Why Olympia Snowe Won't Attend Health Care Summit

Why Olympia Snowe Won't be There




The White House specifically invited Sen. Olympia Snowe to the event. (She is the only Senate Republican to have cast a vote in favor of health reform in 2009 - for the Senate Finance Committee bill.) But since her own leadership apparently did not want her there, Snowe declined the White House's late invitation, and a spokesman said in a statement (h/t Chuck Todd):

"Senator Snowe did receive a call from the White House this morning to attend tomorrow's bipartisan health care summit. While she greatly appreciates the invitation, the Republican leadership understood the rules of the summit, as established by the Administration weeks ago, were that the Democratic and Republican leadership would select their own members to participate in the event.

The Republican leadership had long since selected their team and therefore, it would have been inappropriate for Senator Snowe, under those circumstances, to accept the invitation.

This is a summit between the leadership and the President and she believes it is a critical opportunity for the respective leadership teams to convey their ideas directly with the President. Throughout this process, Senator Snowe has been sharing her views with the White House and she assured the White House today that she will continue to play a leadership role on this vital issue in the days and weeks after tomorrow's event."

Sources: TIME