𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐍𝐍: 𝐈 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐒, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐖𝐀𝐘 On Election Day, CNN put a microphone in front of Maine voters in the Senate race between Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. One voter, speaking live on air, said: “𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳.” Then came the pivot. “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦.” 𝐀 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. It wasn’t the only voice in the segment. CNN’s reporter on the ground said many of the Jackson voters described their ballot as “𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴” and “𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱.” A Collins supporter in the same report said “𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣.” That is the whole Democratic pitch in one sound bite. The argument isn’t about Jackson’s record or what he’d do for Maine. It is 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞, with a senator these voters say they respect as the price. CNN’s reporter also described the other side of it: Collins backers say she is the one bringing dollars back to the state of Maine. The polls close tonight, and Maine will decide whether a senator they admit they like is worth more than the party fight in Washington. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐍𝐍 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.