Olympia Snowe, May, 2001, reacting to Jim Jeffords' switch to the Democratic Party:
U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, called Jeffords' decision a "dangerous signal for the GOP, especially in the Northeast."
She said the party now needs to demonstrate that it's big enough to "accommodate the divergent views of the broad spectrum of Republicans throughout the country."
Olympia Snowe, April, 2009, reacting to Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party:
But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party.
.... In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide.
Eight years ago, it was a "dangerous signal." Yesterday, it was a "dangerous signal."
I wonder how long it would take her to get out of a house on fire.