I was moved by Sen. Snowe's brief speech yesterday about her decision to not seek a fourth term in the United State Senate. She spoke concisely, with her characteristic openness and clarity, about the disturbing disfunction in our national legislature.
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| Sen. Snowe, With Some Guy |
It's worth listening to her talk rather than reading it, it only takes about 10 minutes once she's done thanking people. If you're not accustomed to hearing her, you'll be pleasantly surprised by her forthright tone, her combination of informality and dignity, and especially her high regard for the people she represents in her state and her country - not just the ones who voted for her.
Maine Public Broadcasting has her talk here:
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20658/Default.aspx
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| Sen. Bumpers |
There's quite a tradition of politicians - and others - giving speeches about institutional or systemic problems, once they are leaving office. Think of President Eisenhower's "military-industrial complex" speech. But for most of them, there is a gap between what they said while in power, with their contrition or criticism later: a regrets gap. Even Senator Dale Bumpers, a senator I greatly admired, wasn't entirely forthcoming about issues in the government while he was in office, his behavior during the Clinton impeachment notwithstanding (and note that Bumpers was succeeded by Blanche Lincoln - yet another departed moderate).
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| Sen. Lincoln |
Senator Snowe's speech on March 2 was exactly, as far as I can tell, what she would have said and did say while in office. Her Regret Gap is a tiny as I've ever seen, and she deserves great credit for her honesty and coherence. I liked some of what she did in the Senate, and I disagreed with her on many points - but that's the idea in representative government. I never felt cheated or conned: what you see from this politician is what you get. I think others in politics share this ethic, for example Maine's Congresswoman Pingree. But in the US Senate, Olympia Snowe set the highest standard. Even though I'm a die-hard Democrat, I'll miss her in that formerly-august forum.
