i Snowe, Collins: Ado over Limbaugh reflects struggles of party
Snowe, Collins: Ado over Limbaugh reflects struggles of party
BY DIETER BRADBURY Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 03/09/2009

BY DIETER BRADBURY

Portland Press Herald

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is casting a shadow over the Republican Party's efforts to redefine itself after two losing election cycles.

For moderate U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who defied the party's national trend by easily winning re-election in Maine in 2006 and 2008, respectively, it's almost too much to bear.

"You'd think they might take a page out of our book rather than trying to fight it," Snowe said of the national GOP last week. "They don't want to acknowledge where they've gone wrong."

Limbaugh, who commands a national audience estimated at 14 million listeners a week, grabbed political headlines when, during a Feb. 28 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, he said he wants "Barack Obama to fail."

Democrats quickly seized on the statement, portraying Limbaugh as the leader of the Republican Party and pressuring its leaders to disavow his comments. In response, National Republican Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele initially criticized Limbaugh. But Steele later apologized and described Limbaugh as an effective conservative voice.

While some observers dismiss the flap as political theater, Snowe sees it as a reflection of a larger debate within the GOP as it enters a period of self-examination after stinging defeats.

"I think they're having these internal conflicts because they're struggling about the future of the Republican Party," she said.

In the 2006 elections, Snowe was returned to office with 71 percent of the vote, while Republicans nationally lost six seats in the Senate and more than 30 in the House. Last fall, Collins defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen by capturing 61 percent of the vote, even as Republicans were taking more losses in the Senate and House.

Snowe said the lesson for her party is to broaden its base to include moderate as well as conservative views on foreign policy, social issues and fiscal matters.

She acknowledged that many other members of Congress represent conservative constituencies and are more likely to reflect those views. But the party as a whole, she said, needs to return to the principles espoused by Ronald Reagan, who adopted a "big umbrella" approach to ideology.

"I don't see how we can grow a majority by shrinking the ideological confines of our party, as some people want us to do," she said.

Collins said she has a good relationship with GOP conservatives. She pointed out that the Republican caucus voted unanimously in January to waive Senate rules so she could serve on the Appropriations Committee without relinquishing her seat on the Armed Services Committee.

But Collins also said the party needs to embrace a "big tent" philosophy that respects diverse views while adhering to core Republican principles.

"We need to appeal to people in all regions of the country and not just to a narrow base in the South," she said. Collins noted that she was the only Republican elected in the 22 U.S. House and four U.S. Senate races in New England last fall. "Those results are not good for the Republican Party, for New England, or for our country," she said.

Several Democratic groups are exploiting the Limbaugh situation, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is mounting a national e-mail campaign urging supporters to contact Republicans in the Senate.

"The times are too serious for this nonsense to continue," the committee said. "Senate Republicans must go on record and declare their independence from Rush Limbaugh."

Television ads aligning Limbaugh with Republican leaders are also airing in many states, with funding from Americans United for Change, a coalition of liberal groups allied with Democrats.

Randall Strahan, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta, said Democrats have effectively capitalized on poll results showing strong dislike for Limbaugh among liberals.

He said the flap throws a spotlight on the GOP as it undergoes a redefinition under the leadership of Steele, a moderate from Maryland who was recently elected national chairman.

"I think that Mr. Steele is in a very difficult position because Rush Limbaugh is very popular with a certain segment of the Republican base," he said.

Snowe said she approached Steele last week after he said in an interview that he would be open to funding primary challengers to her, Collins and the only other GOP senator to vote for the economic stimulus package passed last month by Congress, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

"I told him that without us (moderates), you can't be a majority," Snowe said.

At the state level, party officials are following the Limbaugh situation closely, but question whether it will have a major impact on GOP politics here.

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charles Webster, of Farmington, said Limbaugh has many admirers in Maine because "he speaks for a lot of working-class people" who are struggling to make a living.

But he said the party must accommodate differing viewpoints.

"On core views, I think our senators are both Republicans," he said. "Maybe they're more socially liberal, but I don't think you have to pass a test to be elected for office."

David F. Emery, a former congressman from Tenants Harbor who now serves as a GOP consultant, said it was "unseemly" for Limbaugh to position himself as a Republican authority.

Emery said he is hopeful that Steele, the national party chairman, will assert himself as the GOP's leader and get down to the business of recruiting candidates and raising money.

"New leaders will emerge, new positions on issues will develop," he said. "When those things come to pass, the party will go forward without all these internecine struggles."

Others are not so sure about that. Garrison Nelson, who teaches political science at the University of Vermont, said he thinks the Republican Party is gambling with its future. Nelson once worked for Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and has done data collection for congressional Democrats.

In his view, the GOP has been taken over by western and southern conservatives who are effectively marginalizing moderates like Snowe and Collins.

"I think their party is on a collision course with disaster," he said.

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