Snowe Blames Partisanship
By Matt Vasilogambros // February 29, 2012 | 1:42 p.m.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, decided to retire from the Senate because of the partisan rancor that had disrupted the legislative process, she said in a television interview Wednesday.
Snowe made her decision to quit over recess, when she hit a milestone by turning 65 years old. She said she gained focus at that time and was no longer prepared to commit another six years to the Senate.
"I made the decision not to run for re-election of the Senate and to pursue other opportunities outside the Senate that perhaps I can give voice to the frustrations that you know, exist with the political system here in Washington, where it's dysfunctional, and the political paralysis has over taken the environment to the damaging of the good of the country," she said on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports.
"You cannot solve a problem without talking," she said. "The Senate is based on consensus building. That was the vision of the Founding Fathers. If we abandon that approach, we do it at the expense of the country and the issues that we need to address to put us back on track."
The paralyzing partisanship did not just come from one party, but both, she explained. She alluded to her time starting in the Senate when Bob Dole, as the Senate majority leader, would attempt to "work it out." This, she said, does not happen as much these days in an "all or nothing" body.
During her almost 18-year tenure in the Senate, Snowe has often crossed the aisle to work with Democrats. Her retirement is seen as a potential blow to Republican hopes of regaining the Senate in the next election.
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