Snowe's departure from the Senate highlights ever-shrinking political center

Her surprise retirement also underscores what some say is a rift within the GOP between conservatives who demand allegiance to bedrock principles and those concerned with courting swing voters.

The Associated Press: Analysis: Snowe Departure Will Widen Partisan Gulf
The surprising retirement of moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine moves congressional centrists a step closer to extinction and highlights the great paradox of American politics. Voters say they want bipartisan solutions to the nation's problems. But they congregate and vote in ways that ensure partisan warfare, driving the GOP further right and the Democratic Party further left (Babington, 3/1).

The Wall Street Journal: Political Center Shrinks In Congress
Ms. Snowe is one of an increasingly rare breed of senator willing to back legislation crafted by the other side. After President Barack Obama came to office, she supplied a crucial vote for his stimulus plan and supported his health law in committee, though she later opposed it on the floor. She also backed the New Start arms-reduction treaty at the end of last year. … A new analysis by the National Journal ranks Ms. Snowe the 46th most-conservative senator, placing her on the fault line between the two parties. Many of her colleagues said her departure reflects poorly on the chamber (Bendavid, 2/29).

Politico: Olympia Snowe Departure Exposes GOP Rift
Sen. Olympia Snowe's bombshell retirement announcement brought into focus the fault line within GOP ranks: Conservatives are demanding a sharper focus on bedrock principles, and party strategists are more concerned with courting swing voters. It is a fight that has raged inside the GOP since the rise of the tea party movement in 2009 -; the "electability" vs. "real conservative" argument -; and is also playing out in the nominating battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (Raju and Bresnahan, 3/1).