Poll: Susan Collins Comfortably Leading Allen

(The Politico)  While many Senate Republicans from blue states are sweating out their reelection bids, one appears to be in surprisingly good shape. According to a newly-released poll, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) holds a comfortable, 56 to 31 percent lead over Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine), who is challenging her for reelection.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is advertising this survey as a sign that Collins is in a strong position to win a third term. If Collins’s lead holds, it would be welcome news for the beleaguered Republican campaign committee, which has found itself playing defense in unexpected places, like Alaska and Mississippi.

Collins, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, was expected to be one of the more vulnerable Republican incumbents this cycle. Allen, a sixth-term congressman from Southern Maine, has consistently challenged her position on the war in Iraq and has tried to link Collins with the unpopular policies of President Bush. If this poll is any indication, however, Collins’s reputation as a moderate may be proving hard for Allen to puncture.

The Maine-based firm Pan Atlantic SMS Group conducted this poll, which surveyed 400 likely voters between June 10 and June 18.