Steve Abbott

It will be like a big class reunion. All the Republican politicians, leaders and activists from around the country will gather in St. Paul, Minnesota in one month to officially nominate John McCain.

Except for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, that is.

Collins has decided to sit the convention out in the interest of campaigning for her reelection bid. She faces a competitive race against U.S. Rep. Tom Allen. Herbert Hoffman, an independent, is also running.

“She is going to spend the time in Maine campaigning,” said Steve Abbott, her campaign manager. “The conventions are too close to the election for a federal candidate to give up the time to attend, especially a current office holder who has to be in Washington for a busy legislative session for much of September.”

Abbott noted that Collins did not attend the convention when she first ran for office in 1996.

The National Journal has the scoop on other politicians who will not be attending. They note that Allen will be at the Democratic convention as a delegate for Barack Obama.

The Employee Freedom Action Committee has launched a campaign against U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

Thursday a full page ad appeared in several daily newspapers slamming Allen for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The act is designed to make it easier for worker groups to unionize and has drawn fire from certain labor groups such as EFAC.

The bill’s opponents refer to it as the “card-check” legislation.

Tom Allen is attacking Sen. Susan Collins for allowing war-profiteering when she blocked a request by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., to investigate Halliburton.

Tom Allen’s campaign has been in full swing for months. Susan Collins’ campaign, however, is just starting to move into their Portland office.

Both campaigns are making progress this month in getting their office spaces together and hiring staff.  read more »

It's official. The one guy that apparently 75% of the Republicans were hoping would run for the Congressional seat being vacated by Tom Allen,  has officially said no.

Two-term GOP Sen. Susan Collins faces Rep. Tom Allen next year: Getty Images PhotoRecent polls show U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, to have about a 20 percent edge over U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, in the high-profile Senate race.

In addition, voter approval levels of Collins are at nearly 50 percent, while overall approval of the Republican Party has dwindled.