Olympia Snowe: Republicans Need To 'Rethink Their Approach As A Political Party'

Former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said Tuesday that the Republican Party needs to rethink its approach and agreed with former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) that the party should be "closed for repairs."

"I certainly do agree with the former majority leader, Bob Dole, with whom I worked when I first entered the Senate and who was a consensus builder and understood what was essential and important for the Republican Party and what was important for America, and that unfortunately has been lost today on Capitol Hill," Snowe said on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown."

"The Republican Party is undergoing some, you know, significant and serious changes, and they are going to have to rethink their approach as a political party and how they are going to regroup and become a governing majority party that appeals to a broader group of Americans than they do today," she said.

Snowe left office in January 2013 after deciding not to run for reelection. One of the now rare moderate Republicans, she supported abortion rights and favored some gay rights, though she only came out for gay marriage after leaving office.

On "Fox News Sunday" this past weekend, Dole criticized congressional gridlock. When asked whether he would fit in with the current Republican Party, he said, "I doubt it. Reagan wouldn't have made it. Certainly Nixon wouldn't have made it, because he had ideas. We might have made it, but I doubt it."