Why has Olympia Snowe become the celebrity of the Senate and is that a good idea? The first part is easy -- she is GOP and her vote for health care reform is genuinely up for grabs. But using Snowe as the poster-lady of bipartisanship has its problems:
* The rest of the GOP senators are essentially engaging in a sit-down strike, wanting to see Obama fail.
* Snowe isn't seen as a "real" GOP senator and is not an inspiration to anyone with a vote. Those GOP voices praising her bill by the hour.
* Pursuit of Snowe is dividing Democrats, preventing them from getting as progressive a bill as many of them want.
* Obama's desire for inclusiveness means the real point of this exercise -- a reform bill that does something real for health care cost and security -- gets lost.
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