Andrew Ian Dodge: Olympia Snowe 'out of touch' with 21st century Maine

Andrew Ian Dodge, a 40-something writer, blogger and former Maine Tea Party Patriots coordinator, says Republican Senator Olympia Snowe is "out of touch" with modern America, and that is why he is running to unseat her.

According to his bio, he "organized the first registered tea party event in Maine, which took place in Augusta on April 15 2009."

He was also instrumental in formulating the strategy for the small-government movement that played a huge role in giving Republicans a majority in the House.

But Dodge says that the long-time Republican Senator is "completely out of touch with her constituents and the needs of 21st century Maine."

"She does not hold town meetings," he told Examiner, explaining that the events she does hold are "invitation only."

Dodge also says Snowe "knows nothing about modern technology or the internet, and she does not seem to understand the U.S. is in dire financial straits."

"She has been in D.C. for 33 years and is completely out of touch with the real world outside of the Beltway," he added.

Dodge, who considers himself a "new school web/tech savy limited government, fiscal conservative and free market obsessed rabble rouser," says that Snowe's vote for TARP and the auto bailouts, combined with the "internet kill switch" legislation she introduced with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), makes her unfit to serve in the Senate.

He adds that Snowe's vote to push Obamacare out of committee makes her "an old school big government Republican" out of touch with mainstream America and mainstream Mainers.

"For instance," he said, "she refused to stand up for rural Mainers who don't want someone from 'away' creating a federal park in northern Maine that will put lots of people out of work, and she won't say no to the wind lobby who want to sully rural Maine with wind-mills no one wants."

To say that Snowe has been an unreliable GOP vote is something of an understatement.

According to thatsmycongress.com, Snowe has a conservative score of 38 out of 100, and a liberal score of 23 out of 100.

The Washington Post added:

Throughout her career in public office, she has shown a willingness to defy her party's leadership. Snowe supports abortion rights, opposes drilling in the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and has backed proposals long-heralded as bedrocks of the Democratic platform, including adding prescription drug benefits to Medicare and raising the minimum wage. She was the one of the only Senate Republicans to help craft bipartisan health-reform legislation during President Obama's 2009-2010 push to overhaul the health-care system, but she ultimated opposed the bill.

The Maine moderate is also high on the list of RINO's - Republicans in Name Only - targeted by the Tea Party Express for defeat in 2012.

According to the Tea Party Express, Snowe is the most liberal Republican in the Senate and "often undermines Republican positions rather than just voting as she believes her constituents desire."

The Tea Party group observes:

While Senator Snowe likes to proclaim that she is a fiscal conservative, she is too often on the wrong side of spending votes. From TARP to the $814 billion stimulus bill, this career politician is constantly having an identity crisis, confused between her progressive big-government voting pattern and the fiscal responsibility values promised to her constituents.

In December 2005, Human Events noted that Snowe had a "100% pro-choice voting record as scored by NARAL and consistently votes with Democrats on social issues."

In stark contrast, Dodge says he has "never waivered" in his conservative positions.

"I say it’s time for a little brush clearing," he says on his web site, adding:

"As a Senator, I would push for the radical reformation, if not abolition, of government departments like the FCC, NEA and the TSA. I would adhere to a philosophy that every government program is wasteful until proven worthy. I would push for a permanent ban on earmarks, and severely curtail special interest subsidies. I would purge corporate welfare and the “too big to fail” philosophy that turns the government into a sugar daddy for big business."

Perhaps it is time conservatives in Maine consider voting for a real conservative rather than a career politician who only plays one in the Senate.

For more information, visit Dodge's campaign website here.

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