In an article on Maine’s Republican senators, the Washington Post reports that they “hew[] to a time-tested formula that appeals to Maine voters, who tend toward ‘liberal on social issues and conservative on fiscal matters,’ [former Republican senator William] Cohen said.” Conservative on fiscal issues? Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins just voted for a permanent expansion of S-Chip and the gargantuan stimulus bill. They’re to the left of their party’s mainstream across the board, not just on social issues. Socially liberal Republican politicians are, indeed, almost always more liberal on size-of-government issues than the party norm.