Allen '08?

Evidently this article was published today in Roll Call, though you can't read it without a subscription. I used my university portal to get access to it -- maybe that will work for you.

In any event, the key grafs go like this:

Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine) said Wednesday that he is "seriously considering" running for Senate in 2008, and political watchers in the Pine Tree State say he looks and acts like someone preparing for a Senate bid.

Allen raised more than $930,000 in the previous cycle but spent only about half of it dispensing with two challengers on his way to securing a sixth term with 61 percent of the vote.

He also has been spending more time outside of his Portland-based 1st district and is "mending fences" with sportsmen's groups, according to Christian Potholm, a political consultant and government professor at Maine's Bowdoin College. "Tom Allen is already raising money for a Senate run," Potholm said. "He certainly is off and running from all the things people tell me."

And then later:

Allen and Dudley both believe that Collins could be hurt by breaking the pledge she made to serve no more than two terms when she was first elected in 1996."I'd like to take Senator Collins at her word that she only intends to serve two terms," Dudley said. "However, if she's going to break her promise to the people of Maine, I have a very strong feeling we can mount a very credible opposition to returning her to her minority position in the U.S. Senate."

Allen said beyond breaking a pledge, Collins will be hurt by her affiliation with the national GOP."Susan Collins promised to only serve two terms, we've been in our respective offices for 10 years, and this is really about leadership for me," he said. "We have very different voting records."

Two quick thoughts. One, I hope this "two-term pledge" nonsense isn't going to be a consistent line of attack when Allen challenges Collins. I suspect Maine voters are interested in more substantive differences between the two candidates and the two parties. Second, my preliminary thought is that the model for Allen to follow is the one used by Whitehouse to beat Chafee in Rhode Island. Tie Collins to the national Republican Party and convince voters that no matter how moderate Collins might seem, electing her will bring about an entirely different agenda than the one she endorses during the campaign.

I think Collins' approval is still somewhere in the neighborhood of 70%. It's an uphill race for Allen.