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They’ve been in the news, interviewed on television, and their pictures have appeared in papers across the nation. One of them was even mentioned on The Colbert Report (always a bellwether for political leaders). If you don’t know who I’m talking about, it’s OK – most of the nation didn’t know their names either before this week.
This has been an exciting year politically for the state of Maine. It was actually recognized in the presidential election with visits in the primaries by Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In the general election, we were graced with the presence of both John McCain and Sarah Palin, and I think we can all count our blessings for that. There were even political strategists who were predicting a tie in the Electoral College with the deciding vote being cast in Maine.
Maine is once again in the spotlight thanks to Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Collins and Snowe were two of the three Republican senators who voted Tuesday evening for the stimulus package, and Collins was the leading Republican negotiator on the bill.
It’s nice to see our senators get some recognition, but it’s also nice to see them do the right thing. Unlike their bullish colleagues, Collins and Snowe (and let’s not forget Arlen Specter) obviously understand the importance of a massive stimulus bill and are unwilling to let the Republican poppycocked ideology get in the way of the most important legislation in years.
But really I’m just glad the state is finally getting its due, because it’s been a while. Maine has turned out a number of important political figures in the past 175 years. Hannibal Hamlin was Lincoln’s first vice president, the highest position ever held by a Mainer. Edmund Muskie was a prominent governor and U.S. senator from Maine before he ran for vice president in 1968.
Before Muskie, Maine famously elected Margaret Chase Smith to both the U.S. House and Senate. Her 33-year-long career gives her the distinction of being the longest-serving female senator.
So this isn’t the first time Maine has been in the political spotlight, but it feels good to be back, and it’s probable Snowe and Collins will command a presence in the Senate for a while. Since the Democrats have command of both the House and Senate, Snowe and Collins will most likely act as voices of moderation. If the Democrats want a filibuster-proof majority, they need the votes of Republicans like Snowe and Collins. Both have had multiple meetings directly with the new president, and it would not be at all surprising to see them emerge as leaders of the party, or even rise as the next generation of the party.
It is the year of the centrist.
William P. Davis is Web editor for The Maine Campus.
