Sen. Susan Collins gets a lot of diversity into her days. She’ll lead the charge on investigating Russian interference with the American presidential election while sitting on the esteemed Senate Intelligence Committee — and in virtually the same breath she’ll visit a YMCA in Bangor, Maine, staying connected to and learning about the community she serves. It’s an object lesson in how legislators must be both Washington insiders and stay in touch with their constituencies to be effective — and it’s a hard balance to strike as countless congresspeople have demonstrated over the years. Shouting out her visit to the Bangor YMCA on Facebook, Collins singled out the Second Wind Program for praise, admiring how it “organizes physical and social activities for seniors.”
The YMCA occupies a central role in many communities, and seniors are big users of the Y services. Collins isn’t so accommodating to all seniors. She recently said she’s open to a subpoena of 70-year-old Donald Trump‘s tax returns in the interest of full disclosure on potential Russian interference. Collins also said in a radio interview that she will request that short-lived Trump National Security Adviser Mike Flynn be made to testify before the committee.
