Would Maine Democrat Shenna Bellows Really Look Forward to Working with “Nutcase” Rand Paul on Civil Liberties?

Earlier today,
I posted about Shenna Bellows, the Democratic candidate for
Senate in Maine, who is good on NSA issues and pot legalization and
bad on economic issues. Bellows recently told
The Daily Beast that if she beats Republican incumbent
Susan Collins, she’ll be “really excited to work on issues of civil
liberties with Republicans like Rand Paul and Justin Amash.”

Well, a reader forwarded me a fundraising email from Democracy For America
(DFA), a group that is supporting Bellows’ bid. DFA writes

Let’s face it, if Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate,
Tea Party
nutcases Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and David Vitter will run the Senate
exactly
like the Tea Party currently runs the U.S. House.

To stop them, we need to go on offense.

That’s why we’ve got Mitch McConnell on the run in Kentucky with
Democrat
Alison Lundergan Grimes up by 4% in the most recent polls. And it’s
why
Susan Collins in Maine is next.

So a fair question to ask candidate Bellows is: Are you
really excited to work with a “nutcase” like Rand Paul?

To be fair, Bellows didn’t write the fundraising email, which is
signed by Charles Chamberlain, DFA’s executive director. But
Bellows isn’t exactly a random recipient of DFA’s largess, either.

In a testimonial at DFA’s site, she writes about her “DFA
Values,” which include “the values of community, security and
liberty.” “My campaign will be open and affirming,” she
avers.

Exactly how a fundraising letter that calls the senator
most associated with critiquing the NSA and Patriot Act-sanctioned
incursions on civil liberties a “nutcase” fits into that effort is
for deeper minds to ponder.

Bellows talks a lot about using tax dollars to seed
enterpreneurial efforts and appears to be in favor of broadening
Social Security, raising the minimum wage, and a host of related
economic policies that are reminiscent of a progressive such as
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). But the rhetoric of the DFA
fundraising letter and the typical liberal Democrat’s lack of
interest in either supporting legal pot and robust civil liberties
makes me wonder whether the party would respect Bellows’ articulate
positions on those matters.