TW: Maine has 0.4% of the total US population but two of the 5 or 6 most important Senators in Ms. Olympia Snowe and Ms. Susan Collins. Governance ultimately occurs not with the base but with the marginal votes and I suspect one will hear their names frequently for at least the next 23 months if not longer (if the Dems should gain more seats in the '10 elections then their power while still important will recede greatly).
The two are both representative of a dying breed, Rockefeller Republicans- socially liberal and fiscally conservative (my own self described positions). They along with Judd "Wimp" Gregg are the only remaining Republicans in either house of Congress in all of New England.
Thankfully the two ME senators, like their ME constituents, appears to be pragmatists and reasonable unlike many of their fellow senators from both sides of the aisle.
From WaPo:
"...with just over 1.3 million residents, were a metropolitan area, it wouldn't be among the country's 25 biggest. It accounts for just seven-tenths of 1 percent of the votes in the presidential electoral college and four-tenths of 1 percent of the U.S. population.
...their politics usually align, hewing to a time-tested formula that appeals to Maine voters, who tend toward "liberal on social issues and conservative on fiscal matters
...Collins felt the bill was getting larded with projects that had nothing to do with stimulating the economy, such as pandemic flu research, as well as money to re-sod the National Mall in Washington and for preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
...By Friday, it was clear that a deal would be struck and that the Maine senators and Specter were the ones making it happen. Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin dubbed them the 'turncoat caucus.' "
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