olympia snowe is not an exception to that. she voted to create the consumer financial protection bureau, when it came time to appoint somebody to be the head of the thing so it could run she filibustered his nomination. was there anything wrong with richard cordray? no, it was just a bad idea. that is the context. the republican party and american right doing something that the democratic party and left are not doing. there is no mirror image here. this is about the right and what we are left with is the state of maine, right? the moderate common sense-driven not particularly partisan people of the great state of maine, now all of a sudden in a surprise having to replace their long time middle of the road-ish republican senator. what is the choice going to be? do mainers want to bet on another lab rat in this grand political science radicalization experiment that the republicans and the conservative movement have been engaged in for the last generation? this experiment that olympia snowe said she does not want to be part of. o

-- conservatives are cheering olympia snowe. now she is about as conservative as you can get in maine. there are a lot of really great men and women who do not want to fight the fight again. >> you said two things. in no particular order, disabuse me of this notion there is any space left in this hour for moderates in your party. >> scott brown is more conservative than most new england republicans of 10 or 15 years ago. at the same time, he has made some votes against his party. the tea party years hate him. he gets hate mail from the far right. good he has to battle against elizabeth warren, and both are good friends of this show. and we will see if he can win, but it is more difficult by the day to be a moderate republican. lot on1990's you have a the left to said, or get middle america up. -- for get middle america. i remember a chairman of the democratic national committee saying, we are throwing it back to the republicans. howard dean and rahm emmanuel say, we are going to do everything we can to win those areas back. demo

up next, olympia snowe is leaving the united states senate at the end of this term. says the congress has gotten too toxic. don't you agree? now democrats have a much better chance in this partisan sense of winning a senate seat. we'll be joined by former wisconsin senator russ feingold, a real reformer. [ male announcer ] what if an entire car insurance company was thought up and built and run to save people money? what if that company was born online, with tools and apps to make people feel like geniuses? and what if that company was now backed by the stability and reliability of allstate? well, what if that company was esurance and this wasn't just a bunch of hypothetical questions? could be cool-ish. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. >>> delegates have been allocate noud. in michigan after last night's vote. romney and santorum each won 15. a tie vote for delegates. so romney's three-point win turns out to be a draw in the delegate count. too bad we didn't know this late last night. we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "hardball." yeste

up next, olympia snowe is leaving the united states senate at the end of this term.otten too toxic. don't you agree? now democrats have a much better chance in this partisan sense of winning a senate seat. we'll be joined by former wisconsin senator russ feingold, a real reformer. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. is now within your grasp with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard. e-trade 360 is the world's first investing homepage that shows you where all your investments are and what they're doing with free streaming quotes, news, analysis and even your trade ticket. everything exactly the way you want it, all on one page. transform your investing with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard. >>>

that's olympia snowe, for examp example. myself and others defeated and then many others who are starting to vote in a much more ideological way, very conservative way in the case of republicans. as a result, you are losing that you a built to sit down and work out the differences and make sure that we are progressing the way we need to. with respect to the -- issues of the economy and jobs and the -- edge caution and those things which are basic concern to people in america today. regardless of politics. >> we will talk more about this after the break. all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ♪ home was an airport lounge and a

and i look at what just happened in maine with olympia snowe retiring. and now olympia snowe is not one that we would be endorsing because she is a republican, but i really do think that as an american woman, it is really a big loss for this country to have olympia snowe retire. her voice as a moderate republican woman was incredibly important, and i think we need to find some more olympia snowes. i really do. >> binghamton, new york, chuck, democrat. go ahead. >> caller: hello. i just wanted to mention, stephanie, that it's been really upsetting to me. talk about a man's world, that alcohol and beer has been raised to 5.9 unless otherwise stated, and 7.9 -- >> chuck, what does it have to do with the topic at hand this morning? >> caller: well, domestic violence against women. and i hope that you also support medical cannabis and that women drank during the time of the menstrual cycle and beyond. >> chuck has brung up this issue of how other examples in his opinion alcohol content and beer and other alcoholic benches can contribute to problems. anything

olympia snowe voted with your caucus today. voted against -- it's probably win of the reasons she's getting out of the senate right now. you have claire mccaskill getting hit. she's facing a tough re-election in missouri. it's always a tough state. it's right down the line politically. they are going after her in radio ads already. let's listen to what one of your colleagues is taking for agreeing with you. let's listen. >> first, they took over the banks. then they put government in charge of our health care. now what are barack obama and claire mccaskill focused on? regulating the catholic church. obama and mccaskill want to force the catholic church and americans of faith to abandon tenets of their religion. obama and mccaskill already forced us to pay for government bailouts and obama care. tell them enough is enough. >> what would you say in response to that viewer in missouri? >> the ad is outrageous and a bold-faced lie. you're saying we're telling the catholic church what to do? we're not. president obama made such a re

olympia snow joined the drats. had bill nelson of florida and the new senator from west virginia and my friend bobby y casey join the republicans. what do you think of that? that seems to be getting back to the old way where there was spill over. >> there's got to be spill over, but there has to be a conscious effort at really going through these issues and figuring out what the middle ground is so you don't just have one or two crossing over in that sense, but you're building a consensus in the middle. we have to change peoples' perspective and make sure they know they are never going to get 100% of everything they want. that that 90% is critical because it helps us move the ball from the 10 yard line to the 50 yard line. >> is a lot of this fundraising where the parties have to play to the base or the wealthy people? you know how the fundraising goes. the same issues are raised in both parties. they have automatic ones. they don't have to make any deals. i was thinking of the tough race of claire mccaskill is fac

. >> senator olympia snowe threw republicans a curveball. >> senator olympia snowe shocked everybody -- >> when she announced that she is leaving the senate at the end of the year. >> she is not seeking re-election. >> that could be the biggest political story of the night. >> it sounded like the republican establishment was very much caught off guard. >> this really shocked senate republicans. >> the democrats now have a much better shot. >> democrats are seeing a light that they didn't quite have. >> democrats have a much better chance of keeping control. >> maine in a presidential year should favor the democratic candidate. >> democrats are almost gleeful. >> kent conrad's going, ben nelson is going. >> the senate and the house, it's a very lonely place to be a moderate. >> adding her to that list there is essentially writing the obituary for moderates. she cited her reasons as the increasing polarization in washington. >> it's very, very difficult to resolve major issues. >> moderation will be tolerated, but not rewarded. >> it's dysfunctional. >> mitt romney survived the night,

but let me say this about olympia snowe. i think she has been a great leader.meone that is a reliable person who for maine was a good senator for maine. obviously, they re-elected her so many times. i also think that it's maybe time. i think maine actually -- a lot of people said oh, no, republicans will lose maine. i don't think it's necessarily true. >> andrea: they are probably going to do well. >> dana: you think so? >> andrea: in 2010, in mid-term election they took over the governorship from a democrat. republicans won. and the house and the senate in maine flipped to republican control. that was a state that barack obama won by i believe 57%. this is looking really good for the republicans. talk to the rnc today and they said we feel good about this. >> bob: who will the democrats put up? 2010, the turn-out in presidential race would be higher. leaving it aside, the last time -- she is right about the party danship. the last time a major cross party bill was passed, george bush was able to do it on "no child left behind." the fact is that the moderate re

barry high level of republican backing for these really grotesque kinds of legislation senator olympia snowe just announced that she was going to retire from the senate she was a moderate republican who believed in women's rights and stood up for birth control do you think that her retirement was in power to surrender to the sexual revolutionaries or or was probably just associated with you know her deciding it's time to go. no i think it was absolutely her being fed up with the craziness in her party and the real recognition that she was in danger in the primary in maine from the republican so-called tea party activists so you know olympia snowe kind of represents an older republican party that was actually stronger on women's rights stronger on personal freedom and stronger on sexual rights than the democratic party was and it was these women who i was talking about earlier who went into the republican convention of one thousand nine hundred eighty and forced an anti abortion plank into the platform had them take out support for the equal rights amendment and they actually alstott the lead

i mentioned olympia snow by process of elimination. who are the women in the republican party who have the stature to be a running mate in romney went that direction? it's amazing what a short list that is. i think in general, though, at the presidential level that glass ceiling is still intact, obviously, and i'm not sure why. i don't know why. i think 51% of the voters are women. there we there are a lot of women in elected office. not as many as there ought to be. i really don't have an answer for why at the presidential level that still seems to be so tough. >> let me put another ad on the table. this is the ad titled "celebrity" used by the mccain campaign. it became one of those iconic moments in "game change" which is a new movie that came out. the mccain campaign had to deal with this phenomenon called barack obama. >> and in "game change" in the book and movie, they realized they were getting pummeled by his celebrityhood to they did their best to turn it into a negative. equates him with britney spears, which was in that ad,

retiring republican senator olympia snowe voted with the democrats in order to table that amendment. democrats bob casey of pennsylvania, joe manchin of west virginia, and ben nelson of nebraska voted with the republicans. kris cillizza is an nbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com. hey, chris. this was a key test already of the gender wars. it was pretty clear that it was going to be defeated. and susan collins voted with her fellow republicans, against some of the other women in the senate, saying that she thought that this was an amendment that was defective, but they could be fixed later on, but that the democrat were playing election year politics. >> well, you know, i would say both sides are probably playing a little bit of election year politics here, andrea. this was, you heard barbara boxer, the california democrat, in your opening say, you know, this was amended to a highway bill. and it was. this was a highway funding bill, where they put, roy blunt, the freshman senator from missouri, republican, put this on to it in hopes of trying to get it passed. this

olympia snowe is a marvelous legislator, i enjoyed working with her, i'm sorry to see olympia snowe leadthe people in the centrist of this country. >> senator manchin, you mentioned senator kirk hue founded the caucus with. he did suffer a stroke earlier this year. can you give us an update how his recovery is coming? >> yeah. i spoke to mark. mark's doing very well. he's rehabilitating, whatever they give him, you can bet on mark. it's going -- he will be back quicker, sooner, better. we're communicating and looking forward to him coming back. he is getting better and stronger working hard. mark kirk is truly a great american. he's a person that reaches out, he doesn't look at the r or the d, he looks at the job we have and as americans how we fix things, how he protects in illinois, we're both americans working for this great country. >> obviously we're all rooting for him to come back and get on the senate floor. thank you for your time. >> chris, thank you for helping us. >> and from the senator from west virginia to the man who recorded the ballad the last public hanging in virginia

that didvisiveness means pushin things out the window, so people like olympia snow who is interestedgetting results doesn't feel at home. but we democrats should say, it's good to have people on the other side you can deal with. yes, we should be brought to the middle as well, we should make compromises. that only works when you have a partner on the other side, someone to meet you halfway. >> it used to be that way. john chafey from rhode island basically laid out the blueprint for what became obama's health care plan. anyway, great point, david. we've got to go, but here's to the rockefeller republican that we need to bring back. that does it for us today. i'm matt mil

olympia snow just quit. arlen hatch is being accused of being a liberal.party has become a right wing party. >> no doubt about it, the moderates have been exiled. bob bennett is not pure enough. mike castle loses to a woman who has to declare herself to be a witch. and when olympia snow and susan collins voted against disclosure of these corporate and union expenditures, there's no moderate left on the republican side of the united states senate. >> and so the party of lincoln became the party of strom thurman, hasn't it? is that too rough? >> it won't become the party of rick santorum, however, it's gone so far to the right, but i don't think it's gone so far as to make rick santorum the nominee. >> here is 5 dispute, a little kerfuffle. >> here rick santorum was asked about his endorsement of you in the presidential race in '96. i remember when you ran. here's what he says. now let's watch. >> why did you support arlen specter for president? >> well, you know, when your colleague is running for office, and i was his colleague in the united states senate,

. >> olympia snowe is fed up and going back to maine. a special tribute to our troops. >> you will one of the most extraordinary chapters in american military history. -- you wrote one of the most extraordinary chapters in american military history. >> mitt romney was born in michigan, grew up in michigan. his father was governor of michigan. in 2008, he beat john mccain in michigan by nine percentage points. this week, he almost lost the michigan primary to rick santorum. why? >> i am not willing to light my hair on fire to get support. >> he is who he is. why did that work against him in his home state? >> many republicans do not think romney is one of them. they do not see him as the standard bearer for the conservative party. you put it as he almost lost michigan. he said he won michigan by enough. in a certain sense, he is correct. it does not matter if he won by three percentage points or six percentage points. he got the popular vote. that is what the press cared about. he got one more delegate. the best thing he had going for him

let me just conclude with these words from olympia snowe.f you're just tuning in, we're asking questions of thoughts. she says, the great challenge is to create a system that gives our elected officials reasons to look past differences and find common ground if their initial party position fails to garner support. again, your calls and comments. you can continue to come decision on our twitter or on facebook. coming up in a couple of minutes, we will turn our attention to super tuesday. yesterday, mitt romney winning. he will pick up 30 delegates. it is, after all, all of the delegates. in virginia, and effectively only two candidates competing. newt gingrich and rick santorum campaigning in georgia and ohio. we will have that in a few minutes. in shreveport, louisiana, all weekend we are featuring the history and culture -- the literary culture of shreveport, louisiana. it is louisiana's third largest city. our local content video travel to different parts of the country to showcase arts and literature. this weekend, shreveport, louisiana.

. >> i know you're focusing on the house but the announcement that olympia snow is stepping down. she a self-described moderate republican. prassed from president obama. he doesn't send out statements with republicans retiring but he did so yesterday with news olympia snowe is leaving. your thought on the impact it will have? >> it impacted the senate mass. one seat means so much when you only have 33 senate seats up for election every two years. and what this has done is essentially set up a list of every main political name under the sun that's not susan collins as a potential candidate for this successor to snowe. and so both democratic members of the house remain are taking a look at it. they have very different styles. they may not be the only democrats who jump into the race. they may not both jump into the race. question about whether republicans can take -- convince a good candidate to enter the race or whether an independent candidate since maine has a strong independent streak enters this race and makes it more difficult. >> david wasserman who is the house editor for th

this week senator olympia snowe said she's leaving the senate. she did not mince her words. >> people are just stunned by the debilitating partisanship, polarization and the overall dysfunction of the institution and the political prowess has become to the point of extreme when it comes to resolving the problems facing this country. gwen: debilitating paralysis. that's strong language, chuck. congress is about to really change, if it hasn't already. >> yes. well, this gridlock has been growing and growing. it's become a huge problem and it's really quite shocking for senator snowe, i think, to say she wasn't going to run, because she's a very able politician. she's really figured out her state of maine. there's no question she could have been re-elected, but she's sick of it. she's not the only person in the middle. you have ben nelson, the democrat from nebraska getting out, joe lieberman. there are several others. and what you're seeing is this continuation of a growing partisanship, and it's particularly a problem in the senate, ballgames the

olympia snowe and i came out with the bill and we did it in very short order. in fact we were writing the bill i think obama, had been the president more than three or four months and of course we began talking with industry and all kinds of other groups and committees and all that and we followed it from there. it's not the same as it was in the beginning and the details but it's braced -- basic and suppose. with the one exception and that is that we have to get people who do not believe critical infrastructure which is the great mass of american functionality that has to be in the bill. that is not necessarily a debatable matter. you can't have cybersecurity without a critical infrastructure. >> host: why he is the department of homeland security the right agency to monitor this? >> guest: well, the least reason i would like to say is the only one that really can. in other words the nsa couldn't do it. on the other hand, homeland security can cooperate, as they are, and even be a partner with nsa. i don't see janet napolitano and -- at the same place in the s

olympia snowe and i came out with a bill, and we did in very short order. in fact, we were writing the bill, i think obama hadn't been president more than three or four months, and we had a bill written. and then, of course, we begin talking with industry and all kinds of other groups and other committees and all that. it evolves from there. it's not the same as it was, the beginning, and a lot of details but its basic principles it's not changed a whit. with one exception, as it is we have to get people who do not believe that critical infrastructure, which is the great mass of american functionality, that has to be in the bill. that is not necessarily a debatable matter. you can't have cybersecurity without having critical infrastructure. >> host: why is the department of homeland security the right agency to monitor this? >> guest: the least reason, i would like to say, the only one that really can. in other words, the nsa couldn't do. they have see a passionate cia problems that would. but on the of the land, homeland security can cooperate as they are,

they made a huge down payment on that. >> olympia snowe, i agree with what she's said. the solution to it, is packetly the opposite of what she did. the solution is not to step back and say, i can't be part of the conversation, therefore i'm going to cede the territory the left and the right and make it more polarizing. i think you should fight the fight. >> huge loss for the senate. >> we got to take a break. lot more roundtable coming up. we'll be right back. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ ♪ you name it...i've hooked it. but there's o