While Some Republicans Feel the Weight of Bush’s Image, a Senator in Maine Soars
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
PORTLAND, Me. — It is shaping up as one of the most challenging years that anyone can remember for Republican senators seeking re-election. But as other Republican incumbents elsewhere are battling for their political lives, Senator Susan Collins appears to be gliding toward a third term.
Recent voter polls showed Ms. Collins heading into the final stretch of the race with a double-digit lead over her Democratic challenger, Representative Tom Allen. Mr. Allen is a well-known and well-regarded congressman with a strong fund-raising record — a model candidate as far as the national Democrats are concerned, in a state that has voted for Democrats in the last four presidential elections.
But he just cannot seem to gain any traction against Ms. Collins, who has presented herself as a moderate with a long record of work on bipartisan legislation.
