliquin - will you donate $3 today to boost our ad in Maine and make sure the voters know what their “representative” has been up to in Congress?

Bruce Poliquin clearly doesn’t want to serve the people, so why should he continue to hold public office? Let’s get him out.

Ady

Last week, Susan Collins sold out women and people with pre-existing conditions when she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. And now, she’s getting rewarded by right-wing dark money groups.

Kavanaugh may be sitting on the Supreme Court today, but evidently that’s not enough for his supporters. Conservative extremist group the Judicial Crisis Network – which has been pumping money into ads supporting Kavanaugh for months – is buying up TV and digital ads in Maine supporting Senator Collins. What's more, Senator Grassley has vowed to raise $3 million to support Senator Collins.

Let’s be clear about what this is: it’s retaliation. It’s conservative special interests seeing our momentum – and money – and feeling threatened. They have almost unlimited cash, and we have… us. Let's prove that our people power can outwork them.

With her vote for Kavanaugh, Collins ended her career. Now conservative groups are working to keep her in office. We cannot let their influence stifle the will of the people once again. We need to make sure that dark money groups like Judicial Crisis Network can’t override the voice of the people, who overwhelmingly reject Collins’ decision on Kavanaugh.

Every person who chips in to support Maine’s 2020 Democratic Senate nominee helps make sure they don’t have that power. 

Let’s hit $4 million today and end Senator Collins’ career for good. 

Will you chip in once more to help us hit our goal?

We've been watching the hearing today, and we're furious. 

Senator Chuck Grassley made his message loud and clear at Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony: he does NOT believe women, he does NOT support survivors of sexual assault, and he will defend sexual predators, no matter what.

So we decided it was time to send our own message to Senator Chuck Grassley:

Hey Chuck -- we’re the people who worked with Mainers to raise over $1.5 million for Senator Collins’ future Democratic opponent, if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh. But after witnessing your disgusting misogyny and cruelty at Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony, we decided to try a different approach with you:

We're not waiting for your vote. We are building a campaign to fund your future Democratic opponent.

Because Chuck has already raised $1,078,202 from lobbyists, we need to be prepared to spend big money to defeat him.

Will you fight back against rape culture in the Senate by contributing to fund Senator Chuck Grassley’s future Democratic opponent NOW, and help us match his $1,078,202 from lobbyists?

Your money will go directly to It Starts Today, where it will be held for the Democratic Nominee to run for Senate in 2022. 

Are you feeling infuriated? Channel that fury into action, and help us vote Grassley out in 2022:

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This campaign has been about respectfully demanding that Senator Susan Collins stand up for her constituents and show her independence from Trump and the GOP in opposing Kavanaugh...and if not, we will fund your future opponent. Always with respect.

But last night, Sen. Collins said something beyond the pale that reveals the way she thinks and where she gets her information.

In an interview, Collins was asked about Brett Kavanaugh’s yearbook, where in coded messages he allegedly bragged about sexual conquests.

Here was her answer:

“I was just handed the yearbook page and I don’t know what to make of it,” Collins told HuffPost. “Frankly, at the risk of sounding very naive, I don’t know what many of the references mean, and so I just don’t know what to make of it. There are rumors — there are so many rumors — that there are issues with Christine Ford’s yearbook as well. I don’t know whether that’s accurate or not accurate. I don’t know what to make of someone’s high school yearbook.”

The rumor she’s talking about is a lie whose origin has been traced back to Alex Jones, the notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist who was kicked off of Twitter for his hate speech.

That Susan Collins would repeat this lie shows that her information diet has been shockingly penetrated by the far-right wing, far outside the mainstream of American thought -- the same cesspool that spawned the Donald Trump presidential campaign.

That she finds the lie compelling enough to mention in an interview shows that Collins fundamentally believes women are responsible for sexual violence perpetrated against them. Why else would Dr. Ford’s yearbook even be relevant to the conversation?

Collins’ shocking comments show that it is more urgent than ever to reach her NOW.

Please take a moment and pledge $20.20 once more to Susan Collins’ future opponent...IF she does the unthinkable and votes to seat Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court:

Our campaign to pressure Susan Collins on her vote is more important than ever: Members of the press are starting to realize what we already know: Susan Collins is the most important vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

She alone can stop his nomination dead, and she alone could put him on the bench.

Alexander Bolton, a reporter at The Hill, a news organization that covers Congress, just published a story with the headline “Kavanaugh’s fate rests with Sen. Collins”. Here is an excerpt:

"Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a prominent moderate voice and one of the Senate’s most conscientious members, is poised to make or break Brett Kavanaugh’s chance at becoming a Supreme Court justice.

"A big reason for that is several Senate colleagues are waiting to see what Collins will do before announcing their positions."

Survivors are speaking out all week as we wait to hear Dr. Ford’s testimony. And Susan Collins is her most important audience.

Will you pledge $20.20 one more time now, at this crucial moment, to help us meet our goal of $2,000,000 pledged to go to Collins’ future opponent if she votes for Kavanaugh?

Thanks for your support.

We want to thank you for showing up for our movement and fighting to save our democracy, and update you on where things stand.

The vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination has been postponed, after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s bravely came forward with disturbing allegations of sexual assault. Dr. Ford has since requested that the FBI investigate her accusation.

instead of supporting this courageous woman, Susan Collins is putting pressure on her to testify before the Judiciary committee in a matter of days. Here’s what Collins said on Twitter:

How is this hard? What happened to believing women?

What is the rush, other than political expediency for the GOP?

There is none.

If Susan Collins wants to be the champion for women she claims to be, she needs to support Dr. Ford’s request for an investigation, and ultimately, reject this nominee.

It’s clear that Kavanaugh is not fit for our nation’s highest court and if Susan Collins doesn’t see that, we will replace her with someone who does.

There's a great article in Slate explaining that in a country governed by big money Super PACs allowed by Citizens United (Kavanaugh would make it worse!), this type of campaign is one of few options that ordinary Americans have to make their voices heard. Here's an excerpt:

You can read the full article here: 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/susan-collins-complains-of-bribery-after-nonbillionaires-try-to-influence-her-kavanaugh-vote.html

Our plutocratic enemies are running scared. Let's make them feel the pain.

September 12th, 2018

Contact:

Mike Tipping, Mike@mainepeoplesalliance.org

Marie Follayttar Smith, mfalpac@gmail.com

Mainers Defend Their Right to the First Amendment and Fight Back Against Bogus Attacks from Senator Susan Collins

In a heated atmosphere around the Supreme Court nominations, an online fundraising pledge campaign supported by Mainers for Accountable Leadership, the Maine People's Alliance, and Be A Hero, founded by national health care advocate and ALS patient Ady Barkan has now raised over $1 million online from almost 40,000 small dollar donors to unseat Senator Collins, IF she decides to support the nomination of Kavanagh to the Supreme Court. See the campaign's metrics in real time by clicking here.

Instead of paying attention to the messages from her constituents, Senator Susan Collins ran to a notorious right wing news outlet to call the campaign “bribery.”

Jonathan Berkon, a partner in Perkins Coie’s Political Law Group, defended the legality of the program. “Through this grassroots effort, Mainers are making clear to Senator Collins that they will defeat her for reelection if she defies the will of the people and votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. The First Amendment guarantees their right to do so. And federal law protects their right to pool their funds together now, when enthusiasm is at its peak, so that their campaign against a well-funded, four-term incumbent is viable two years from now. It is shameful that Republicans are using bogus legal threats to stifle this grassroots enthusiasm.”

"The idea of Susan Collins attacking an effort by 35,000 small dollar donors as bribery is politics at its worst,” said Marie Follayttar, the co-director of Mainers for Accountable Leadership.

“Thousands of Mainers are trying desperately to tell her that she needs to protect abortion access and critical healthcare coverage across the country by voting ‘no’ on Kavanaugh.”

“Sen. Collins owes it to her constituents to hear them out, and explain why Judge Kavanaugh's demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade, opposition to covering pre-existing conditions and repeated lies is not disqualifying. If she doesn't, we absolutely have the right to prepare to unseat her. Unlike Supreme Court judges, Senators do not enjoy a lifetime guarantee of their seat; they are accountable to the people.”

Ady Barkan, one of the founders of the Campaign said “Senator Collins took over $5 million from PACs and large donors like the Koch brothers. In exchange, she voted to cut their taxes and take healthcare away from people like me. Senator Collins may not really know what small dollar donations are, because during her last election campaign less than 3% of her money came from small dollar donors, while 44% came from PACs, but that still doesn't excuse smearing a grassroots effort from regular people pleading with someone in a position of power to do the right thing.”

Barkan, father dying of ALS, filmed the initial video begging Senator Collins to “be a hero” and vote “No” on Kavanaugh. Barkan originally gained national fame when he confronted Sen. Jeff Flake mid-flight with a plea to vote no on the tax bill.

Other support has been flooding in to the campaign that is well beyond $1 million now and gathered another $50k within the hour of Collins complaining that small donations could be seen as bribery.

Just a handful of responses can be seen here:

• Ady Barkan’s reponse to Washington Post https://twitter.com/AdyBarkan/status/1039721178422636545
• Michael Linden, Policy & Research Director at the Hub Project https://twitter.com/MichaelSLinden/status/1039636010173378561
• Chelsea Handler https://twitter.com/chelseahandler/status/1039580413134422016
• Andy Slavitt, Healthcare policy activist https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1039336108738445313
• Amy Fried, Professor of Political Sci, U of Maine - https://twitter.com/ASFried/status/1039480611415764992
• Maine Democratic Party - https://twitter.com/MaineDems/status/1039684170300239872
• Congressman Ted Lieu https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1039696174062567426
• Tommy Vietor - https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1039638988233965568
• Soledad O’Brien - https://twitter.com/soledadobrien/status/1039699927704711169
• People for the American Way - https://twitter.com/peoplefor/status/1039635446060515328
• Debra Messing - https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/1039725586653093888

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 11, 2018

Contact: Marie Follayttar, mfalpac@gmail.com

Fundraising Campaign Pledging to Fund a Future Opponent to Sen. Collins Crosses $1 Million Threshold

SCARBOROUGH, ME  -- A small-dollar grassroots effort collecting pledges of $20.20 from concerned Mainers and activists has smashed its initial goal of $250,000 to  secure more than $1 million in pledged support of a potential challenger to Sen. Susan Collins in the 2020 election. The funds will only be made available to her future general election challenger in Maine's 2020 Senate race if Collins votes to confirm President Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, to the Supreme Court. The new milestone represents a major victory for activists. Senator Collins must listen to the outpouring of Mainers demanding she protect them and publicly pledge to vote against Judge Kavanaugh, who has indicated willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade and gut health care protections for America's most vulnerable.

Over 35,000 donors have pledged to this campaign with a median pledge of $20.20.

"For too long, politicians like Susan Collins have made the calculation that they can vote with corporations and entrenched right-wing interests, as long as the next election is too far away for constituents to remember," said Marie Follayttar, the co-director of Mainers for Accountable Leadership, "That ends here. We're channeling the outrage and frustration of so many Mainers and activists who desperately want Sen. Collins to do the right thing and vote against Kavanaugh, but who also want her to know that we won't forget if she betrays us. There's already a very clear moral imperative to vote against Kavanaugh, and now Susan Collins has a political one too. We’ve called, we’ve emailed, we’ve visited her office - she won’t listen to us and we are going to stand together to make sure our voices are heard."

The online fundraising pledge effort is supported by Mainers for Accountable Leadership, the Maine People's Alliance, and Be A Hero, founded by national health care advocate and ALS patient Ady Barkan.

“When I speak together with the people of Maine, we can really make a difference for the entire country. Kavanaugh is a threat to my healthcare as well as thousands of others in the state of Maine and millions across America. The future of Americans’ healthcare for generations is once again coming down to the vote of Susan Collins,” said Ady Barkan. Barkan is the Father Dying of ALS made famous when he confronted Senator Jeff Flake on a plane in December 2017 begging him to vote against the tax bill and “Be A Hero”.

 ###

Thanks for your support and for reading our release. We've caught Susan Collins' attention -- time to drive the point home.

It's hearing week in DC - and America is turning it's eyes towards one of the most pivotal votes the Senate will make in this decade....

Last week a Huffington Post article announced that Senator Collins is leaning towards a vote for Brett Kavanaugh. We have one week. 

We are almost to our goal of $250,000 so we have upped it one last time to be ready for this week. $500,000

If everyone on the campaign invited 2 other friends to pledge $20.20 we would be over half a million. 

On Friday Mainers got together from Portland, Lewiston, Hallowell, Cornish, Augusta, Camden, South Portland, and Fort Fairfield  and made a special video for Collins.

Vote NO on Brett Kavanaugh - or we will replace you. 

You can watch it here. 

We have one shot for her to hear her constituents. 

Please share their video and ask your friends to support the Mainers. 

We must #STOPKAVANAUGH