November 12, 2009 07:21 PM UTC

Is Olympia Snowe the Next to Go?

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• by: Middle of the Road

(Omens for Colorado? – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Senator Snowe, beware. You’ve officially become an endangered species within your own party.

According to an article on TPM yesterday, it appears the Family Research Council and Maine conservatives are gunning for her. According to TPM’s Eric Kleefeld, Family Research Council’s President Connie Mackey confirmed that her organization, buoyed by a recent poll, will be having a conversation about Snowe’s future while she attends a regional conference in New Hampshire this weekend.  

A new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) found that a generic conservative challenger would lead the moderate Snowe in a Republican primary by a whopping 59%-31% margin.

“I think a couple years ago, we wouldn’t have thought it was possible,” said Mackey. “However, those numbers are interesting, and I think those numbers might just track the fact that a lot of Americans are waking up to the liberal policies, what they mean and how they’re playing out. And it may be affecting her, with her votes for the stimulus, and breaking from her party. And we would like to see a conservative have a chance to remove her from office up there.”

Keep in mind that while FRC’s recent endorsement and open support of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in NY-23 may not have produced the desired results, there would be a primary in Maine and if the latest poll from PPP is any indicator, a conservative primary opponent has an excellent chance of becoming the Republican candidate for the Senate in 2012.

Hat tip to sxp151 who explains the significance below:

Sore loser law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S…

Maine, like most states, has a sore loser law which states that the loser of a primary cannot then go on and run as a member of another party. If Snowe is beaten in the primary, she’s done as a Senator.

The only reason Senator Palpatine was able to do so was because Connecticut is one of the few states without such a law.

This is the reason Specter decided to switch parties before facing Toomey in the Republican primary. Pennsylvania has the same sort of law.

An interesting add on:

According to the WSJ, the schism widens between the NRSC, Republican Senators and their base. Whether Michael Steele wants to acknowledge it or not, the Party faithful are much further right than the leadership.

“There’s a disconnect between the grass-roots Republicans out here in the heartland and some of the leadership,” said Rand Paul, 46 years old, an ophthalmologist who was an adviser to his father’s presidential campaigns. “I have yet to meet a Republican primary voter who would have voted for the bank bailout, and yet our leadership did.”

The challengers have created a dilemma for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who is running the NRSC’s election efforts…

He began recruiting when Democrats were on the rise nationally. Then, GOP leaders wanted candidates who could appeal to independents and Democratic voters.

In the wake of the New York congressional race, in which a conservative candidate drove the official Republican from the contest, Mr. Cornyn said the NRSC wouldn’t spend money in any primary. Aides say any additional endorsements are unlikely.

It isn’t just Maine. It isn’t just NY-23. It isn’t just Florida. There’s a revolution taking place within the Republican Party, a battle for the heart and soul and direction. And just when we thought they had wised up and decided to quit making social issues the main focus of their platform.

Dick Wadhams, are you listening?