From the Politico:

“Marerik Fallout: GOP won’t Retaliate!

Mitch McConnell and his deputies in the Senate Republican leadership are responding very cautiously to Olympia Snowe’s decision to become the first GOP vote for a Democratic health care reform bill.

That’s about all they can do.

“My job as whip is not to twist her arm but to bring all the information that we can bring to bear on the issue and hope that people vote the way we would like to see them vote,” said McConnell’s No. 2, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).

Kyl said a heavy-handed approach “doesn’t work.”

In an op-ed in The New York Times over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested that he’s open to supporting a Democratic climate change bill. And in an interview published this week in POLITICO, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he was willing to try to find common ground with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on rewriting the rules for Wall Street.

Republican leaders know that if they crack down hard on Snowe, they risk pushing her and other wavering Republicans into the arms of the Democrats. So, instead, they’ll lobby their own intensely in order to keep the GOP united and force the Democrats to find 60 votes by themselves.
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Poster: And if you think voters in swing districts all across the country are going to associate Republicans running in their district with Olympia Snowe, I think you’re fooling yourself.

The Patriot’s Flag: Oh no, I’m not fooling myself … where were you when the “Swing districts” went toward Obama for a stupid slogan like “Hope and Change!”? This isn’t about “Olympia Snowe” this is about the result of her actions … Now it can be said (and has been said by the President) “Republicans are now Bipartisan on Health Care” … that’s what Olympia Snowe gave them. What the hell dif does it make whether the vote was 14 to 9 … without Snowe’s vote it would have been 13-10 …same result. All her vote did was give Obama a “bipartisan” word to use … her vote had NO AFFECT ON THE OUTCOME. Knowing that, why did she do it? Ah, the next “Maverik” following in the hallowed footsteps of McCain and Graham!

Note this: “With 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans on the committee, the lone Republican vote helps Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., hedge against any Democratic defections as well as claim some semblance of bipartisan support” (Fox News)

There’s the damage. And when the (state run) news media finished with this one the damned Republicans will OWN this health care bill … UNLESS ….unless the RNC comes forward and disavows Snowe’s actions as “NOT-Republican” and puts a shot across her bow!

My point was, the RNC is going to have to start showing some discipline or I AM NOT SENDING THEM ANY MORE MONEY! I don’t want my contributions going into Lindsey Graham’s, Olympia Snow’s or Susan Collins’ coffers. Do these people represent the Republican Party? That’s what I’m waiting to see. If the RNC disavows this activity, then I could feel comfortable voting as a Republican and supporting them. If not, why bother, a RINO Party and a JACKASS Party … what are the differentiators?

Associated Press: But Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told The Associated Press that the bill approved Tuesday by the Finance Committee needs substantial improvements to make coverage more affordable, contain costs, and protect Medicare. Nevertheless, she joined her Maine GOP colleague Sen. Olympia Snowe in endorsing the goal of far-reaching changes.

“My hope is we that can fix the flaws in the bill and come together with a truly bipartisan bill that could garner widespread support,” Collins said in an interview. “I think this bill is far superior to the ones passed by the Senate (health) committee and the three House committees, but it needs substantial additional work.”

Now there’s two of them … did somebody put something “funny” in the water up there in Maine? Let’s see what the RNC “says” about this. A “moderate response” will mean a “sure defeat (again) in 2010!