The Senate: It's Snowe fun any more "WITH my Spartan ancestry," explains Olympia Snowe, a Republican senator of Greek extraction, "I am a fighter at heart." But even Mrs Snowe is not ready to take on the Olympian task of reviving the Senate's long-lost tradition of bipartisanship. "An atmosphere of polarisation and "my way or the highway" ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions," she noted, prompting her to question "how productive an additional term would be." Thus she explained her unexpected decision this week not to run for re-election. Ironically, the main consequence of Mrs Snowe's decision will be to increase the polarisation of the Senate. She, along with her fellow senator from Maine, Susan Collins, is one of the few moderate Republicans in the chamber. Had she run, she would have been a shoo-in: she is personally popular and had amassed a big war chest. Yet since Maine leans slightly to the left, she is likely to be replaced by a Democrat - in all likelihood, one of the two state's two congressmen, both of whom are relative liberals. The Republicans would need to nominate a candidate in Mrs Snowe's mould to have much chance of retaining the seat. But that is unlikely, since the party has shifted markedly rightward in the state in recent years, as it has done throughout the country. Mrs Snowe's decision is thus a source of consternation to partisan Republicans, who often denounce her as a RINO (Republican In Name Only), but are nonetheless worried that the loss of her seat might deny them a majority in the Senate. The chamber is currently divided 53-47 in the Democrats" favour. But the Democrats are defending 23 seats in this year's elections, compared to the Republicans" ten. The only seat the Democrats had much chance of picking up until now was in Massachusetts, where another centrist Republican, Scott Brown, looks vulnerable. The Republicans, on the other hand, hope to capture the seats of retiring Democratic moderates in Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Virginia and to defeat others in Missouri, Montana, Florida and possibly West Virginia. Mrs Snowe's retirement makes it slightly harder, although still quite possible, for the Republicans to take control. Whatever happens, however, the Senate will still be narrowly divided, requiring bipartisan compromise to get anything significant done. The drift to the extremes in the two parties, meanwhile, will make that ever more difficult.