Susan Collins, R-ME

Susan Collins is nearing the end of her second term as the junior Senator from Maine. She is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and also serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Special Committee on Aging. As such, a lot of what happens with the White House’s war in Iraq and its simultaneous war on our Constitutional rights happens on her watch.

Collins manages to give the impression of being a moderate Republican who’s willing to work both sides of the aisle, at least on issues that are of lesser importance outside her Maine bailiwick. But she’s really an obstructionist elephant in moderate’s clothing, in reality, a closet Rubber Stamper, and when the chips are down you can always count on her to toe the RR line and back up the Bush Administration’s arrogant agenda every time.

Collins is a big believer in the power of using the filibuster to block passage of positive legislation in the Senate. She recently helped filibuster the bill that would have restored habeas corpus rights to detainees, for example, and is a reliable supporter of the Roadblock Republican strategy of blocking any and all legislation that the Democratic majority believes in until after the 2008 elections.

Collins’ consistently toeing the RR line on issues of national importance makes her unpopular among a growing segment of her constituency. She’s a close ally of Joe Lieberman (which is not exactly a plus in many circles these days) has endorsed John McCain for President, and that means the possibility of losing her own Senate seat in 2008 is a very real one.