U.S. Senator Olympia Bouchles Snowe (R-ME) must have taken to heart Aristotle’s words that “by acting always in moderation a person is sure to be just and temperate, and so is sure to be virtuous.”
By Andy Manatos
This is the path Olympia has chosen in her public life in the Maine state legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. She and her “balanced” Hellenic course were so popular that when she ran for re-election five years ago, in a year when Democrats swept their way to a majority of the Senate, she, a Republican, was elected by the highest percentage of any Senator.
However, a strong new voice in the Republican Party disagrees with the Hellenic value of moderation -- “the Tea Party.” The prospects for this threat to Olympia are mixed, but one thing is certain: If Olympia does not receive enough in campaign contributions to counter the Tea Party in the primary election and her challenger in the general election, her seat and one of our most sterling voices in the Senate could be in jeopardy.
For Orthodox Christians and the Greek-American community in Maine and around the world, Olympia has come through in spectacular fashion. For example, Olympia was often the swing vote for President Barack Obama’s biggest issues and the White House was particularly responsive to her – she was kiddingly said to be #1 on President Obama’s speed dial. She utilized that position to strongly advocate positions that benefited the many Christians and other faithful in Maine who support freedom of religion for all religious leaders including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who still does not enjoy full religious freedom in Istanbul (Constantinople).
She also advocated for those in Maine who support human rights for all people, including the people of Cyprus whose Jewish and Christian cemeteries and Churches have been desecrated by Turkey’s occupation army. This year Christians in the Karpasia area of occupied Cyprus were prohibited from celebrating Christmas. Few know that since the time of her election to the House in 1978 and the Senate in 1994 she has played an important role in the presence of our Archbishops at all Presidential inaugurations. The Greek-American and Orthodox communities owe her for her tireless advocacy for the causes about which we care deeply.
Unfortunately, Olympia is impacted by a question raised about our community. A non-Hellene asked me, do Greek-American men and women consider Greek-American women second-class political leaders? When I said, “No, why?” he pointed to the record. Greek-American men in Congress received over $350,000 in campaign contributions from Greek-Americans in the last election, while a Greek-American Congresswoman, Dina Titus, received $50,000. That’s 86% less. Dina barely lost, by less than 1% of the vote. Three hundred thousand dollars worth of campaign ads probably would have kept this Greek-American in the U.S. Congress.
This community weakness surfaced in 1986 when nationally famous Lincoln, Nebraska Mayor Helen Bossalis barely lost Nebraska’s Governorship. Had her meager Hellenic contributions been substantial, she would have been America’s first Hellenic woman governor. Unfortunately I have seen this problem in our community’s support for Olympia Snowe relative to Greek-American male Senate candidates.
Is the Greek-American community still living in the 1970’s when the lack of support for women candidates suggested the belief that women were not considered up to the job? If not, what is the explanation for the disparity in Greek-American community support for Greek-American men and women candidates?
We are a particularly generous people who readily spend large amounts to entertain our friends and family. A Pew Foundation study found Greek Americans second (behind the Jewish community) in terms of income and education. Our involvement in public life must make more room for women.
Our community’s support in 2012 for the only remaining Greek-American in the U.S. Senate, Olympia Bouchles Snowe, will help us understand if our community is proactive or reactive, if we are leaders or followers. There is no excuse for our community not generously supporting Olympia’s reelection. There is no one in the U.S. Senate who is more highly regarded by colleagues, Republicans or Democrats, than Olympia Snowe. She has performed spectacularly for issues of great concern to Maine’s Greek-American and Greek Orthodox community and for everyone who believes in religious and human rights and in frugal government.
Senator Snowe has come through for the Greek-American community. Now is the time for the Greek-American community to come through for her.
Andy Manatos is a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce and is currently a member of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s Archdiocesan Council, President of the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) and President of the public policy company Manatos & Manatos.
