Snowe’s career proved that it’s entirely possible to steer clear of the party line without upholding any particular notion of the public good.

◼ Olympia Snowe’s Strange Martyrdom - Jonathan Chait/NewYork Magazine

Olympia Snowe: Why I’m leaving the Senate

◼ link - Washington Post

...The great challenge is to create a system that gives our elected officials reasons to look past their differences and find common ground if their initial party positions fail to garner sufficient support. In a politically diverse nation, only by finding that common ground can we achieve results for the common good. That is not happening today and, frankly, I do not see it happening in the near future....

The vote to defeat the proposal was 51 to 48, with one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, voting with 50 Democrats against the amendment

◼ The Senate Thursday defeated a proposal that would have allowed employers and health plans regulated by the 2010 health care law to opt out of paying for medical services that are contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Bombshell: Olympia Snowe to retire; Update: The plot thickens

◼ Olympia Snowe to retire - HotAir
◼ BREAKING: Senator Snowe not running for re-election - bangordailynews.com

This throws the entire race into chaos, as Maine’s two Democratic House members will have to take a fresh look at a promotion, and the Maine Republican Party will have to desperately grope for a new candidate to run in her stead....

There is very obviously something going on here behind the scenes, since Senator Snowe was so aggressively campaigning for re-election, and in full campaign mode for the last year. Decisions like this – being so very much running (and winning) to very much not – do not happen this abruptly in politics. Ever.

◼ Snowe Fall(out) - bangordailynews.com

Snowe’s reason for taking a pass on re-election, especially when she was so enthusiastically running up to this point, and especially as close to the filing deadline as this is, are mysterious. As I said before, this kind of thing does not happen in politics.

I am told her own staff was unaware of this decision until just hours before the statement went out – just long enough to actually work on the release and send it out.

◼ Snowe's Gift To Obama - Althouse
◼ With Olympia Snowe's retirement, the center crumbles - Politico
◼ ‘Snowe Tires’ - Ed Driscoll/PJM