Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) ignited a firestorm of controversy with her closing message, appearing to disparage her Democratic opponent over his working-class roots.
“I also know Troy Jackson,” said former newscaster Bill Green, starring in the ad. “But we’re not talking about buying a cord of wood here. We’re sending someone to the US Senate, and Troy doesn’t have the tools he needs to be effective.”
The ad has even a former Collins staffer lamenting that the election is probably over — and a wide variety of commenters up in arms.
“Susan Collins says loggers aren’t qualified to represent Mainers in the Senate,” wrote Meidas Touch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.
“This is so classist and gross,” wrote journalist and political commentator Molly Jong-Fast.
“What if he gets sawdust all over some important legislation?” wrote Semafor reporter Dave Weigel.
“Absolutely disgusting classism from Susan Collins’ campaign,” wrote Impact Research partner Luke Martin. “As Bill Green well knows, @TroyJackson207 was President of the Maine Senate, but that’s beside the point – our Senator should be representing working people, not looking down on them. #MESenate”
“My jaw dropped,” wrote Maine commentator Anthony Emerson. “That’s the Susan Collins we always heard about through the rumor mill but rarely see in public.”
“Imagine mocking a guy for knowing how to buy a cord of wood when literally the top story in the Boston Globe this AM was how New Englanders are stockpiling cords of wood because they can’t pay their electricity, natural gas and oil bills in Donald Trump’s economy,” wrote AFL-CIO communications director Lauren Miller.
Meanwhile, Jackson himself was shortly out with a response of his own.
“Senator Collins, I think you are a little out of touch,” he wrote. “This is about a cord of wood — and about Mainers struggling to afford to heat their homes this winter. I know what it’s like to run out of fuel. I’ve lived that struggle. That’s the experience I’ll take to the U.S. Senate. And I’ll use it to fight for working people.”
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