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By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The New York Times has a story about how all of this filibuster controversy is playing up in Maine, including info about Maine Senator Susan Collins, who was reelected to her second term in 2002:

Ms. Collins said that in her Maine office, "there were more calls coming in asking me to oppose than to support the rules change, but it was pretty even." She said she believed she could be the deciding vote on the proposed rule change, and that she was keeping her position to herself to encourage both sides to compromise. But as she traveled around the state over this week's recess, she said, "Very few people have mentioned the fight about filibustered judges."

Groups on both sides of the issue are trying to inform and persuade Mainers regarding the judicial filibuster issue, and that's understandable given what's at stake. Of course, that kind of advertising ought to be done respectfully and honestly. Here's some more of the Times article:

Dr. Frist, who is traveling in the Middle East, sent two private e-mail messages to Republican senators this week advising them that he intended to try changing the rule soon, according to Republican aides who were briefed on the messages. In one, he lauded the start of an advertising campaign in Maine and other states by a group with close ties to the Bush campaign urging support for the rule change in Maine and other states. In the other, he applauded the placement of an opinion article in two newspapers, including one in Maine.

"I thought it was so strange that I got that e-mail," said Ms. Collins, noting that as one of a decisive handful of the 55 Republican senators who have not yet taken on a position on the rule change, she was a target of the advertising campaign her party leader had endorsed. Dr. Frist might have sent it only to those senators who had already agreed to support the idea, she said. "I guess that says where Dr. Frist stands on the issue, that he is going to use every means possible to garner the votes that he needs to win," she said.

I hope that pressure tactics will be avoided, in favor of excellent and informative presentations like this piece by Portland, Maine attorney Michael A. Duddy. The Times also reports that Maine's other Senator, Olympia Snowe (elected to her second term in 2000), would prefer less advertising and more discussion between Senators.