Susan Collins Quotes

For decades Republicans have made policy with a higher purpose in mind: to solidify the GOP base or to damage the institutions and movements aligned with the other side.

Today's Republican party is too beholden to factions generally.

I think we do want a front-runner from the Republican Party who can win the general election.

This is probably the greatest thing that I have ever accomplished but I fear that we Democrats have lost the South for the rest of my lifetime and probably you lifetime as well.

Paul Ryan is loved in our state because he's a conservative who has advocated for conservative policies, and Donald Trump coming out saying favorable things about Mr. Ryan's opponent doesn't add to the number of voters in Wisconsin that'll vote Donald Trump.

Solutions are complex, and I continue to worry that Trump didn't fully appreciate the complexity of what's going on. Consequently, I worry about whether he's going to make the problems a whole lot better... But I am a Republican, and we really should give the guy a chance to govern and hope he's successful.

I will support the Republican nominee. I don't think that's going to be Donald Trump. My party has historically nominated someone who's a mainstream conservative.

At any given time, when there is a Republican president, typically we regard that person as the leader of the Republican Party.

He has a style that is not my style. And that is fine. That's Donald Trump. And guess what? That's exactly who the base of the Republican Party supported and said that's who we want to carry the banner.

Trump doesn't need his own agenda if he can terrify independent voters in swing states about what would happen if the Democratic agenda is implemented.

Donald Trump's election was a watershed moment. Even those like me, who had previously pulled levers for candidates of both parties, felt that Mr. Trump had not only violated all sense of common decency, but, alarmingly, that he seemed to have no idea that there even existed such an unspoken code of civility and dignity.

I won, we won, because we grew the base of voters who share our values - not because we tried to talk Republicans into embracing us just long enough to cast a ballot.

As with other issues—taxes, climate, court-packing—the Biden administration is confusing the nation’s rejection of Donald Trump with an endorsement of a progressive agenda. But if voters wanted far-left policies, the Democratic House majority wouldn’t be so puny, the Senate wouldn’t be evenly split, and Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would be president.

When it comes to conservative social issues, it saddens me when sometimes my fellow Republicans duck and cover in the face of pressure from the left. Our loudest opponents on the left are never going to like us so let's quit trying to curry favor with them.

The increase in straight-ticket party voting in recent years means that competitive congressional races can tip one way or the other depending on the showing of the candidates at the top of the ticket.

It's sad that we vote for and elect officials to run our state, run our country, over social issues. I don't believe they belong in politics.

I bring to the table core Democratic values and can articulate them very strongly. I'm not someone who tries to claim the middle.

It's almost a very rough rule of thumb: when Democrats are able to successfully frame the meaning of an election season around middle-class fears, Democrats win the election; when Republicans are able to successfully frame the meaning of an election season around cultural fears, Republicans win the election.

Republicans are the only one who can carry the banner of what I think millions of Americans are saying.

Remember, many Republicans didn't vote for Mitt Romney. He didn't inspire people.

One thing Republicans understand: In American elections, you have to choose from among only two people - not between the perfect and the good.

There's no such thing as a partisan base.

Ten of those Republican incumbents, all of whom voted for the impeachment of President Clinton, are from states that Bill Clinton carried.

I voted for President Bush, I voted for President Clinton, and, although I do want my vote back, I voted for President Obama.

While 2013 will not see a major national election, we can be sure that most Republicans will obstruct and some Democrats will appease.