Blind GOP Drove Specter Away: Snowe

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich’s take on Arlen Specter’s defection? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, senator. Specter left the party “in spirit” when he cast his vote for “a $787 billion big-spending bill no elected official had even read,” the former speaker tells the Washington Post. His official defection “is a function of personal survival,” and will ultimately make the party look better. More»

Big setback for Republicans in Maine

(NEWSER) - Republican Olympia Snowe said today she will retire from the Senate rather than seek re-election, reports the Kennebec Journal . The Washington Post sees it as bad news for her party in the very blue state of Maine. Democrats will likely be favored to take the seat the moderate Snowe has held for three six-year terms. She cited the bitter partisanship of DC in her decision: More»

Maine senator's yes on health reform isn't first time breaking with the party

(NEWSER) - Today’s committee vote for a key health-reform measure isn’t the first time Sen. Olympia Snowe has broken with fellow Republicans—and leads Laurie Kellman to call her, and not former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP’s real maverick. Snowe also voted for President Obama’s stimulus package, Kellman notes for the AP, and against President Bush on bill extending health coverage for kids. More»

She provides crucial Republican support for Obama's overhaul

(AP) - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe says she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party on President Obama's top legislative priority. The Maine senator kept virtually all of Washington guessing how she would vote until she announced it late in the Senate Finance Committee debate today. "When history calls, history calls," she said, adding that she continued to have reservations. More»

(NEWSER) - There are a few in the conservative camp who the Obama administration respects. “By respect, I mean, quite simply, the degree to which the White House responds to their worries and needs and believes that the time spent responding is useful and necessary,” Marc Ambinder writes in the Atlantic. Here’s a list of six:

• The Maine senators: "On major issues where a 60-vote supermajority is needed for cloture," Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are "the only Republicans who matter."