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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.

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We are going to find out very soon as we are only one hour from her floor speech where she will announce (3pm EST).

Until that moment, speculation is going to continue to be fast and furious. Matt Vespa over at Townhall.com is reporting that he heard Collins is a no.

As of now, Collins is a no vote, according to a Senate insider. There is time to change her vote, but prospects aren’t good.

There’s no citation though, and I can’t find any other mention of it from another source. It would make sense given that I doubt she’d do a public floor anouncment otherwise (as it’d welcome even more harrassment), but no one really knows how this going to go down. It’s also noteworthy that she apparently can be swayed.

Which leads us to the next update.

Majority Leader McConnell just finished lunch with Sen. Collins, no doubt to give his final pitch and try to lock her down as a yes vote. Perhaps he got wind she was heading toward no and intervened?

Cocaine Mitch after dessert: pic.twitter.com/ZP2JgSAVIc — Blue Blaze Irregular (@Banzai_HB88) October 5, 2018

He claims it went well.

MCCONNELL says he just had lunch with with a group of Senate republicans including @SenatorCollins: “We’re heading towards a final vote tomorrow afternoon, and I’m optimistic.” — Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 5, 2018

A few hours ago, Collins looked like a done deal.

Now? It’s all up in the air again. Let’s hope McConnell has the pull to get this done.

To be clear, Collins can drop off and the vote for Kavanaugh still pass. That would leave Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as the deciding vote. Manchin being the deciding vote is scary. He’s almost certainly a yes if there are 51 votes. But what does he do if it’s up to him? If he votes no, he could very well lose his Senate race, so it’s still hard to imagine him doing so.

A photo finish is incoming.