Sic 'em, Tom!

Since our fine Senators from the upper left are secure in their respective seats in '08, I've adopted Rep. Tom Allen, who's facing off against Brand W Republican Susan Collins in Maine as Upper Left's favorite son for the Senate.

Jonathan Singer's interview with Allen at MyDD confirms my good judgment. A teaser…

Jonathan Singer: With Susan Collins being such a moderate and being right down the middle and being so popular, how do you have the audacity to go up against her?

Tom Allen: Well, because it isn't true. The story just isn't true. I explain to people up in Maine that Susan and Olympia have had very soft press coverage for the last decade. I just run through my differences with her, with Susan. Basically she's been for the President's policy in Iraq from the beginning. She voted for the war. I voted against it. I've been a steady critic trying to change the policy for four and a half years. She voted for every single one of the President's tax cuts for the rich, including the '03 tax cut, which Olympia did not vote for. She voted for the energy bill, which moved $14 billion to oil companies. [She voted] for the Medicare Part D, which moved tens of billions in excess profits to pharma. She voted for the military commissions bill, the torture bill and Sam Alito. Doesn't sound like someone who's independent or moderate or down the middle to me.

Me, neither.

The whole interview reads like a primer for other candidates facing "moderate" Republicans whose records don't line up with their rhetoric.

Go. Read.