Olympia Snowe feels the heat from her GOP “allies”

As Republican members of Congress go, you can’t get more moderate than Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. And as the debate over the size of this year’s tax cut has led to some of the most intense Republican bickering in years, Snowe has found herself where she always seems to end up — right in the middle.

As you’ve heard me rant before, the White House, the House, and the Senate can’t seem to agree on the size of the irresponsible tax cut to pass this year. One wants three-quarters of a trillion dollars, another will settle for half a trillion, while the latter won’t go beyond a third of a trillion.

Snowe, with a handful of other GOP moderates, is part of the latter, insisting that she cannot, in good conscience, support a cut of more than $350 billion. Without the votes of Snowe and her small band of centrists, the Senate won’t be able to pass any tax cut. It’s driving the White House and the House crazy, which in and of itself, is amusing to watch.

While Snowe has already been on the receiving end of some admonishments from her GOP congressional colleagues, the heat is about to be turned up quite a bit.

The White House, for example, is about to launch a full-scale campaign blitz to generate political support for Bush’s tax cut plan, which the president’s spin team is euphemistically calling “the president’s jobs and growth package.” (It’s an odd label since the plan won’t generate jobs or growth, but I digress…)

As the Washington Post reported Saturday, Bush’s upcoming appearances will be geared, in part, towards “punish[ing] those who appear determined to cut the size of his tax cut. The events and advertising are targeted at the two GOP senators who insisted on cutting Bush’s package in half — George V. Voinovich (Ohio) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine).”

As part of the administration’s effort to “punish” Snowe for her stubborn skepticism towards irresponsible tax cuts, Maine’s American Forest and Paper Association “is providing sample letters to the editor to mill workers, and is urging them to show up at Snowe’s town meetings to back the tax cut. Plant managers are being encouraged to go visit the editorial boards of their local newspapers to try to enlist support.”

What’s worse, the ultraconservative Club for Growth, which has never seen a tax it wasn’t foaming at the mouth to cut, will be taking out anti-Snowe television advertisements in Maine. The spots will viciously compare the Senator to the French.

The group’s ads will feature Snowe, who the Club for Growth refers to as a “so-called Republican” in the commercials, with a digitally imposed French flag, apparently hoping to insult the Senator by comparing her to our French allies who opposed our invasion of Iraq.

In a statement, Club for Growth President Stephen Moore said Snowe and other “Franco-Republicans” are “as dependable as France was in taking down Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.” He added that Snowe is “dividing the party.”

While some right-wingers are insulting Snowe with comparisons to the French, Rush Limbaugh didn’t think that was strong enough. He used the ugliest insult he knew to describe the Senator; he labeled her a “liberal.”

Snowe, to be sure, is no fire-breathing right-winger. She’s among the most moderate of all Republicans in Congress. Unlike nearly all of her GOP colleagues, she supports abortion rights, campaign finance reform, family leave, and strong environmental protections. Much to the far-right’s chagrin, she voted against impeachment for former President Bill Clinton and voted for the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation to protect gays from discrimination in the workplace. Her rating from the Christian Coalition in 2000 was 31%, among the lowest for any Republican in the Senate, and even lower than a handful of Democrats.

Snowe, it is fair to say, is one of a dying breed — a Rockefeller Republican from New England.

As David Broder said yesterday, moderate Republicans are “the most scorned people in politics… labeled as weaklings, folks who can’t get organized and who never win. In other words, wimps.”

In light of Snowe’s current circumstances — Bush is mad at her, the GOP leadership in Congress is frustrated with her, Republican activists groups are harassing her, and right wing talk radio is lambasting her — I can’t help but think she may not be all-too-happy with her political position right now.

With this in mind, there’s no better time to for me to revive discussion of a New England GOP moderate taking that short walk across the aisle and switching parties.

I know it’s not likely, but the way Snowe is getting treated reminds me a lot of how former Republican Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) was treated in 2001…right before he announced he was sick of the right wing’s garbage and left the party. Now he’s a hero; Snowe can be one, too.

In 1999, Snowe was asked about how she felt in the modern conservative GOP. She said, “I happen to think moderate Republicanism represents traditional Republicanism. I don’t think I’ve changed; I think the Republican Party has changed over the past 20 years.”

I couldn’t agree more, at least with the second sentence in the quote. Snowe’s political party has shifted further and further away from the center where the Senator feels most comfortable. In the interim, Democrats have moved closer and closer to the middle.

If Snowe stays in the GOP, she’ll continue to feel the brunt of her party’s wrath every time she resists their social conservatism and fiscal irresponsibility. The party’s base — groups such as Club for Growth and hatchet men like Limbaugh — will continue to mock and deride her for her principles.

What does she have to lose by leaving the Republican Party? A GOP presidential candidate hasn’t won in Maine in 15 years. Currently, every major state government office is held by a Democrat, including the Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State Auditor. Democrats also maintain a majority in both chambers of the state legislature. Moreover, both of Maine’s congressional districts are now represented by Democrats.

In other words, Snowe could leave the GOP without having to worry too much about losing her next election in Democratic-leaning Maine. If anything, her political prospects would improve in a state that seems to support her in spite of her party affiliation, not because of it.

Best of all, Snowe was even a Democrat when she was younger, switching parties when she married a prominent Republican politician in Maine.

Senator Snowe, it’s time to switch back.