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Why Trump's Canada tariffs could cost him the Maine Senate race · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: There's no one Democrats want to defeat more this year
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  Speaker 1: than Susan Collins. Is Democrat Troy Jackson the one to
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  Speaker 1: finally do it? Well, I hit the campaign trail in
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  Speaker 1: Maine and caught up with both candidates in this critical race.
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  Speaker 1: This is the home of the Boston Red Sox minor
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  Speaker 1: league team, a popular place to be on a Wednesday night.
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  Speaker 1: I've spoken to a lot of Democratic voters who frankly
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  Speaker 1: understand how hard it is to beat Susan Collins. She
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  Speaker 1: is someone who has been able to withstand the national
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  Speaker 1: environment in cycle after cycle after cycle. Do you think
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  Speaker 1: that she could do that again this time? Oh, she could, absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: 2020 is haunting Maine Democrats. That's when President Trump lost
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  Speaker 1: Maine by nine points, while Collins won re-election to a
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  Speaker 1: fifth term by nearly the same margin. something she's done
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  Speaker 1: in other tough cycles for Republicans. This time, Collins is
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  Speaker 1: the lone incumbent Republican. Running in a state President Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump lost, meaning flipping the seat is, once again, central
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  Speaker 1: to Democrats' path back to the majority. The national environment
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  Speaker 1: is bad for the GOP. Susan Collins is still within
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  Speaker 1: striking distance. Does that give you any pause? Oh, sure
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  Speaker 1: it does.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I mean, she's the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Senator. She's the chair of Appropriations.
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  Speaker 2: Trump won the presidency, and now, two years later, people
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  Speaker 2: know that everything he was saying was bullshit. And she's
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  Speaker 2: helped him with all those things.
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  Speaker 1: With no clear leader in the race, a new CNN
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  Speaker 1: poll has this warning sign for Collins. Roughly two-thirds of
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  Speaker 1: likely Maine voters disapprove of Trump's job performance, and almost
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  Speaker 1: half say their vote for Senate would be to oppose
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  Speaker 1: the president. I actually see.
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  Speaker 2: You know, people around the state coming out like I've
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  Speaker 2: never seen before.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not about me. It's about her. Is your
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  Speaker 1: vote more about voting against Susan Collins more than anything else?
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  Speaker 4: Yes, I'm totally annoyed and frustrated and angry.
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  Speaker 1: I caught up with Collins during her bus tour at
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  Speaker 1: a stop in a GOP stronghold of Newport, Maine, as
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  Speaker 1: she greeted voters in a hunting supply store, fire station.
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  Speaker 1: I love helping our folks respond. And dairy bar. For me,
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  Speaker 1: I think Susan Collins is better.
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  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 1: Just because he's right here.
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  Speaker 3: She brought a lot of business to Maine.
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  Speaker 1: Collins relying on her influence, years of deal cutting with Democrats,
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  Speaker 1: and chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Downplaying poll numbers
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  Speaker 1: showing a majority of likely Maine voters disapproving of her
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  Speaker 1: performance in office.
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  Speaker 3: What I look to is the reaction on the ground.
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  Speaker 3: And no matter where I've been in the state of Maine,
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  Speaker 3: the reaction has been terrific.
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  Speaker 1: So you don't think this is worse than the 2020
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  Speaker 1: environment here right now?
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  Speaker 3: I'm saying that I go by the reaction that I
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  Speaker 3: get on the ground. I've participated in six or seven parades,
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  Speaker 3: for example, country fairs, community lunches, and the reaction has
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  Speaker 3: been very good. That doesn't mean that this isn't a
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  Speaker 3: tough race. And obviously the Canadian tariffs are a huge
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  Speaker 3: issue in Maine because our economy is so intertwined with Canada.
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  Speaker 3: But I've been able to make some progress.
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  Speaker 1: There as well. Are you worried, though, that that issue,
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  Speaker 1: the Canadian tariffs, could cost you this raise?
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  Speaker 3: I don't believe that the Canadian tariff issue is going
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  Speaker 3: to decide the race, even though I'm very unhappy, as
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  Speaker 3: are my constituents.
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  Speaker 1: The president's trade war on Canada hammering some of Maine's
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  Speaker 1: signature industries, upsetting undecided voters like this one.
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  Speaker 2: It concerns me because we get a lot of stuff
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  Speaker 2: from overseas and even from Canada.
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  Speaker 1: Collins says she lobbied administration officials to win an exemption
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  Speaker 1: on tariffs road salt and concrete, both with a direct
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  Speaker 1: impact on Maine communities.
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  Speaker 3: Now, obviously, I'd like to see more, but that's a
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  Speaker 3: good start.
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  Speaker 1: Jackson mocking that response.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for the road salt. I agree.
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  Speaker 1: After losing a primary bid for governor, Jackson emerged as
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  Speaker 1: a Democratic nominee eight weeks ago after Graham Platner dropped
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  Speaker 1: out of the race following a swirl of controversy, including
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  Speaker 1: an allegation of rape. he has denied. Still, the episode
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  Speaker 1: remains a focus of Republican attacks. Jackson is like Graham Flattner,
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  Speaker 1: but worse. And continues to royal Democrats. I know there
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  Speaker 1: are people who feel that The division hasn't quite healed yet.
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  Speaker 1: A logger from the same northern Maine county as Collins,
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  Speaker 1: Jackson's political journey has seen him go from running as
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  Speaker 1: a Republican in 2000 to joining the Democratic Party in 2004,
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  Speaker 1: ultimately rising to state Senate president. Why'd you shift on abortion?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I listened to a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: over time. I might have made some votes that I'm
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  Speaker 2: not proud of now.
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  Speaker 1: While Collins repeatedly has broken with Trump, including to convict
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  Speaker 1: him during his January 6th impeachment trial, It's her pivotal
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  Speaker 1: vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court that
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  Speaker 1: could haunt her. Collins, who supports abortion rights, will be
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  Speaker 1: on the ballot for the first time since Roe v.
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  Speaker 1: Wade was overturned by the Dobbs decision that Kavanaugh voted
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  Speaker 1: for and that roughly two-thirds of Mainers feel negatively about.
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  Speaker 3: What Justice Kavanaugh said to me is he considered Roe v.
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  Speaker 3: Wade to be settled law. I assumed that that meant
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  Speaker 3: that he would not overturn it, but I would not ask,
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  Speaker 3: nor could he tell me appropriately, what his decision would be.
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  Speaker 3: I would know that I'm the only Republican senator to
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  Speaker 3: have voted for the three liberal women on the court.
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  Speaker 3: I make the decisions based on the qualifications of the individual,
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  Speaker 3: and that is what I did with Brett Kavanaugh.
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  Speaker 1: You won't say if it's a mistake or not to
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  Speaker 1: put Kavanaugh on the court?
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  Speaker 3: I believe that Kavanaugh was qualified to be on the
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  Speaker 3: Supreme Court. Do I like his decision on Roe v. Wade?
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  Speaker 3: It's obvious that I didn't, Manu.
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  Speaker 1: Jackson himself is trying to keep his distance from his
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  Speaker 1: own party, saying it's time to boot Chuck Schumer as
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  Speaker 1: Democratic leader. Why do you want him out, Schumer? I
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  Speaker 1: just think the party needs a shakeup. But Schumer's outside
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  Speaker 1: group is spending enormous sums to elect Jackson. as GOP
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  Speaker 1: groups seek to define a man still unknown to many,
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  Speaker 1: with Republicans poised to pour in north of $ 135 million,
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  Speaker 1: including with attacks like these. Troy Jackson is just another
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  Speaker 1: dirty politician.
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  Speaker 2: It's about things that don't matter to the Mainers. What
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  Speaker 2: they care about is the fact that they can't afford
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  Speaker 2: the health insurance.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent. The panel is back. Mariana, one of the things
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  Speaker 1: that stuck out to me was what Troy Jackson said.
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  Speaker 1: He said, it's not about me, it's about her. very
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  Speaker 1: clearly the strategy for Democrats. Yes.
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  Speaker 3: And here's the thing.
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  Speaker 4: Voters, especially in a state like Maine, also want to
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  Speaker 4: know what a Democratic candidate like Troy Jackson is about.
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  Speaker 4: So I understand what he's saying, but he also needs
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  Speaker 4: to be out there talking about, well, here's what a
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  Speaker 4: Democratic Senate could deliver on. And, you know, the interesting
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  Speaker 4: thing for Susan Collins is that we have time and
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  Speaker 4: time again seen her prevail in incredibly tight races and
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  Speaker 4: This would be the environment where she could potentially go down. But,
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  Speaker 4: you know, she is someone who has been able to
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  Speaker 4: distance herself from Trump, make clear that she is not,
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  Speaker 4: you know, 100 percent part of the MAGA brand. And
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  Speaker 4: that's what I hear from a number of Republican strategists
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  Speaker 4: as we see Republicans trying to distance themselves. The ones
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  Speaker 4: who had convinced their constituents. honestly, more authentically, are those
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  Speaker 4: who have not been completely.
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  Speaker 1: The big question, is this finally the national environment that
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  Speaker 1: can take down Susan Collins? That is going to be
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  Speaker 1: the question of this race and perhaps of the entire
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  Speaker 1: midterm cycle.