Mara Liasson

One of the key demographics she was supposed to appeal to was non-college women over 50.

There are a lot of them in the second congressional district, which Trump won.

So now I think Democrats are just confused.

They feel pretty good elsewhere in the country.

Other Senate races, we can talk about that.

But in Maine, it's just unclear who is the best candidate to beat Susan Collins.

You know, this is a real test of how being chairman of the Appropriations Committee helps or doesn't help.

Because in the old days, that would have been a really important thing for a small state like Maine.

But now that politics is so nationalized, it could be a problem.

Maine is the only state that Donald Trump lost in 2024 that has a Republican incumbent senator running for reelection.

And it was one of the two states.

possible pickups for Democrats, North Carolina and Maine.

And it's going to be a test of whether Trump is a help or a hindrance to Republican incumbents.

Well, yeah, but I think that the Democrats are going to tie her to Trump even if Trump doesn't get involved in the race, and he probably won't.

This is one of those races where the incumbent would rather President Trump didn't try to help them.

But still, Trump is so ubiquitous.

He is the person who's dominated American politics.

He's everywhere, and it's going to be almost impossible for her to separate herself from him.

She has an almost mythical ability to hang on because she was considered vulnerable the last time and she didn't lose.

So Susan Collins has a very, very strong connection to Maine voters.