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>Why is there not more talk about Snowe? It seems the focus is always on
>Collins or Spector.

Can’t answer your question directly, but I felt we were treated better by her senior staff than by the others’. We had to wait maybe 10 minutes, but the man who came out walked across the hall to a beautiful conference room, ushered us in and proceeded to talk with us, listen to our points and arguments, and respond patiently. Considering we didn’t have an appointment, that meant a lot, I think. Of course, I have no idea how much of that discussion might filter back to the Senator, but I believe he heard things he had not heard before because much of it was not just the usual talking points — a good deal was our personal stories, concerns, and logical arguments. I suspect he felt he was talking with plain, concerned Americans, not politicians trying to pressure him or the Senator for political gain.

All I really know is that a day after we made those visits, all three made statements to the effect that they WOULD vote NO if the conference committee (all Dems) made significant changes in amount or scope to the Senate bill. That was a major request made by one member of our group. Of course, we’ll believe it when we see it.

All in all, it was a HECKUVA lot better than maybe talking to a secretary who just might be nodding off or taking tranqs to keep from screaming! Keep calling though, they ARE counting pros and cons, and it sounded like the CONS were way ahead when we were there.

-iMM