In my Down East post to be published later today, I suggest that Allen's last hope is to hit Collins on her record on the economy.

He must have gotten an early version of the text. In his first "negative" ad of the campaign, Tom Allen today focused on Susan Collins' support for Bush's economic policies.

It's a good start and it will be interesting to see how the press and Collins respond. I imagine there will be some "Allen goes negative" stories and ads (which would themselves be negative), especially after his remarks on the subject earlier in the race, but the point about Collins' record should start to get through as well and at this point I think Maine people care more about the economy than campaign tactics.