Staff Reports
Former Senator Barbara Boxer stirred the pot on cable TV when she said that Senator Susan Collins voting with President Trump 96% of the time might be “more offensive” than the personal controversies surrounding Democrat candidate Graham Platner in the Maine Senate race. That line of thinking deserves a clear, plain answer: no, it does not. Boxer’s comment is a useful window into how some on the left now weigh policy agreement against personal conduct — and why voters should be wary of that scale.
Boxer’s Choice: Policy Alignment Over Personal Conduct?
Boxer’s point was simple: which bothers Maine voters more — a candidate’s messy personal life or a senator who votes almost entirely with President Trump? It’s framed as a tough moral question. But it’s a false choice. Many voters judge both policy and character. Pretending one must always outweigh the other is political theater, not honest debate. If Democrats want to make the people’s case, they should argue about results, not try to excuse personal behavior by acting outraged about policy.
Why “96% with Trump” Isn’t the Scandal Democrats Pretend It Is
Voting with the president 96% of the time is not proof of corruption or cowardice. It’s proof of shared priorities. For a Republican senator who ran as a conservative on issues like the economy, jobs, and judges, voting with a Republican president on policy is expected. If anything, consistency is a virtue. Voters deserve lawmakers who deliver on campaign promises, not flip-flopping virtue signals designed to appeal to talk-show hosts.
The Left’s Two-Track Standard
What’s striking about Boxer’s remarks is the selective moral outrage. When Democrats face troubling information about their own candidates, some on the left reflexively minimize it. When Republicans align with conservative policies, that alignment gets weaponized as an “offense.” That two-track standard tells you everything about the political playbook: protect your team, attack the other side. Voters are smarter than that and can hold candidates accountable on both policy and conduct.
At the end of the day, Maine voters don’t need pundits lecturing them about which offense should matter more. They need clear choices. They need to weigh Senator Susan Collins’s record and whether she kept the promises that matter to their families and jobs. They also deserve candidates who live up to basic standards of behavior. If Democrats like Boxer want to win in Maine, they should run on ideas and results — not demand moral gymnastics to justify a muddled campaign.
