Will Snowe be next?

[wryter2000]

“On the national level of the Republican Party, we haven’t certainly heard warm, encouraging words about how they view moderates, either you are with us or against us,” Ms. Snowe said. She said national Republican leaders were not grasping that “political diversity makes a party stronger and ultimately we are heading to having the smallest political tent in history for any political party the way things are unfolding.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/specter-will-run-as-a-democrat-in-2010/?hp

One can hope.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. "I've been asked, but not recently," she said. (CNN)

Methinks this is a not so subtle hint that Reid and company should be busting out the old Rolodex and giving someone a ring.

[Laelth]

6. That's exactly what it sounds like to me.

Time to make some phone calls and cut some deals.

:dem:

-Laelth

[wryter2000]

10. I hope so

Maybe we can send Joe to talk to her. I know if he turned that smile on me, I'd follow him anywhere. :evilgrin:

[MineralMan]

2. If you're a Maine'ah, write to Senator Snowe and

very politely encourage her to take the high road and disassociate herself from the GOP. Remind her that the ultra-right edge of that party seems to have taken over and is on a campaign of obstruction and fear-mongering.

Tell her why switching parties will send a message to the GOP and put her party affiliation in line with her principles.

Enough correspondence from her constituents might just do the trick.

[bobbolink]

3. And then have *another* conservative Dem?

Wouldn't it be better to run a REAL Dem?

[eyesroll]

4. She's very popular in Maine.

She won with 74% of the vote last time, and has an approval rating higher than that. She's very, very hard to beat.

[bobbolink]

17. And conservative Dems are popular other places.

And look where that leaves us.

[eShirl]

23. not only that... she has NEVER lost an election

"Snowe was the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the United States House of Representatives; she is also the first woman to have served in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of the U.S. Congress. Additionally, she is the first Greek-American congresswoman. With her 1989 marriage to McKernan, she became the first person to simultaneously be a member of Congress and First Lady of a state. She has never lost an election in 35 years as an elected official, and in the 2006 midterm senatorial elections, Snowe won with a reported 73.99% of votes. Seven months ahead of the election, she had already raised $2.1 million."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Snowe

[graywarrior]

5. Mainers love her

For good reason.

[glinda]

8. I think defections have to be taken case by case. In the long run, I do not want

a middle of the road Dem Party. We are facing crisis of massive proportions environmentally as well as on other fronts. I am hoping that a Progressive base is being built and that suitable candidates are being sought and nurtured. What I would like to see is a 60 majority before Franken so that Norm Coleman sits flailing in the wind.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. No. Never, Not in a million years.

She has the safest non-Mormon seat in the Senate, she owns the state party apparatus, her husband is the last GOP governor of Maine. The national party needs her far, far more than she needs them.

She's going nowhere. I'd say 100-1 against going Dem., 30-1 against an independent switch, a la Jeffords.

[wryter2000]

9. Thanks

You're right. There is that difference. She isn't in danger of losing in a primary.

I wonder about your 30 to 1, though. She might pull a Jeffords just out of decency. One can hope.

[napoleon_in_rags]

12. I think it could be about more than that though.

Like bigger trends: Isn't Maine one of the old strongholds for Liberal Republicans? If a demographic shift is coming, and she sees Maine going Dem in the long term in response to a new conservative base, it could happen. Just sayin'.

[quiller4]

14. I wouldn't be surprised to see her switch.

The party in Maine is shrinking but she is more popular than ever. A party switch wouldn't hurt her. She already depends more heavily on independent support. Her husband is term-limited.

[jpak]

11. No - and if she did, Holy Joe would caucus with the GOP

n/t

[mitchum]

13. Fuck that noise; I want REAL Democrats, not OPPORTUNISTS

[LynneSin]

15. Neither woman from Maine is up for re-election until 2012

I have a feeling she'll stick around because they aren't threatening to send an opponent against her in the primaries. I truly believe that Specter, along with Snowe & Collins truly represent what the Republican party once was, the Republican party that Abraham Lincoln was a member. That party is slowly dying a painful death with the onset of fundamentalism taking over the republican party.

Steele was a joke to make the head of the RNC - the republicans wanted to prove they could put a man of color in a power position. Six years ago, when Toomey first ran against Specter, Toomey had very little 'vocal' support by the RNC/RSCC. All of them, even Rick Santorum - the man that Toomey's polices best reflect - came out in support of Specter even though all of them were secretly hoping that Toomey would win.

Toomey could have won that primary without the RNC/RSCC involvement. There are enough rabid right-wing nutjobs in the state to pull off a primary win. By endorsing the concept of an opponent against unloved Republicans like Specter or Bunning, Steele has sannk the RNC even further.

[marshall]

16. What's the upside for her?

Spector is figthing for his life--Snowe is sitting pretty and has no reason to rock her boat.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. If the Club for Greed decides to finance a primary challenger against her it's a possibility

[ColbertWatcher]

19. What's the likelihood that Bayh leaves the Dems?

He's enough of an attention whore to do it.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. Seems to me that Collins is more malleable than Snowe. For some reason, Olympia

is psychologically wedded to her party label. I don't see her changing affiliation any time soon...

[lucretia54]

24. Yes, why not Susan Collins?

[librechik]

21. If she's smart, she'll jump--no moderate wants to belong to The Torture Party!

[cascadiance]

22. Will Lieberman join the Republicans now?

He probably knows he's doomed next election one way or the other now. Perhaps he'll still try to be a power broker now and make this move...

[Raster]

25. I thought he did that long ago.

Come on, Olympia! Come over from the dark side!

[Skittles]

26. no

she believes in "fiscal responsibility", don't ya know :rofl: