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ME-Sen GOP Poll Watch: Republicans Want to Melt Snowe
According to the latest PPP poll.
It’s been clear for a long time now that Maine Republicans want to swap out Olympia Snowe for someone more conservative. Our newest poll in the state finds that hasn’t changed: only 33% of primary voters in the state say they would support Snowe next year to 58% who prefer a generic ‘more conservative candidate.’
The gripe with Snowe is pretty straight forward. 58% of primary voters think she’s too liberal to 37% who think she’s ideologically where she should be. Most GOP voters don’t really think Snowe belongs in their party- 34% think she ought to be an independent, 33% think she should be a Democrat, and only 27% feel that the GOP is indeed her rightful place.
If the GOP does not renominate Sen. Olympia Snowe, they face the real possibility of a Democrat take over of the seat. But, will today’s Tea Party based GOP tolerate RINOS any longer – even if it means a loss of a vote in the caucus?
Snowe’s approval rating with Republican primary voters is a narrowly positive 47/44 spread. It may seem surprising that her generic reelect numbers are so bad when she’s above ground on approval but to keep those numbers in perspective Lisa Murkowski’s approval with Republicans in January of 2010 was 77/13 and Mike Castle’s in March of 2009 at an identical point in the cycle was 69/24. Their far superior numbers didn’t prevent them from being taken out by the Tea Party.
The appetite is definitely there for someone to replace Olympia Snowe. Whether the folks who have already signed up to do it- Andrew Ian Dodge and Scott D’Amboise– are capable of doing so is another question. D’Amboise has only a 5% favorability rating with primary voters and 84% don’t know enough about him to offer an opinion. Dodge is even more obscure with just a 2% positive rating and 86% of of voters saying they’re ambivalent toward him. Because they’re so obscure Snowe leads a primary with them in the mix at 43% to 18% for D’Amboise and 10% for Dodge.
And, then again, Snowe might run as an independent like Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The entire poll is here. -
Obamacare: Public Option is Dead Without Budget Reconciliation Gambit?
It appears so as moderate GOP Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins say no to Obama’s public option.More proof that the “public option” is all but dead comes from the two senators Democrats hoped might side with them in supporting the measure in a health care reform bill.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said President Obama “should take it off the table” since it would “give real momentum to building consensus,” reports The Hill.
Meanwhile, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she would not even support a “trigger” option in any legislation, meaning a provision to delay a public option and allow health insurance companies to lower costs on their own, according to the Washington Post.
Said Collins: “The problem with the trigger is it just delays the public option.”
Flap breathes a little easier but the pressure should continue to mount by the LEFT to RAM the public option through the U.S. Senate.
So, it ain’t over until it is over.
Technorati Tags: Obamacare, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins
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GOP Senators Collins, Specter and Snowe: COMRADES of the Month
Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)
The conservative Club for Growth has named GOP Senators Collins, Specter and Snowe fellow “travellers” or Comrades of the Month because of their vote for increased government spending in President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Bill.One day after Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said he may challenge Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) in a 2010 primary, the group’s members have voted Specter as the group’s “Comrade of the Month” along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snow (R-ME) for their votes in favor of President Obama’s stimulus package.
“While Senators Specter, Collins, and Snowe tout the stimulus bill as a compromise, it was more of a capitulation to the Democrats than anything else. Had these three senators voted with the rest of their party, President Obama would have been forced to engage the Republicans in a genuine compromise. Instead, American taxpayers are saddled with an $800 billion bill that will do little to stimulate the economy,” Club for Growth Executive Director David Keating said in the group’s press release.
The latest polls from Pennsylvania indicate Senator Specter who is up in 2010 is in trouble. Obviously, the Club for Growth will ONLY exacerbate his problems.
Technorati Tags: Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Club For Growth
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Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele Says He’s Open to Cut Off Specter, Collins and Snow from GOP Funds
RNC Chairman Michael Steele told Neil Cavuto that he is open to cutting GOP funding for the 3 Senate traitors who voted for the largest spending bill in US history. Steele says he will wait and see what the state GOP parties decide about the traitors. Senators Specter, Snowe and Collins voted in favor of the trillion dollar pork-bloated bill.Good bloviating by Steele but when the rubber meets the road, it is ONLY the 8o year old Specter who is up in 2010 that this really affects. The GOP will eventually lose these three sets in the Northeast unless they rebuild the party and recruit some better candidates.
So, the GOP has a dilemma.
Exit Question: Does the RNC support moderate U.S.Senators who are meeting the needs of their blue state constituents and vote GOP most of the time or do they throw incumbent and long-time Senators over the side because of a few votes?
Technorati Tags: Michael Steele, Arlen Specter, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Republican National Committee