That Susan Collins wants to win her race for re-election should come as no surprise; that the incumbent Republican U.S. senator has a goal of winning the city of Lewiston, might.

About 47 percent of Lewiston's registered voters are Democrats, according to the latest records available from the Secretary of State's Office. Only 17 percent are registered Republicans.

"My goal in this campaign is to carry Lewiston," Collins said recently. "I came close last time, I was within 2 percentage points and it's my political dream to carry Lewiston. I'm serious. It really is."

In 2002, when Collins was last up for re-election, she lost the city to Democrat Chellie Pingree by 277 votes out of more than 10,000 that were cast.

If Collins, who is running for her third term, could carry Lewiston as a Republican, it would be a significant achievement, especially because her opponent, six-term Democratic congressman Tom Allen, is both well-known and well-financed.

Three-term Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican and Auburn native, has won Lewiston in her past two elections, but lost it in her initial election to the U.S. Senate in 1994 by about 100 votes. Sen. Bill Cohen, another popular Maine Republican, lost Lewiston in his final successful bid for Senate in 1990.

Collins said the fact that both Democratic mayors - Larry Gilbert of Lewiston and John Jenkins of Auburn - support her is a reflection of her success as a bipartisan legislator.

"That tells you something about how closely I've worked with the city governments, that the mayors, neither of whom are of my party, are backing me," she said. "It really reinforces my ability to bring people together, put aside partisan differences and just solve problems."

Collins said she's worked on several laws that have benefited the Lewiston-Auburn community directly, including an immigration law enabling minor league professional athletes, like Lewiston Maineiacs players, to receive the same visa status as professional athletes, a tariff bill that benefited the Tambrands factory and a postal reform bill that aided Geiger Brothers and local paper mills.

While her opponent Allen has consistently tried to portray Collins as a close friend of the Bush Administration, Collins says she is anything but.

"When I tell my Republican colleagues that that's Tom's theme against me, they laugh because they are constantly trying to lobby me to support the party more often," she said.

Collins said she has opposed the Bush Administration on several issues, including a vote to override the President's veto of the expansion of the state children's health insurance program last fall.

The Allen campaign has sought to link Collins' support of what it calls the Bush economic policies, specifically the tax cuts in 2001, 2003 and 2006, to the current struggling economy.

Collins defends the votes.

"There's clearly no connection between providing tax relief for 500,000 Mainers and the financial meltdown on Wall Street," she said. "It doesn't make sense."

Both Collins and Allen voted in favor of the recent $700 billion rescue package. Collins, who served as Maine's top financial and insurance regulator for five years, said she's unsure of how effective the law will be and is pushing for additional regulatory legislation.

"One of the problems was the excessive debt and risk-taking of a lot of these investment banks, which don't have to meet the same financial requirements and capital requirements that your local community bank or local credit union does," she said.

But Collins said the recent moves by the federal government to buy shares of floundering banks puts her in an awkward position.

"Philosophically, I have reservations about government ownership of banks and I also think there's a fundamental issue of fairness, that if you're a great big bank you get an injection of federal money but if you're a small community bank, like Norway Savings Bank, you don't get that," she said. "Having said that, I believe we truly are in a crisis and we're going to have to take some unusual steps that in normal times I would be vehemently opposed to."

Collins said her pragmatic approach to policy-making is appealing to voters.

"To me, this election is about who can be a more effective senator for the state of Maine," she said. "Every single one of the major pieces of legislation that I've had signed into law have had a Democratic co-sponsor and that's why I've been successful."

Collins, who in a pair of recent staatewide polls of likely voters leads Allen by 21 and 12 points respectively, said the reception from Mainers while campaigning has been positive.

"I've been thrilled with the response," she said during a campaign stop in Rumford. "Tom is a tough and very formidable opponent. So far I have a healthy lead and I've been working really hard. But I've also been working hard each and every day for 12 years."

Abortion: Allen supported the interests of Planned Parenthood 100 percent; Collins, 85 percent.

Business: Allen supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 53 percent of the time; Collins, 64 percent.

Civil rights: The American Civil Liberties Union gave Allen a grade of 100; Collins, 71.

Education: The National Education Association gave Allen a grade of A; Collins, A.

Environment: The League of Conservation Voters gave Allen a rating of 100; Collins, 100.

Gun issues: The National Rifle Association gave Allen a grade of F; Collins, C+.

Labor: Allen supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 96 percent of the time; Collins, 68.

Veterans: The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Allen a grade of A+; Collins, A+