US Senate

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Falmouth) and Susan Collins (R-Bangor) voted to end a filibuster on a bill which would have given a $14 billion loan to the auto industry. The vote took place late Thursday night.

The motion to invoke cloture – or to stop debate – needed 60 votes to pass. It fell short, 52 to 35.

Snowe and Collins were two of nine Republicans to support cloture. Four Democrats opposed it.

This means that the auto bailout is dead, at least for now.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Falmouth) and Susan Collins (R-Bangor) are widely considered to be the two swing votes in the U.S. Senate, and will be the most sought after votes on a number of upcoming bills that break down partisan lines.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) held a conference call with bloggers this morning to address the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that aims to make it easier for unions to organize. Most Republicans oppose the bill. However, Democrats might only need one more Republican vote to get a filibuster-proof majority in support of the bill, DeMint said.

Snowe and Collins both oppose the bill on the grounds that it provides a means for workers to circumvent the private ballot process. Under the current system, union organizers must collect signed authorization cards from 30 percent of the potential bargaining unit. That triggers an election, and if a majority approve, then the union is formed.

Solidifying her support of the $15 billion bailout plan would be a big win for the Senate Democrats, who are looking to pin the “bipartisan” tag on a controversial proposal.

See also: From 04 to 08, 110 towns shift color on Maine map

Of the 91 towns that turned from red to blue this year, Rangley and Kennebunkport saw two of the largest jumps.

State representatives for these areas attribute the change to an influx of out-of-staters.

Rangeley, a small Franklin County town, saw the following changes:

Kennebunkport, a southern Maine town which is home to former President George H.W. Bush’s estate, saw the following changes:

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Falmouth) met with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team last week to discuss her proposal to elevate a Small Business Administration post to a cabinet level position.

She said this adjustment will allow small businesses to weather the difficult economy.

In a letter to Obama, she wrote:

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) has received more money from the big three auto makers than anyone else in Maine's Congressional delegation, according to fundraising numbers from the Center for Responsive Politics.

While Congress is mulling a $34 billion loan to the auto industry, Collins told the Portland Press Herald that she is not sure about the proposed bailout.

Collins tops Maine's delegation, but she failed to make the top 20 list of Congressional recipients of auto industry cash.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe got a mention in a New York Times column this weekend concerning their role in the upcoming Senate term.

Columnist Gail Collins said “the nexus of power” will lie with the Maine senators. When interviewed by the Times, Snowe was quick to include Sen. Arlen Spector (R-Pa.)

“I like thinking of next year’s senate as a kind of mythic quest movie in which a Democratic hero in need of a stimulus package or a Supreme Court confirmation is told: ‘Go forth and seeketh the Women of Maine,” who would both be played by Cate Blanchett,’” the columnist wrote.

Democrats maintain a firm grip on the State House and start off the new session in control, while Senator Collins and Senator Snowe continue to dominate the media with their filibuster breaking potential. Read the full list of this week's Winners & Losers. | CLICK HERE

As the new Legislature is sworn in, women politicians are entering a phase of unprecedented prominence at the state level.

State Sen. Libby Mitchell (D-Vassalboro) and state Rep. Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven) were elected as leaders of their respective chambers. Mitchell was the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, and is now the first woman to have led both chambers.

She is the third consecutive woman to serve as Senate president, preceded by Beth Edmonds (D-Freeport), who served two terms in the position, and Beverly Daggett (D-Augusta), who served one term.

The national political landscape has changed, but in general, it isn't change we can believe in, it's change that everyone should have seen coming.

For the first time since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, a credible case can be made that the United States is now a center-left country instead of a center-right country.