Her introduction on Wikipedia.org had this to say of her:
"Olympia Jean Snowe McKernan (born February 21, 1947), née Bouchles, is the senior U.S. Senator from Maine. She is a Republican and a leading moderate within the party.
Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes and Senatorial filibusters.
In 2006, she was named one of America's Top Ten Senators by Time Magazine. Her political popularity in her home state is the highest of any current U.S. Senator; as of November 22, 2006, she enjoyed a 79 percent approval rating in her home state of Maine."
Being popular as a senator is a huge deal, I believe as a whole, congress has a 26.8% approval rating from an RCP poll on Foxnews.com (I know, if you are a liberal reading this, you may shudder that I just cited FoxNews).
Further information from Wikipedia (yes, the bastion of truth and knowledge, weren't you ever in college?) includes her going soft on Bill Clinton's lying under oath, and "breaks from the Bush Administration"
"Her occasional breaks with the Bush administration drew attacks from other conservative Republicans; the Club for Growth and Concerned Women for America label her as a 'Republican in Name Only' (RINO)."
She also appears dedicated to her work, the only one of 8 senators who haven't missed any votes! (What exactly are the rest of them doing? Jet-setting on private planes, sipping tax payer dollars?)
Democrats have been on her to be the only Republican "turn coat" on the bloated health care bill (that most of congress probably hasn't read). An article from The Washington Post said:
"After weeks of courtship of Snowe by the White House, Democracy Corps -- a Democratic-aligned polling operation -- released polling data this afternoon that argues that the Maine Senator's willingness to cooperate with the Administration on health care is directly tied to her re-election prospects in 2012
The survey, which was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, argues that while Snowe is extremely popular at the moment -- 70 percent job approval, 60 percent saying they would vote for her again in 2012 -- those numbers "should not be mistaken for blind allegiance to her," according to a polling memo released with the data.
As evidence, the memo notes that when the same sample is asked to imagine Snowe voting against Obama's health care plan, her numbers drop precipitously -- with 44 percent saying they would definitely vote to re-elect her and 44 percent saying they would entertain the prospect of voting for someone else. That drop includes a 33-percent tumble among independents, a critically important part of Snowe's winning calculus in past elections....
This memo is rightly understood as a shot across Snowe's political bow, a not-so-subtle hint that she should support the President's health care plan or else...
Snowe has been through this sort of intense lobbying effort before and, for an incumbent whose lowest re-election percentage is 60 percent, the prospect of electoral peril is less intimidating than it might be for some Senators.
Given that, the full-court press being put on Snowe by Democratic interest groups has the real possibility of back-firing -- turning her against compromise to show that she will not be bullied into backing the legislation."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/democrats-ratchet-up-pressure.html?wprss=thefix
USA Today blurbed about her as well:
"Sen. Olympia Snowe, a critical Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, called today for slowing down the work on crafting a health care bill.
She spoke as the committee -- the only key panel that has not offered a health reform bill -- began work as a full committee on legislation proposed by chairman Max Baucus of Montana.
Snowe said it was critical to find a solution to health care issues, but called for putting "thoughtful deliberation ahead of an arbitrary deadline."
'We simply cannot address one-sixth of our economy on matters of such personal and financial significance to every American on a legislative fast-track,' she said.
Snowe said that 'significant work remains to be done that is critical to the outcome of this legislation.'"
My cynical side wants to shout "BE A REPUBLICAN" and vote party line on the issue. My intelligent side wants to know the line between voting against something because it's a stupid bill and voting as a representative of the people. That's actually the whole point of being a representative government, right? Doesn't it somewhat make sense that a congressman/woman would be swayed by the will of the people they represent? But at some point, a person has to say "Common sense tells me this is stupid. The other side is saying I should do it, maybe a few of the people that would have voted for me will no longer, but is that enough to outweigh my common sense?"
One thing is for sure, kudos Senator Snowe for asking that people actually slow down, read the bill, and try to get something that actually works and makes sense. Obama attempting to rush this is part of a political agenda and needing something under the belt for re-election and a rise in the polls, it's not about people or healthcare.
- Conservative Minority
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