金伯莉·克鲁西，帕特里克·惠特尔·刘易斯顿，缅因州——缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins）在周三表示，应将一则攻击民主党对手特洛伊·杰克逊（Troy Jackson）为“怪胎”和“变态”的新广告撤下，因为“他和表亲有两个孩子”，她因此与该广告保持距离。
KIMBERLEE KRUESI, PATRICK WHITTLE LEWISTON, Maine — Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins distanced herself from a new ad attacking Democratic opponent Troy Jackson as a “freak” and a “creep” because “he has two kids with his cousin,” saying Wednesday that it should be taken down.
该广告以乡村歌曲的形式在缅因州广播电台播出，出自参议院领袖基金（Senate Leadership Fund），这是一个与参议院共和党人结盟的超级政治行动委员会（super PAC）。广告歌词中包括：“如果他会搞乱自己的家庭，他也会搞乱你的家庭。”柯林斯在刘易斯顿的竞选活动中对记者说，她“与该广告毫无关联”。她补充说，联邦法律禁止她与该超级政治行动委员会进行协调，但她已公开呼吁将其撤下。
The spot, airing on Maine radio in the form of a country song, is from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Republicans. Among the lyrics in the jingle: “If he’ll screw his own family, he’ll screw yours too.”Collins told reporters during a campaign appearance in Lewiston that she “had nothing to do with that ad.”She added that federal law bans her from coordinating with the super PAC, but she has publicly called for it to be removed.
此前，在《Politico》九月的报道中，柯林斯提到了杰克逊与二表亲的关系。
Previously, in a Politico story in September, Collins referenced Jackson’s relationship with a second cousin.
“我不会提及他的两个孩子的母亲是他的二表亲，”柯林斯说。“我不知道人们是否知道这一点。”
“I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin,” Collins said. “I don’t know whether people know that or not.”
在周三发表的一篇社论中，杰克逊的伴侣拉娜·佩莱蒂埃（Lana Pelletier）批评柯林斯及其支持者对她家庭的攻击，称她从未想到他们会“堕落到如此低劣的程度”。佩莱蒂埃说：“柯林斯参议员一直快速要求对自己保持尊重和体面。我的家人同样应得到同样的对待。”
In an op-ed published Wednesday, Lana Pelletier, Jackson’s partner, criticized attacks on her family by Collins and her supporters, saying she never thought they “would stoop this low.”“Sen. Collins has been quick to demand respect and decency for herself. My family deserved the same,” Pelletier said.
她补充道：“我不是需要政治家向世界宣告我个人生活中发生了什么的无助女子。我也不是我出身地区的笑柄或漫画形象。”
“I am not a helpless woman who needs politicians to tell the world what happened in my own life. And I am not a punchline or a caricature of where I come from,” she added.
杰克逊是一名前州立法者和伐木工人，佩莱蒂埃是他的长期伴侣，两人共同育有两个儿子。民主党希望杰克逊能够击败现任的柯林斯，以帮助党夺回参议院。同日，柯林斯对本次选举周期中负面竞选广告的泛滥表示惋惜。
Jackson, a former state lawmaker and lumberjack, and Pelletier are longtime partners who have two sons together. Democrats are hoping for a win by Jackson over the incumbent Collins as the party tries to retake the Senate. Also Wednesday, Collins lamented how negative much campaign advertising has been during this election cycle.
“在缅因州历史上，这场竞选因个人攻击的数量而独树一帜，”柯林斯说。克鲁西自罗德岛普罗维登斯报道。
“This race is unique in Maine history in the number of personal attacks,” Collins said. Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.