PORTLAND, Maine — When the U.S. House voted to impeach President Trump, just one member voted 'yes' on one article of impeachment and 'no' on the other. That was Rep. Jared Golden, the Democrat from Maine's second district. He seemed to upset people on both sides of the question by voting to impeach the president on Abuse of Power, but not on Obstruction of Congress. Golden told NEWS CENTER Maine he believes the evidence is indisputable that President Trump abused his power by soliciting a foreign government to investigate a political rival. But as for Obstruction of Congress, Golden says there is reason to believe Congress could have used the courts to try to settle this disagreement about executive privilege.
NEWS CENTER Maine Republican political analyst Phil Harriman says in a district that strongly supporter Donald Trump in 2016, Golden is going to have some explaining to do to his constituents. Harriman says "He's going to have to be very clear and very consistent about explaining why he voted yes and no on impeachment."
Democratic analyst John Richardson says Golden would have been criticized no matter how he voted. "I think he's been very consistent with how he sees it," says Richardson. "And I would also say this is a man who fought in a foreign war to protect the Constitution, I think he put a lot of thought into what he was doing when he made these votes."
The impeachment process now moves to the Senate for a trial. Will it be a fair process? Richardson says "I think not."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said "I am not an impartial juror. This is a political process... I expect we will have a partisan outcome. I'm not impartial at all."
Richardson says that puts Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a difficult spot. "I think she has someone who wants to really look at the facts and make a very considered a decision."
That's what Collins sought to do in the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton when she said she needed to hear from more witnesses in order to get to the truth and fulfill the Senate's duty to do impartial justice.
Harriman agrees that Collins "has been very clear from the beginning that she's going to keep an open mind and see what's out there for facts and then will vote accordingly."
This discussion comes as Sen. Collins has formally announced at last that she will seek a fifth term. In her announcement statement, Collins concluded that there is still a role for a centrist who pursues compromise collegiality and bipartisanship.
John Richardson says he hopes that is true. But he adds "My question for her is, 'is she that right person? Is the fifth term the charm?' People have to decide whether keeping her in there will really benefit the state of Maine."
Phil Harriman says "We all know Washington runs on seniority, she's now I think the 12th ranking member in the entire United States Senate, I'm not sure we want to give that up."
Our analysts also discuss the latest effort to raise salaries for Maine's governor, judges, and legislators.
Harriman says judges and the governor should be paid wages that are competitive with the private sector. But when it comes to state senators and representatives, "It is supposed to be a part-time, citizens' legislature. It has morphed into much more than that because of the way the legislature conducts business."
Richardson agrees that money is not why people go into public service, but he feels "You don't want to take a vow of poverty either. And you limit the number of people who can serve in the legislature if you don't pay at least a living wage."
Political Brew airs Sundays on The Morning Report. It will return on January 8, 2020