One of Maine’s two long-serving Republican Senators, Olympia Snowe, has made no secret of the fact that she’s fed up with partisan attitudes in Washington that have stymied Congress.
The moderate Republican, who announced in February that she would not seek re-election this year after nearly two decades in the Senate, appeared on Morning Joe this morning to discuss the impact of extremism and lack of will to compromise among politicians in both U.S. political parties.
“When I first came to the Senate, we had a centrist coalition…and moderates lunch every week,” she said. “We used to bond together as moderates. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen much anymore because there’s so few on either side of the political aisle.”
Snowe complained that the Senate is “totally locked down,” unable to complete “routine business,” let alone the big issues, such as tax reform.
With many in Congress facing an election in November, lame-duck malaise has set in, she explained.
Partisan rhetoric that has become more popular over the last decade (Exhibit Mourdock) and an inability to reach across the aisle will only hurt Americans.
“We have to figure a way to get by those differences,” Snowe added. “If they don’t come your way, then what do you do? And that is what has disturbed me. We don’t transcend those differences anymore.”