Dear Senator Collins:

You are, quite understandably, a hard woman to get hold of these days, so I thought I’d choose this venue to express my thoughts as a Maine voter on your pivotal role in the new political reality facing our state and the nation as a whole.

I want to remind you that during the 2016 presidential primary, 67.41 percent of Maine Republicans voted against Donald Trump. I want to remind you that in the 2016 presidential election, 52.9 percent of Maine people voted against Donald Trump. I want to remind you that in the 2016 presidential election nationwide, 65.8 million Americans voted against Donald Trump, who failed to carry the popular majority by 2.9 million votes.

And I especially want to remind you that you told us you would vote against Donald Trump, too. We were proud of you when you chose principle over party and spoke out in a statement published in the 8 August 2016 Washington Post. “I will not be voting for Donald Trump,” you said.

You cited “three incidents in particular that led [you] to the inescapable conclusion that Mr. Trump lacks the temperament, self-discipline and judgment required to be president.” One was “his mocking of a reporter with disabilities, a shocking display” you worried might be part of “a pattern of abuse.” Two was “Mr. Trump’s repeated insistence that Gonzalo Curiel, a federal judge born and raised in Indiana, could not rule fairly in a case involving Trump University because of his Mexican heritage.” You noted that “For Mr. Trump to insist that Judge Curiel would be biased because of his ethnicity demonstrated a profound lack of respect not only for the judge but also for our constitutional separation of powers.” And three was “Donald Trump’s criticism of the grieving parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq…. Rather than honoring their sacrifice and recognizing their pain, Mr. Trump disparaged the religion of the family of an American hero.”

Most importantly, you said “that Mr. Trump’s lack of self-restraint and his barrage of ill-informed comments would make an already perilous world even more so.” That his “tendency to lash out when challenged further escalates the possibility of disputes spinning dangerously out of control.” You said that “the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no ‘new’ Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat.”

The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency have proven your concerns in August to be prescient.

And so, Senator, we expect you to continue to represent the best traditions of your party, the majority of the people of Maine, the majority of Americans, and most of all, your own conscience by continuing to vote against Donald Trump. We embrace your concern for income inequality and the need to improve the lives of working Americans with better jobs and a strong economy. We appreciate that you’ve spoken out against Trump’s more outrageous abuses of power and grotesquely compromised

Cabinet nominees.

But we are watching the way you VOTE. You voted to let the egregiously unqualified Betsy DeVos out of committee — and that makes you responsible for her confirmation as Secretary of Education and the impact on Maine’s public schools. You voted to gag a fellow senator, Elizabeth Warren, for attempting to read Coretta Scott King’s letter about Jeff Sessions into the record — and that makes you complicit in this administration’s racism and attempts to suppress first amendment rights. We are worried.

I know it will take extreme political and moral courage to stand up against the Trump White House. I expect it’s even physically intimidating to be surrounded by misogynistic bullies who believe sexual assault is their privilege. So I’m sorry you missed the Women’s March here in Maine, where I saw signs saying “We’re Counting on You, Susan Collins” and “We’re Watching You, Susan Collins.” The movement is real. We now know we are not alone. We are linked by social media — what one sees, we all see. Please know that you are not alone, either. If you do the right thing, thousands of us will have your back. As of the inauguration, you have a new constituency.

My hope is that you might follow in the footsteps of Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith in her courageous stand against Republican Senator Joe McCarthy.

History will hold you accountable for your actions now.

Best wishes,

Susan Beegel,

Phippsburg

A Higher Standard

Dear Senator Collins:

I hope you will read Mr. James S. Myers’ Letter to the Editor in Monday’s (2/6/17) Times Record, the Midcoast Maine Daily Paper.

The title of his letter is “Courageous or Calculating?” You might find it informative in terms of how many people are now viewing the way you are handling Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominations, particularly Mrs. Devos’.

Your constituents in Maine are no longer comfortable trusting what you are saying. I quote from this letter: “Collins cleverly tried to have it both ways.” “The calculus? Collins will have the appearance of being a centrist, appealing to Independents and Democrats, without suffering any political consequences for her actions.”

I would like not to believe that Mr. Myers’ point of view is an accurate reflection of the way you conduct representing the State of Maine. I fear, however, that it is.

Is it possible for you to explain to me and many of my friends and neighbors, what your approach was in the Education Secretary nomination? I want to believe that you have the best interests of the Americans who live in the State of Maine, and have relied on you to be trustworthy and clear about your intentions. Mr. Myers ends his letter with: “Collins has cleverly calculated how to appear to be promoting herself without actually serving the interests of either her Republican, or Democratic, constituents.”

The people of the State of Maine hold you to a higher standard than the implication that you are “calculating” in your own best interest. You are losing our trust.

Please do not send me a form letter in response. This open letter to you is a genuine attempt to learn more about how you carry out your senatorial duties and responsibilities. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person regarding this. I am positive that many other Maine citizens would join in such a meeting.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Moreen R. Halmo

Brunswick

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Times Record normally discourages readers from submitting open letters to officials. Recent actions in the U.S. Senate, however, warrant a temporary exception.