Blogs and Stories
Snowe Removal
Freedom Works promises to be more involved in the state in 2010 than any previous election and hopes to build from there.
But folks rooting for Snowe to fall should not hold their breath. Party affiliation has never been especially important to Mainers, who have elected independent governors in the past and may elect another one in 2010. And less than a third of those polled thought Snowe should switch parties and join Arlen Specter as a Democrat. Voters feel a special kinship to Snowe, who was orphaned when she was a young girl—and widowed, when her first husband died in a car accident when she was in her mid-20s. That tragic past, and her lifetime of service to the state, helped form a bond with the electorate that would be tough for any challenger to break. And despite the conservative agitating, there is no credible threat to Snowe in sight.
The same can be said of the state’s junior senator, Susan Collins—who has also hinted that she may support the Democrats’ health-care bill. Collins won reelection handily against a formidable opponent, Democrat Tom Allen, last year—despite a Democratic surge prompted by Barack Obama’s coattails. They may be the Senate’s last real moderate Republicans, but it does not appear that they are going away any time soon—despite the GOP’s shift to the right nationwide.
“There is a very conservative group of Republicans in the state, either on social or fiscal issues, who don’t like what these senators are doing, but they’re the minority in Maine. Politically, the senators don’t need to care,” said L. Sandy Maisel, professor of government at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
So should conservatives bother pouring more than some salt into the state?
“I wouldn’t advise it to everybody. I think they would be wasting their resources. If you look at the senators, if you look at the mind-set of a traditional Mainer, they are very independent in their thinking—not prone to have people tell them what to do,” Scott Kauffman, the former vice chairman of the Maine Republican Party said.
Maisel, the director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby, put it succinctly: “Stay out of our state….We’ll take care of our own.”
American Conservative Union’s Keene said he recognizes that Snowe's removal won’t be easy.
“They live in a different universe up there,” Keene said. “Have you been there lately? It’s a different universe entirely.”
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
10 Power Food Combos
Divya Gugnani is the CEO and founder of BehindtheBurner.com, an emerging culinary media brand that creates expert-based content about food, wine, mixology, and nutrition.
How Barack Beat Bibi
Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. His new book, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris, will be published by HarperCollins in June. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
The Religious Right's 10 Favorite Candidates
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
Health Vote Coming in a Week
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
I'm Outta Here!
Samuel P. Jacobs is a staff reporter at The Daily Beast. He has also written for The Boston Globe, The New York Observer, and The New Republic Online.
Reason
The modern republican party evokes images of a pack of ravenous wolves in the midst of a very harsh winter. Any pack member showing the slightest sign of weakness is devoured... and the pack becomes smaller and less effective through this canabalism.
If they move farther right and drive Snowe out, I'm sure the dems would be rather pleased with a 61 vote caucus.
briansays
Eventually she does a Lieberman
Dems let her keep her positions
Should do it now for maximum political benefit
Jinglebob
Who Ms RINO. You bet.
periscope
Olympia Snowe should bolt the Republican Party like Alan Spector did. Not that I really want her or Spector acting like ersatz Democrats, but if that will help get some serious healthcare reform passed I'll accept it.
The healthcare insurance companies should be stripped of their exemption from anti-trust prosecutions, and their denial of coverage to anyone should be cause for them to lose their insurance license.
They also should be heavily fined every time they deny medical treatment based on their invented and phony "pre-existing conditions" crap.
All of the above might make them much less profitable, which means they may not be able to pay their top executives over $100 million/year in salary from now on.
I could live with that.
reardongalt
Colon scope, you know nothing about the Republican Party. Don't bother making believe you do. It ain't happening.
AlanD2
reardongalt: I bet you said the same thing before Arlen Specter bolted.
bcaldwell
AlanD2, Specter is a political whore and does what is best for Arlen Specter. Ask him what he believes in, I'll bet that he can't tell you or even himself. Specter is one of the great political opportunists of our time. He was played by the Dems who told him that he could keep his seniority if he switched and when he switched, they promptly told him that he was now the JUNIOR Democrat Senator from Pennsylvania behind that other brainiac and Mr. Personality, Bob Casey.
AlanD2
bcaldwell: Specter may be a political whore, but he's our political whore now (and his concern about reelection has really made him a reliable vote for Democrats!).
reardongalt
Alan, Specter is a poster child for why Conservatives don't like RINOs, and don't want them in the party. This "big tent" crap is a bunch of bull. If they don't have a moral compass, they'll vote any which way, and more than likely will hurt rather than help in the long run.
newswoman
As usual, Periscope, you said what we democrats believe. Why the republicans want to pay more for their insurance by supporting the insurance companies, is beyond me. They make millions while denying Americans proper and fair coverage.
bkm242
Senator Snowe didn't "help" get the bill out of committee. The final vote was 14-9. If she had voted against the bill, the final vote would have been 13-10. The bill still would have left committee. The Democrats, even less than the Republicans, don't seem to understand that elections matter. They received a mandate to govern. They need to get on with it.
Tango121
Hmmmmmmmmmm I don't think your statement is quite right bkm242. To move the bill out of committee I believe one Repub had to vote for it. If she had not voted for it. It would have died in committee.
ElLamer
I'm pretty sure bkm242 is right.
I think its stupid but I assume more people would blame democrats for all health care problems from here on out if they don't get a few republicans here and there. (my doc was grumpy today..... stupid democrat health care reform.... you get the picture)
Tango121
When Barry chose Ms. Sotomeyer for the Supreme Court, the NYT's in a front page story stated that to move her name from the committee to a floor vote a Repub had to vote for her. Why would it be any different for heath care.
Chichikov
As a Mainer I'd love nothing more than for the Republicans to run someone to the right of Snowe. He or she would go down in flames and pave the way to a Democrat taking the seat.
reardongalt
Hey Chekov, I think we know where you're coming from.
dwood7219
Absoutely right on! Let them sink even lower in the depths of the political earth by pouring moeny and effort to defeat her in the primary. Guaranteed democrat senator from maine in 2010.
But, I would much prefer that we elect people who vote their convictions, just like she did - from either/all parties - rather than just toeing some imaginary line. So I hope she wins the primary and then let's see what happens. If she wins again at least there will be one Repub seat warmed by a body whose brain works, instead of her zombie couterparts who continually intone a "we hate 'em" mantra (Obama and as a natural side effect the American public as a whole) to tell them how to vote.
ChanRobt
The woman is a fool. There is no compromise with liberty. Let her become a Democrat. Then the voters of Maine can get rid of her.
AlanD2
You gotta be kidding, ChanRobt. No conservative Republicans from New England are left in Congress. If you want a Republican Senator, it's Snowe or nobody.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
newswoman
Principals, my foot, dabeall. Ideology is more like it, even if it doesn't make sense to support it.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
AlanD2
dabeall: After applying your conservative principles and kicking out all RINOs, you are likely to be the last member of the Republican Party. Don't you think you will have a hard time electing anybody with only one vote?
By the way, I encourage you to keep removing Republicans from office by running conservative extremists against them in primaries. We Democrats can certainly use bigger majorities in Congress...
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
AlanD2
dabeall: The elections of 2006 and 2008 do not support your assertions.
Perhaps 2010 will be kinder to Republicans, but I kind of doubt it.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
AlanD2
dabeall: The race for the New York House seat in district 20 might actually result in a Democrat being elected for the first time in over 100 years.
The governor races in Virginia and New Jersey don't look promising for Republicans either.
I still think Republicans are going to continue losing until their "big tent" expands enough to include moderates.
AlanD2
Make that "the New York House seat in district 23". Sorry for any confusion...
reardongalt
"Will the GOP's Lone Aisle-Crosser Be Punished for Her Dissent?"
You betcha!
It has only just begun.
flappyj
Mr. Chichikov notwithstanding, has anybody who had anything to do with this article ever been to Maine? Let me spell this out to those of you who have never been to a state where the political discourse resembles rational thought. SNOWE AND COLLINS DON'T NEED THE CONSERVATIVES!!! Us Mainers are proud owners of a political tradition that prizes individual honesty and integrity over partisan and ideological conformity (see Smith, Margaret Chase V McCarthy, Joe). We voted for the likes of William Cohen (Republican) and George Mitchell (Democrat) not because of their party affiliations but because they actually managed to be decent public servants. A good friend of mine has successfully run for the post of City Clerk for the past 19 years as a Republican with a vast majority of Democrats voting for her. The opposite is true for the mayor, a Democrat with republican support. Remember the days when one could vote for a candidate based on their actual performance? Political discourse in the rest of the country may have degenerated to the prepackaged demagoguery of the Limbaugh's and Olbermann's but at least here in Maine we can take solace in the fact that none of the speculations in the above article have any basis in reality. There will be no serious challenge from the Right for Snowe's seat. If these "tea baggers" try to have a go with it in Maine they'll be laughed out of state so fast they might have to miss Glenn Beck for the evening. And what would happen then? They might actually have to think for themselves?
genmanager
Finally. It takes a while reading comments from people whom I honestly don't know where they are from, talking about how pure their party is, how they kick out people who don't sign their pledge card, and who still after all this time live in a dream world about what happened in the last two national elections, to come up to a cogent evaluation of Maine politics.
Until I came to your comment I kept on wanted to say, "Yeah, But have you been to Maine? Do you know anybody who lives there?" I do, and I have lived there, and they are not at all like the people these idiots think they are. They know what's important to them, they judge a candidate by his words and actions, not his party affiliation, and they don't really care who likes it or not, democrat or republican.
I hope the party lost in the wilderness with their dirty shoes, sticks their feet in Maine politics... they will leave with their tail wagging between their legs.
lcinPA
Why does everyone want to punish anyone that disagrees or doesn't always vote lock-and-step with their party? Doesn't that show she has a mind of her own? Are we all supposed to be robots? I'm thinking most people probably don't think so. So why should all politicians act like one? I think it may show a healthy dose of independence! That's like a breath of fresh air.
Speaking of independents.... I'm thinking the rise for the perfect independent candidate is coming. Democrats and Republicans are making it too easy. I am a Democrat. I also have a mind of my own and know when to disagree strongly with certain bills and policies.
One thing I am beginning (again) to detest is the regurgitation of the same arguments and finger pointing of who is right and who is wrong from both sides! I think THAT is the bigger problem in our country. We actually could work together to solve issues and run this country. I'm not talking about Utopia-ishly, just a little more functionally than this crazy hysteria we have currently!
I'm almost, but not quite right back to how I felt when I was back in college with my distrust of ALL politicians. I'm a little older now, and have shaken that extreme view for every politician, but it just seems to be a big game played by many people who loose sight of reality in that powerful stage called "politics".
bcaldwell
Ah yes, the INDEPENDENT. The guy who's not sure what he believes in but is damn sure of it. The INDEPENDENT....the political whore that both parties chase each election . The INDEPENDENT...that sainted group that the press interviews each election cycle who has ....concerns..... The INDEPENDENT... that person who wants the goodies from the Democrats but hates the fact that they want said goodies-sort of like Northeastern Republicans.
Yes , that paragon of political virtue who keeps "an open mind" but in reality has been asleep until the election cycle comes up. Why not call them what they are ....marginals. They are either marginal Republicans or Democrats and they will whore themselves out each election to whatever candidate from either party that sounds good depending on the mood of the country. I can tell you from experience with candidates from both parties...in reality they DESPISE the independent. The independent always wants to"hear more" but they always seem to understand less. They are called pragmatic types but they are anything but, they are the swayers without root.
The independent is always the person who ranks as undecided a week or two before any election and all the press analysts say how the candidates have to go after them. Like I said the independent does not know what he or she believes, just ask them
dwood7219
What!! How about the INDEPENDENT (go to Webster's and look it up) who has STRONG convictions, who thinks for themselves before they walk into a voting booth (and I do so at every given opportunity),who does not simply vote party ticket by the (R) or (D) after someone's name but THINKS and then selects amongst the available candidates to vote for the one who most fits their CONVICTIONS. Now a whore for any party, but true to THEIR own convictions.
If you say as a repub or a dem I have to agree with every person who is running from MY party, regardless if they are a cheating SOB, or a boy chasing SOB or a trail hiking SOB or a cigar using SOB, then you are the one without convictions.
So point that disdain inward my friend and leave us independents alone to THINK for ourselves.
newswoman
I'm a democrat but I am tired of the party getting whimpy all the while the republicans 'just say no' to everything proposed by the democrats. This is their tactic and I wonder why the democrats don't just ignore them since THEY ARE IN THE MAJORITY.
bcaldwell
She's already being punished and the Republicans are not doing it to her, but Harry Reid is. Her vote on the Baucus bill was meaningless because Reid willl use a legislative trick to push in the public option. She got played as will the Blue Dogs. It's fun to watch.
Lesson: Don't trust liberal progressive types, they will tell you anything, promise anything to get your support. Then when they have from you what they need....good luck getting your promise. Kind of makes you think all that committee stuff was a sham and a ruse anyway.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
StewartIII
ChickaBOOMer: Mount Olympia
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2009/10/mount-olympia.html
MOZART
http://sickforprofit.com/
Netting $2.5 billion in profits last year wasn't enough for WellPoint, the nation's largest insurance company.
Now, WellPoint's affiliate, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is suing the state of Maine for refusing to guarantee it a profit margin in the midst of a painful recession.
nothing you don't already know.. however,
do you know anyone in Maine to forward this video to?
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
genmanager
yeah, it is. Wellpoint is a corporation who is judged not by it's profits in one state, but by it's balance sheet. Sueing the state is beyond the realm of capitalism, it is corporate communism.
Gengis
Teabaggers, please spend lots of money in Maine. Lets see if you can help get rid of some of the last GOP senators from the Northeast.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.