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

courtesy The Daily Beast

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.