WASHINGTON — At midnight, the shutdown will become the longest in U.S. history. And it is clear that, if there is any spirit of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, it's not happening in front of the cameras and microphones.
So, what can possibly bring members of Congress — both sides of the aisle — closer together on the issues and fix a clearly broken system? Some former Maine politicians believe they have the answer.
Former Maine U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe says it became clear to her that fundamentally, structurally Congress had changed.
"Politically and legislatively, people were not willing to work with the other side to get things done," she said. "That’s why I left."
Sen. Snowe left Congress after 34 years of representing Maine to become a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. It was co-founded by former Maine U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, who shares Snowe’s concerns about the direction of government.
Now, Snowe and her husband, former Maine Gov. John McKernan, spend much of their time in the capital actively promoting bipartisanship and civility in government.
"That's what seems to be missing into many instances today," Gov. Mckernan said, "is that people would rather not find common ground and have a fight at the next election, rather than sticking out their ground and then finding a way to at least make some improvement and fight it out in the next election as to how it could've been better."
The Bipartisan Policy Center seeks out the best ideas in both parties and promotes compromise. As Senator Snowe puts it, "We are working with members of Congress to see how they can reach across the aisle and come up with their own solutions."
For more information on the Bipartisan Policy Center, go to bipartisanpolicy.org.