It seems I am not alone in my defense of Olympia Snowe.  Today, Quin Hillyer of The American Spectator wrote a manifesto, in defense of “principled moderates” such as Olympia Snowe – as opposed to faux moderates like Lindsay Graham.

In it, Hillyer argues that principled moderation is not something to be dismissed or scorned – but instead celebrated.  He argues that while conservative ideologues are within their right to be furious over the lack of ideological purity in these leaders, they should devote their energy toward making a better case for their position to these moderates, rather than attempting to destroy them.

Hillyer explains:

Only by dint of sustained observation can one reach an appreciation of the exceedingly small brigade of “honest moderates” — or which ones are, like South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham, mere suck-ups playing political angles. I do, though, believe that Sen. Snowe is one of the honest moderates — and, furthermore, I think conservatives need to appreciate that she never seems to insult us, or our motives, even when she is on the other side of an issue. Indeed, that’s often one way to tell a principled moderate from a Graham: The Grahams of the world, uncomfortable in their own skins, tend to lash out with cheap shots at those whose sharper principles they are abandoning.

Graciousness, by contrast, can go a long way, and graciousness in return can pay huge political dividends. Some people seem more open to reason, while others seem more open to threats or political rewards. Sen. Snowe seems to be among the former. As in the current health care debate, Sen. Snowe all the way back to her service in the House has had a tendency eventually to lay down a marker, a make-or-break requirement, well explained, that will determine which side of a close issue she will come down on. On health care, Sen. Snowe unfortunately buys into the need for more complicated government involvement to guarantee coverage for more Americans. We conservatives know she is wrong — but that is indeed what she believes. She also believes, fortunately, that there is a major distinction between government regulation of business and government actually competing with private businesses. And she believes in a certain measure of fiscal rectitude — perhaps not rectitude as conservatives understand it, yet her application of a certain sort of green-eyeshade accounting has appeared to be remarkably consistent through the years.

People like this are admirable even when they are wrong. And they are approachable by conservatives if we don’t insult them. I well remember back when Trent Lott appeared (whether rightly or wrongly) to be the clear conservative choice in a close race for Republican Whip in the Senate. Snowe herself had just moved from the House to the Senate. As it turns out, Snowe set aside ideology to consider other factors (such as Lott’s success as Whip in the House years before) — and, reportedly (the leadership votes are confidential), it was Snowe who effectively gave Lott a one-vote victory. If she can set aside ideology for conservatives, as she did in that case, conservatives should be able to respect her own political philosophy enough (even though it is a shade or two different than our own) to try to reason with her by reference to the touchstones of that political philosophy.

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We should grit out teeth and embrace Olympia Snowe in Maine. She has set a consistent course and followed it. And it’s a course that at least gives ear to the arguments from the right side of the political spectrum.