Olympia Snowe calls it quits

[Thomas Veil]

Maine GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe won't seek re-election

One of the Senate's few remaining Republican moderates shocked the political world on Tuesday and announced she would not seek re-election this year.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe announced she would not seek a fourth term because she is tired of the polarization and partisanship that has permeated Washington in recent years.

"Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term," she said in a statement explaining her decision to retire.

Maine's junior GOP senator, Susan Collins, said in a statement that she was "absolutely devastated" by Snowe's decision to leave the Senate. Snowe was first elected in 1994. Collins was elected in 1996.

Snowe said her ability to win re-election was not at issue—she was heavily favored to win re-election. Her exit gives Democrats a new opportunity to be pick up a GOP-held seat in a year where they are fighting to hold on to control of the Senate.

Not a total surprise, I guess, and you can't blame her, but still a shame. We need more, not fewer, people who are willing to talk to the guys on the other side of the aisle.

[rdowns]

The Republicans have been culling their moderates for a decade now. Susan Collins is the only remaining one I think.

[Ugg]

Originally Posted by rdowns

The Republicans have been culling their moderates for a decade now. Susan Collins is the only remaining one I think.

I wonder if the unnamed Tea Party guy will run in her place? That's the last thing this country needs.

[iJohnHenry]

Quitting will not solve her party's problems.

Crossing the floor might.

The reverberations would be "interesting".

[Thomas Veil]

^ (shrugs) It didn't work for Arlen Specter.

[iJohnHenry]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

^ (shrugs) It didn't work for Arlen Specter.

If at first you don't succeed, .....

[MorphingDragon]

Originally Posted by iJohnHenry

If at first you don't succeed, .....

Drink yourself to sleep.

[thewitt]

Snowe = RINO

Hopefully Maine will elect a real republican in her place, but somehow I doubt it.

[sysiphus]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Snowe = RINO

Hopefully Maine will elect a real republican in her place, but somehow I doubt it.

Do me a favor, and give me an example of a "true Republican"?

Presumably, we can start with somebody who is able to balance a budget...that should rule out the vast majority right there.

Terms like "RINO" are absurd without context--do you want a Bush-style GOPer, who blows up the deficit and starts needless wars, and trashes our individual liberties/privacy? Or do you want a Reagan, who raised taxes 11 times, while setting the trend for ignoring deficits? How about a Nixon, who had all the ethics of a toadstool? In all seriousness, who is this model of Republicanishness?

(Note, I am not exactly one of the far-left liberals here...hell, I'm actually a registered Republican)

[Happybunny]

This shows the great fault in a two political party system IMO.

We of course have more than 23 different political parties, of which normally 14 sit in the parliament, and up to 5 have formed a government. (This is of course over doing it)

But this system does stop grid lock, as you will need to form partnerships with all factions.

[iJohnHenry]

Originally Posted by MorphingDragon

Drink yourself to sleep.

Go the sand route, it's cheaper.

[rdowns]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Snowe = RINO

Hopefully Maine will elect a real republican in her place, but somehow I doubt it.

This is what's wrong with politics in the US. Many are wedded to their ideology regardless of what's best for the country. The fact is, we need more Olympia Snowes in Congress.

[MacNut]

Originally Posted by rdowns

This is what's wrong with politics in the US. Many are wedded to their ideology regardless of what's best for the country. The fact is, we need more Olympia Snowes in Congress.

Indeed, Government should br run from the center out, not the fringe in.

[thewitt]

Originally Posted by rdowns

This is what's wrong with politics in the US. Many are wedded to their ideology regardless of what's best for the country. The fact is, we need more Olympia Snowes in Congress.

Hardly.

Having someone who compromises every principle simply to pass legislation for the sake of legislation helps no one.

[MacNut]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Hardly.

Having someone who compromises every principle simply to pass legislation for the sake of legislation helps no one.

Her principals have been compromised by the nuts of the party.

[noisycats]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Hardly.

Having someone who compromises every principle simply to pass legislation for the sake of legislation helps no one.

And how many are helped by having someone who refuses to compromise on any principle and therefore passes no legislation?

[rdowns]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Hardly.

Having someone who compromises every principle simply to pass legislation for the sake of legislation helps no one.

I rest my case.

[eawmp1]

Originally Posted by thewitt

Hardly.

Having someone who doesn't compromises every principle simply to pass legislation for the sake of legislation helps no one.

Fixed.

[mcrain]

We have about a Trillion dollars worth of water supply pipeline currently in the ground that had a 20-30 year lifespan. Those pipes are disintigrating underneath us, because since Reagan, we stopped investing in our infrastructure. The contamination, resulting illnesses and water loss are real problems. In addition, there is a similar amount of wastewater pipeline that is also far past its useful life. We have human waste, industrial waste, and who knows what else seeping into the soil mere feet under where we walk because our pipes are falling apart. Fix just those two problems, and what do you think happens to unemployment? What do you think happens to tax revenues? What do you think happens to all the businesses that suddenly have customers with paychecks?

That is not a democrat or republican issue. That is just a question of whether we want to live in a country where your kid can get sick from drinking a glass of water. Why can't things like that be resolved without it turning into a partisan bitchfest?

[MyDesktopBroke]

Andrea Mitchell was just on Brian Leher's radio show, and recounted an interview with Olympia Snowe. Snowe said that when she and Susan Collins voted for the stimulus bill, the rest of the GoP caucus collectively cut off all communication with them. They wouldn't even talk with them during caucuses.

[ucfgrad93]

18 years in the Senate is long enough, I don't think people should spend their lives in Congress.

[mcrain]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

18 years in the Senate is long enough, I don't think people should spend their lives in Congress.

Hey, let's apply that logic to everything else. Teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc... should all be forced to do something completely different after a decade or so. No one should spend their lives in their profession.

[rdowns]

Originally Posted by mcrain

Hey, let's apply that logic to everything else. Teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc... should all be forced to do something completely different after a decade or so. No one should spend their lives in their profession.

What an absurd rebuttal. Professional politicians and staffers are a huge part of the problem in this country and are no way analogous to civilian careers.

Now I'll sit back and watch you climb out of this bag.

[mcrain]

Originally Posted by rdowns

What an absurd rebuttal. Professional politicians and staffers are a huge part of the problem in this country and are no way analogous to civilian careers.

Now I'll sit back and watch you climb out of this bag.

The problems we have in this country relate to congress being gridlocked. That is a problem that isn't related to longevity, but in stupidity. The number of politicians who have no interest in solving our problems elected during the 2010 midterms and the 1994 midterms was staggering.

Politicians, many of which made that their career, have been responsible for faithfully and successfully running our country for the vast majority of its history. It wasn't until one party decided to run up the debt that we had that as a problem, and it wasn't until that same party decided to put politics ahead of the people that we now have massive gridlock.

Debt wasn't created by career politicians, but by politicians that lied to us and ignored every reputable economic advisor out there. Thank you Mr. Reagan. Terrorism and those kinds of threats weren't the result of career politicians, but refusals to wean ourselves from reliance on foreign oil. The economy is getting better, but it could be much better much faster, but the new crop of teapublicans won't let anything get through congress.

The "career" politicians that you dislike are responsible for much of what you take for granted.

(We should expect our two parties to identify an issue, debate possible solutions, hold hearings, and then vote on a plan. Majority wins. Why is that so hard for Republicans to process?)

[hulugu]

Originally Posted by sysiphus

...(Note, I am not exactly one of the far-left liberals here...hell, I'm actually a registered Republican)

Whatever, Rhino.

Originally Posted by mcrain

...That is not a democrat or republican issue. That is just a question of whether we want to live in a country where your kid can get sick from drinking a glass of water. Why can't things like that be resolved without it turning into a partisan bitchfest?

Charitably, I'd say it's because fixing these things requires an agreement on the utility of the government. Uncharitably, I'd say it's because making political points keeps people in office (and all its perks) far more than actual legislation.

Originally Posted by mcrain

Hey, let's apply that logic to everything else. Teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc... should all be forced to do something completely different after a decade or so. No one should spend their lives in their profession.

Doctors and teachers don't end up with the kind of professional sclerosis that exists in Congress. In any other profession, people retire or get put on a board to keep them busy, in politics people stay until they're carried out in a casket. Look at McCain.