Hillarysworld

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Time to Start Over, Snowe Says

For months Democrats, including President Obama, courted Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, hoping to win her vote for major health care legislation. And now that the legislation is stalled, following the Republican victory in the Massachusetts special election on Tuesday, Ms. Snowe said she tried to warn Democrats, including Mr. Obama, that they were pushing too hard too fast.

Senator Olympia J. Snowe speaking to reporters earlier this month in Portland, Me.(Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press)

“It really is a reflection of the country, frankly, and having to build the right consensus and not overreaching with very expansive policy,” Ms. Snowe said of the outcome in Massachusetts. “I am not surprised in what occurred on Tuesday because it’s certainly the message that I have heard repeatedly from my own constituents and one that I have consistently conveyed to the president and to my colleagues here.”

Ms. Snowe said that it was up to Mr. Obama and legislative leaders to decide how to proceed, but that she did not see any way to move forward on the health care bill without starting over and putting together a smaller package that could win bipartisan backing.

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