On February 28, perhaps one of the most stunning political stories of the year erupted when Maine Senator Olympia Snowe – a Senate veteran of 17 years – announced she would not run to retain her seat in the United States Senate.
She’s not running, not because she thought she was going to lose, on the contrary she was almost guaranteed a victory in November. Snowe – one of the Senate’s most respected members – is not being forced out. And she is not quitting the Senate because she doesn’t have the fire to serve.
She is quitting because she is tired.
Olympia Snowe – who entered the Senate in 1994 after she demolished Rep. Tom Andrews 60-36 percent to capture the seat vacated by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell – is tired of gasping for air within a Congress filling more and more with poisonous rancor, dissension and incivility.
“For change to occur, our leaders must understand that there is not only strength in compromise, courage in conciliation, and honor in consensus building – but also a political reward for following these tenets,” Snowe said in a statement announcing her plans to not seek re-election.
“That reward will be real only if the people demonstrate their desire for politicians to come together after the planks in their respective party platforms do not prevail,” she added.
Although not nearly as impactful, the departure of New York Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY.) was still a major surprise to most. Ackerman, a colorful Democrat from Queens and Long Island, who served 15 terms in the House, is the latest member to announce he will not seek re-election.
Ackerman told the New York Times he felt it was time to embrace another challenge just as fulfilling as Congress. “It’s time to contribute in a different way,” he said.
But, Snowe and Ackerman are just two of literally dozens of U.S. senators and representatives who have decided to call it quits instead of flailing against the partisan tsunami that threatens to subdue what’s left of the moderate members of Congress.
In total, 23 members of the House – 17 Democrats and nine Republicans – and 10 members of the Senate – six Democrats, one Independent and three Republicans – have announced retirement, according to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill.
Among the other more prominent moderate names on the list are Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). On the House side, Rep. Heath Shuler (D-Tenn.), co-chair of the Blue Dog Democrats – the moderate Democratic caucus – is also retiring. That caucus is down to just 26 members after the 2010 election massacre less than half of its peak of 54.
The current – and some argue unprecedented political vitriol – is perhaps embodied in the GOP Presidential Primary process, which prompted former First Lady Barbara Bush to weigh in.
“I think it’s been the worst campaign I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said earlier this month during a conference at Southern Methodist University.
“I hate that people think compromise is a dirty word,” Bush added. “It’s not a dirty word.”
Yet, the vast majority of the Republican Tea Party Freshmen that entered Congress following the 2010 mid-term elections have essentially vowed not to compromise under any conditions – ever.
Perhaps, gone forever are the days of President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill – diametrically opposed politically in every way – who were able to battle prodigiously on Capitol Hill, but for the good of the country find middle ground and even have a drink together at the end of the day.
Those days may indeed be gone forever at the nation’s peril.
“I certainly don’t have all the answers, and reversing the corrosive trend of winner-take-all politics will take time,” Snowe said.
“But, as I enter a new chapter in my life, I see critical need to engender public support for the political center, for our democracy to flourish and to find solutions that unite rather than divide us.”
