Two Women Show Real Bipartisanship
As the $789 economic stimulus plan is being signed today by President Barack Obama in Denver, two women deserve much of the credit. Without the leadership of Maine Senator Susan Collins and her colleague Senator Olympia Snowe, there would be no signing ceremony today.
The two Republican women, joined by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, were the three lonely Republicans who forged a compromise bill. It was Senator Collins who took the lead in stepping across the aisle to talk to Democrats, something considered unseemly by her Republican friends.
"It was very hard," she told the New York Times. "These are my friends. I work with them every day. I believe I have done the right thing, but there is a cost, there is a definite cost."
Why were these two women willing to pay a cost that all but one of their male colleagues refused? Could it be that they are less afraid of the words "compromise," and "bi-partisanship," than the guys they work with? Is it something about the state of Maine, which has elected both Republicans and Democrats in its history?
Or do they have their ear to the ground more closely than the Republicans who voted in lock-step against the stimulus bill? They know that the people of Maine are hurting in this depressed economy, but so are people in every state of the country, including the bright red states.
Or—could it have something to do with the fact that they are women?
While the rest of the Congress saw the stimulus as a chance to fight a battle against the new President, these women used this opportunity to create a solution. They were less interested in winning a partisan fight and more interested in coming up with results.
Senator Collins observed, "This crisis is extraordinary, and my constituents don't expect me to stay on the sidelines. They expect me to jump in. People don't want us to be the party that says no, just no."
People often speculate whether women elected to office make a difference based on their gender. Are they less likely to go for the jugular; are they more likely to seek solutions? What we witnessed with the economic stimulus plan does not meet the requirements of a study which would give us the answers. But it is a stunning example of what a couple of women can accomplish when they forget party labels and do the hard work of crafting legislation—which by its nature demands compromise.
Think of what the Congress might accomplish if we had a few more women like them on both sides of the aisle.
This was originally posted at Chelsea Green.
Madeleine M. Kunin is the former Governor of Vermont and was the state's first woman governor. She served as Ambassador to Switzerland for President Clinton, and was on the three-person panel that chose Al Gore to be Clinton's VP. She is the author of Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead from Chelsea Green Publishing.
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I read this article with great interest..
Yeah, what is it with Maine?
Do they fortify their water with independence or something?
Around the elections, I went looking to find out which Congresspeople voted across party lines most often. At the time, Snowe was in first place at (35% of her votes were against party line) and Collins was right behind her (32%). They were waaay in the lead; there was a big gap between them and the next bunch.
Most Congresspeople were in the very low teens and below.
And there was a three-way tie at 1% (don't remember their names).
Miane is an admirable place in both physical & human resources. There is little tolerance of BS and our legislators reflect that. In Maine at election time our choices are nearly always between "pretty good" and "maybe better." Take a look at the corrruption of Mass. politics for a striking contrast.
I agree with mainemichael. There is a great respect for common sense and pragmatism here in ME. In general, we listen closely to what candidates have to say and whether they are strong and smart enough leaders to work on their agenda. Republicans here generally don't sound or act the same as in many other states; they are much more moderate, and Collins' and Snowe's voting records reflect that. In the last election, there was great support for Obama as well as for Susan Collins (although I voted for Tom Allen, also a capable politician). What needs to happen is for more voters to be educated about politics and government, and not by partisan hacks, but by reputable sources of information; it really starts with educating children in our schools to be responsible and engaged voters and citizens. Having an educated voting public within a state means that the states representatives must make smart, informed decisions that are good for their constituents and the American people in general, while upholding the Constitution. If more voters in more states become educated about the issues and government, the quality of our representatives in the House and Senate would rise exponentially. Of course, though, the modern GOP often courts the uneducated voter, so why would they want our schools to improve?
Snowe is the wealthiest woman Senator-- married up there in the stratosphere----she is a practical woman-- Maine is leaning a State decimated by Republicans-- she needs votes-- needs the dems votes to keep her seat---
Collins and Snow showed a bit of grace by coming over and voting for the stimulus. But it was tarnished when the every ready press stuck a mic in each of their faces ad nauseum and both Senators complained and whined about what they did support. So it loses some of the credibiltiy to me. But they braved the Party of NO Obstructionists and took a step. That IS to be commended.
Oh yes, wouldn't it be nice to have more trators in both parties
"Traitors"? Do you misunderstand party politics to be some sort of to-the-death ideological struggle for victory rather than an adversarial system -like the courts - intended to discover truths?
I agree that the U.S. legislature needs to be more representative of our country, but what do we say about Hutchison and Murkowsk? Both women Senators, both are Republican and both voted against the bill.
Please. This has nothing to do with being a female. Last I looked Ann Coulter,Laura Ingraham,Sarah Pallin just to name a few are all females.
Second where have these so called great woman been for the past eight years? The reason we're in this mess is because of woman like them who have been pushing Reaganomics down our throats since the 1980's. If they had any guts at all they would of changed their party association years ago.
I agree. While I admire the moderation and thoughtfulness of Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and while I may believe that some of their better qualities have an association with being female, there are too many examples of intransigence and downright stupidity of other females to make any sort of blanket statement.
To chaz's list, I add Kay Bailey Hutchison, Michelle Bachman and Michelle Malkin to the list of irrational crazies.
That's right. These women voted for Trent Lott and Mitch McConnell -- two throwbacks to segregation, union busting and war -- repeatedly as majority/minority leader, and were on the wrong side of most issues that have brought down this country in the last 8 years (with some exceptions, but not enough -- Collins has a lifetime Amer. Conservative Union rating of 52 and Snow of 49 -- by comparison, Schumer's ACU rating is 6.)
They should not be applauded for watering down the House bill.
We didn't need them. We have a majority in the Senate. It's just that Reid is too much of a sissy-mary to force the Republicans to filibuster.
We??
As in "We the people." Or as in Us vs. Them "We."
"We the people" need all of our political leaders (I use that term loosely) to come together to support this nation during a difficult time.
The brainless and very destructive Us vs. Them attitude of the two political parties has done more to harm democracy and the strengths of this country than any other force this earth could have mustered.
Maine is a very economically poor state. Unemployment was already high, good jobs were already scarce, education and healthcare are not in great shape.
At least its two Senators are honest enough to accept that and to try to stand for their constituents interests in the face of what I am sure was some very rough treatment by the Taliban Party's leaders.
There is also the reality that Maine went Democratic in the last election even though it has been Republican for a considerable time and Collins and Snowe are both Republicans. Collins was just reelected but both are probably feeling a little insecure about their Senate seats at this point.
The more the Taliban party loyalists have to turn against tyranny in order to answer the needs of their voters, the better off the Obama administration and the better off this country will be.
It is becoming abundantly clear that only wimmin can lead the world out of this patriarchal inspired nightmare of perpetual war. Specter showed himself as a statesman. We have very few of those these days...no, we get Eric Cantor on the right a sneery little rich boy hypocrite. And Rush Limbaugh with his litany of hate that the right wing eats up like candy.
Wimmin always think farther than their noses to the next generations; men usually think only of power and breeding rights....
I've agree with Sens Snowe and Collins in the past. I've respected them. I've defended them as middle of the road. No more. These two Senators, along with Sen Specter, have shown less backbone than anyone in Congress excepting ONLY Harry Reid!!
I'm sorry, but to come out here and claim that the bill that was passed in the Senate was the better bill, and that they would refuse to vote for anything out of Conference that didn't match their original vote......
Harry should have stood up to ALL the Republicans and said, "Go ahead, filibuster my bill!"
When did "three lonely Republicans who forged a compromise bill" equate to bipatisanship, or for that matter the author's misleading take on these three working out a compromise bill? Compromise comes when you sit down and negotiate, both sides move off positions--it certainly was not done with Congressional Republican leadership.
What was that saying about putting lipstick on a pig? Why lie and bend the truth like this?
The Republicans are playing "bait and switch. They knew the Democrats had enough votes to pass the Stimulus Bill. They also knew that regardlees of what they said and did on the House and Senate
floors, their states and constituents will benefit from the Stimulus Bill.
They had the best of two worlds. They pretended to have morals and convictions to trick the less politically educated (their constituents), while behind the scenes take advantage of the Bill they railed against.
It is the political American way.
I am saddened to read some of the comments about Senators Snowe and Collins. They did what they needed to do and what legislating is, negotiation and comprimise. In the end, there is still money for education, enough to get done what needs to be done, from a Stimulus bill. There is still the allocated money from the Budget.
Senator Snowe is ProChoice, which is not consistent with Republican ideology. In many ways other than this, she and Senator Collins have not voted in lock step with their party colleagues and remain very independent. They represent their constituents, not their colleagues.
I am grateful to them for putting themselves into the mix and working to solve the issue rather than the nonsensical insanity and immaturity and obstructionist behavior of their colleagues. These are Women of Substance. And Senator Spector has risked his re-election to do his job. I hope the people of Pennsylvania will respect him and send him back.
I totally agree. We need more women in the legislative body like these women who show a willingness to buck the idealogy and move the country forward.
They deserve blame, not credit. At their insistence, critical items regarding health care and education were stripped from the bill, in the name of what? To keep it under 800 billion?
Collins should be shamed into voting for a better bill, not taking glory for making it worse.
But when they stepped across the line in the sand, that their leaders drew, they pulled a few bricks loose in the dike.
As soon the federal money floods into the Repotaliban's states, and they don't try to stop the flow, it will be very difficult for the Taliban Party to keep their "dam" lies from washing away in the outflow.
It is commendable that they were willing to reach across the aisle. However, like Lincoln Chaffee in RI, their votes of conscience have been few and far between and have come at a high price.
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