WASHINGTON — Soft-spoken Republican Sen. Susan Collins is quite popular these days, fielding calls from President Barack Obama, members of the GOP leadership and top Democrats Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer.
The outreach was more than just congratulations for winning a fourth term. Both parties have an incentive for courting Collins.
Come January, the centrist from Maine will be a crucial member of a group of moderates wielding considerable clout in the Republican-led Senate, along with independent Angus King, also of Maine, and a handful of Democrats from Republican states as Republicans from Democratic states move to the middle ahead of 2016 re-election bids.
The GOP likely will hold 54 seats next year, a solid majority but six short of the 60 necessary to break Democratic filibusters and delaying tactics. Incoming Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would need the support of King and Democrats such as North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Montana’s Jon Tester to move legislation over Democratic objections.
“I hope that those of us who are committed to actually getting legislation passed can work together and bridge some of the partisan divide,” Collins said.
McConnell has promised to change how the Senate operates, returning to past practices in which Republicans and Democrats offer amendments to legislation and get a vote. Current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has limited amendment votes, in part over frustration with Republican obstruction and to spare his vulnerable Democrats from tough votes.
“When I went home to Maine last year, I said after I was here about six months, one of the most amazing things I find about this place is everybody thinks they’re in charge and nobody is,” King said. “Just as the Democrats needed six or eight Republican votes in order to move anything through the Senate to get to 60, that same rule will now apply to the Republicans.”
