Olympia Snowe to Retire

The stunning announcement yesterday that Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) would not seek reelection took everyone by surprise. Her reasons for bidding the world's most deliberative body buh-bye are not. Often one of a few true mavericks willing to buck her party to seek consensus and compromise, the senior senator tired of the polarization that has made legislating and governing almost impossible. "I do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions," she said in the statement announcing her retirement. "Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term."