Will Snowe melt under heat from GOP base?
Sen. Olympia Snowe, the Republican senator from Maine, has job approval numbers that most politicians would covet. According to Public Policy Polling, 51 percent of her constituents approve of her performance while just 36 percent disapprove.
But according to that same poll, 59 percent of Snowe’s fellow Republicans in Maine would support a more conservative challenger in the 2012 primary, while just 31 percent would support Snowe. (Among McCain ‘08 voters, her approve/disapprove numbers were 36/49).
That puts Snowe in an interesting situation:
She can move right in an effort to satisfy an increasingly unsatiable base; she can stay where she is and court defeat in a GOP primary; or she can join the Democrats. Factor in the results of the 2008 presidential election in Maine, where Obama won by 17 points, and the political calculus gets more interesting still.
Moderate Republicans all over the country are being forced to make similar calculations. Some will move right, as the base demands. But others won’t. As Dede Scozzafava told the Washington Post in justifying her endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens, “There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln. If they don’t want us with them, we’re going to work against them.”
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252 comments Add your comment
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
6:12 pm
Obozo won by the same percentage in New Jersey and you might want to check and see what happened to that pinko.
You’re all gonna be gone no matter what name you hide behind.
mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
6:14 pm
Oh and don’t forget to take Collins with you too.
What difference would it make?
mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
N-GA
November 10th, 2009
6:17 pm
Just as there is no room for compromise for the GOP with the Democrat-controlled Congress, there is no room for dissent within the Republican party.
The behavior of the Republican congressmen is tantamount to sedition. They are working against America, not for it. Simply pathetic…..they do not represent the American people.
jt
November 10th, 2009
6:30 pm
“She can move right in an effort to satisfy an increasingly unsatiable base”
Obey your oath and we are completely sated.
It is just that simple.
Jay
November 10th, 2009
6:32 pm
What oath is that, JT?
Tom
November 10th, 2009
6:35 pm
Hopefully, it is an oath not to say”mmm, mmmm, mmmmm.” That is just creepy.
josef nix
November 10th, 2009
6:36 pm
Well, we have seen the true face of Maine and I don’t think it was Sen. Snowe.
Paul
November 10th, 2009
6:37 pm
If the Republican Party is ever going to rebuild, it will be through the likes of Sen Snowe. The base is the base – they are there. If the Party’s to expand, it needs to get people who aren’t in the base. If those people already agreed with the more conservative elements, they, too would be part of the base. But they aren’t. Repeating the same old stuff won’t sway them.
As to the polls, I have to wonder if part of that is driven by healthcare hooplah. Maybe, maybe not.
But one generally doesn’t expand by becoming more restrictive.
Jay
November 10th, 2009
6:39 pm
Josef, check this out:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/marriage-and-the-generations.html
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
6:46 pm
Paul- The Repugs need to embrace government health care?
Paul
November 10th, 2009
6:47 pm
Hey getalife!
Check out Jay’s 6:39. Texas beats Georgia! Thbpt! Wanna join the insurgents?
(still and all… being 12th from the bottom as opposed to 10th…)
Hmmm. I wonder what would happen to those numbers if “marriage” was replaced with “civil union with all the rights and responsibilities”? I seem to recall a few pundits who say some of the stalwart anti-gay ‘marriage’ groups flip decisively when that’s done.
Paul
November 10th, 2009
6:48 pm
Report/Whine
The Repugs have. Didn’t you see their 230-page alternate plan?
@@
November 10th, 2009
6:51 pm
As Dede Scozzafava told the Washington Post in justifying her endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens, “There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln. If they don’t want us with them, we’re going to work against them.”
Hasn’t “moderate” Bill Owens already begun his work against? Did he really break four campaign promises immediately after his inauguration into the hollow halls?
I’ve been unable to confirm.
getalife
November 10th, 2009
6:52 pm
You betcha Paul.
Don’t mess with Texas.
Marsh
November 10th, 2009
6:54 pm
Snowe will vote against the interests of her constituents in order to allow the insurance industry to support the party of “NO” with huge amounts of money. She wants reform that helps the insurance industry profits and not the health and economic well being of Americans.
@@
November 10th, 2009
6:54 pm
Civil-unions? I don’t wanna push josef on this but those 19 to 29s will be aging faster than they anticipated, what with the struggle that’s ahead of them. They’re looking into the bottom of a bottle of bitters.
Normal
November 10th, 2009
6:55 pm
I’m sure the Democrats would be proud to have Senator Snowe join them. An intellegent, moderate thinker such as she would be a great boon to the party.
josef nix
November 10th, 2009
6:55 pm
JAY–thanks for the link! Some really interesting things there. When I talk with my own kids and their peers about this, they just shake their heads. They find the whole argument “silly.”
getalife
November 10th, 2009
6:57 pm
Progressive libs going after dems and cons after gop.
Good job cons and libs.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:00 pm
I’m not even posting on the right blog, geez…..
I didn’t think this was that hard to understand but then again, we do live in the new age of “enlightenment.”
Let’s say you had a basketball team and one of your players would occasionally sink a three pointer for the other team. Would you give him more of a say in running your game plan? Would you encourage the other members of your team to be more like him, to reach across his aisle?
Or would you tell him to put on the opposing team’s jersey and then go find someone who isn’t a psychotic?
Just sayin….
josef nix
November 10th, 2009
7:02 pm
PAUL–
I started out willing to accept civil union and still would if the state would get out of the “marriage license” business and go into the “civil union license” business and make that the requirement for ALL unions recognized by the state and leave “marriage” to the ceremonial. But so long as we have one set of paperwork for one class of citizens and another set for other classes, we have ipso facto discrimination and second class citizenship.
I have posted this here before, but I am reminded of what my grandfather said when a local preacher had taken off on those living together without state documented sanction, “Brother Jones, marriages aren’t made at the court house, civil unions are…”
jt
November 10th, 2009
7:03 pm
Jay- this one. I know how old-fashioned it is too follow the constitution but here it is.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
getalife
November 10th, 2009
7:03 pm
I see AmVet got to Andy.
I missed it Andy.
What did he say?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:04 pm
Paul- The Repug plan says nothing about taking health care from the elderly, who actually need it, and giving it to healthy young deadbeats who they see as potential voters.
Let’s step this up a notch, you would compromise your principles in service to your power mongering?
You sound more like a democrat everyday.
AmVet
November 10th, 2009
7:05 pm
Paul, well said. Moderate Republicans are anathema to this hijacked GOP.
In my view, in WAY too many cases, they are intolerant, inept and inconsequential.
And thus their self-created and unenviable position.
I guess one 42 year stretch as the minority party wasn’t enough…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:05 pm
gitmo- His same little obsessed information that he is too much of a coward to actually act on.
Paul
November 10th, 2009
7:06 pm
@@
[[They’re looking into the bottom of a bottle of bitters.]]
awww, what’d you have to go and slander bitters for?
They’re a wonderful aromatic. Scents of cinnamon, clove… please don’t use that to describe a hopeless, dying, despondent group.
And stick with Fee bitters. Or Pernaud out of New Orleans.
Marsh
November 10th, 2009
7:07 pm
If it were up to the cons we would all still be crapping in outhouses and lighting our homes by candlelight. What a bunch of knuckle draggers…
getalife
November 10th, 2009
7:08 pm
I think the ballot should read:
For civil unions check yes,
Against civil unions check no.
It’s backwards on the ballots and Americans are easily confused.
getalife
November 10th, 2009
7:10 pm
Andy,
Serving in the military?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:11 pm
Very well said jt.
Just to help out the dense among us, there is no Constitutional authority to force anyone to have health insurance.
We will sue your asses.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:12 pm
gitmo- I doubt if he did.
getalife
November 10th, 2009
7:14 pm
Andy,
He sure served you up a new name.
Now, don’t go posting dkos again.
Okay?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:15 pm
Marsh
November 10th, 2009
7:07 pm
If it were up to the cons we would all still be crapping in outhouses and lighting our homes by candlelight.
Excuse me, but which political party is making war on toilet paper, water to flush your toilet with and any form of energy but candles?
What planet are you calling in from Marshmellow?
stands for decibels
November 10th, 2009
7:16 pm
JAY–thanks for the link! Some really interesting things there.
Nifty chart from Sully all right, but
a) it just reinforces what I’ve been saying about homophobia ultimately dying out and
b) you weren’t especially surprised, were you?
josef nix
November 10th, 2009
7:16 pm
@@
left you a post downstairs…was that it?
As for the bitters, wetwiccan’s link the other p.m. addresses this and the younger generation of gays. I have found among them a real sense of disillusionment over such as Prop 8 and the Maine vote and that disillusionment is turning to anger. As that 19-29 demographic ages and us old f*rts go to met our M*ker, there will come the changes, I believe, though I doubt I will live to see it.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:17 pm
gitmo- I do not take this blog as seriously as some of you do.
Common Sense
November 10th, 2009
7:17 pm
The Federal government is so out of control that it is time for the States to call for a Constitutional Convention. It is their right under Article V of the Constitution to take back their rightful sovereignty in all areas not granted to the Federal government under the Constitution.
Headline: “237 members of Congress are millionaires”. They’re not even part of us regular folks anymore. I say throw the whole bunch out and start over. Have that Constitutional Convention and set term limits for all categories (and immediate family members cannot run after your term).
Paul
November 10th, 2009
7:19 pm
josef nix
Wasn’t this topic one of the first discussion we ever had? I’d kinda settled on, if a church joins you, you’re married. Gay or straight, it’s a church call. If you get married by the government, you’ve got a civil union. Gay or straight. It was your choice. Pretty soon the terms would get blurred and there’d be no distinction.
But it’ll never happen. Too many groups with too many high paid people running them getting too much money from people they keep spun up. Money and power.
Report/Whine
Just ’cause I ask a question doesn’t mean I’m advocating a position, remember?
Heard a bunch of Congressmen in rapidfire succession pro/con the House bill on NPR the other morning. One was my very own Rep, Michael Burgess, a doctor. He got out a lot of information very quick,said how many of his constituents want health care reform but without what they perceive (accurately or inaccurately) as gov’t ‘control.’
And much of what he said was in the Republican proposal, a lot of the reforms, sound a lot like me as being ‘government telling the health care insurance and pharma and doctors’ what to do.
Therefore, the Republican plan is gov’t run health care!
It’s just a matter of degree. Both parties are involved to some extent. It’s just a question of where and the levers (tax code, for instance) they use.
And I’m sure you’ve followed my exchanges with the Democratic Deniers who won’t acknowledge Congressional Dems are going to yank half a trillion from Medicare to make this happen. Shameless shenanigans they are, but they get away with it (the savings will never ever materialize but like the kid who does something and gets yelled at a bit, who cares?? They got what they wanted).
Kinda in line with your question, I heard on the news the Rep who won Virginia, even with a comfortable lead, didn’t run on the social issue stuff. I don’t see that as a compromise, more of an emphasis of what voters are interested in. Try this on: Republicans continuing to emphasize abortion or sex or whatever, when they aren’t way high up on the undecideds or nonbase priority list… well…. aren’t they a lot like Pres Obama and House Democrats who pursued and put a lot of energy into an initiative (aspects of health care reform) that were definitely not high on the priorities of many Americans?
stands for decibels
November 10th, 2009
7:22 pm
How you can tell the conservatives are desperate:
The Federal government is so out of control that it is time for the States to call for a Constitutional Convention.
Heh. Yeah, our side used to kick that one around when we were in the political wilderness. It was kinda like comfort food.
getalife
November 10th, 2009
7:22 pm
Well, that is obvious Andy.
You take an issue, blow it way out of proportion and end with name calling.
I liked the character “soda pants.”
Hilarious.
josef nix
November 10th, 2009
7:23 pm
PAUL
Of course Pernaud!
sfb–
No real surprises. What I did find interesting was that the shift was pretty much a similar one across the board…it’s heartening, to be sure…
stands for decibels
November 10th, 2009
7:23 pm
You’re creepy, you’re probably a damn peeping tom, you probably have child porn galore on your computer.
If the AJC were subject to Fox News’ journamalism standards, their headline tomorrow would read: “Reports of online blogger’s criminal activities surface.”
jconservative
November 10th, 2009
7:24 pm
What must be considered in Maine or any other state Obama carried is this: Obama won through the force of charisma. Not because of his stand on issues. He is the most charismatic politician since Reagan, Bobby Kennedy and Jack Kennedy.
And that is why he will be re-elected in 2012.
Paul
November 10th, 2009
7:25 pm
Marsh 7:07
7:15
you walked right into that one…
then again, no one could blame you for not seeing it coming.
But it was a funny retort!
note: never shake hands with Sheryl Crow, remember?
jt
November 10th, 2009
7:26 pm
IRYW=1
Marsh=0
Common Sense
November 10th, 2009
7:26 pm
If Obama (as he said today) really can’t understand why the Ft. Hood terrorist did what he did, then he has no chance of understanding what’s really going on in the Islamic world …. and he is our president ?
AmVet
November 10th, 2009
7:27 pm
getalife, quit teasing him.
He works for me. When he’s not working for Bookman…
Paul
November 10th, 2009
7:29 pm
sfd
Actually, I think the Fox report on that would be to have a pro-con discussion on the story as reported by MSNBC -
I Report (-: You Whine )-: AmWet Is A Coward mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
November 10th, 2009
7:29 pm
Paul, this is Bill Owen’s, democrat NY23, campaign website-
Bill Owens believes that for too long, the politicians in Washington have been spending blindly, letting our federal deficit spin out of control. He thinks we must now restore fiscal restraint and get our financial house in order to avoid even worse problems down the road. That’s why in Congress, Owens will fight for more balanced budgets and less deficit spending to help minimize the debt future generations will face.
Bill Owens also supports an estate tax exemption for up to $5 million, a threshold that will make sure family farms and small businesses in Upstate New York are not negatively impacted. He does not support increasing taxes on small businesses or middle class families that are already struggling during these tough economic times.-Bill Owens, democrat, NY-23
Sounds just like Obozo 08 don’t it? You know, I won’t raise taxes just a few shorts months before he did anyway?
Why is this so hard to understand? People vote for Conservative ideas. democrats can’t even be honest about who they are.
Why, pray tell, would we want to become more like them?