Sen. Olympia Snowe has had a lot to say lately about the changing culture of Washington. Her forthcoming book promises to detail how she's seen partisanship increase and problem-solving decrease in Congress. But at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Honoring the Promise Gala on Thursday night, Snowe came up with one way it's gotten better: Twitter.
"I think it's the ability to communicate more readily with constituents," she told Yeas & Nays. "Technology has really accelerated."
But now that Snowe is leaving office, she's going to have to take responsibility for her Twitter feed, which is currently run by her staff. "Now I'm going to have to [decide] whether or not I'm going to do that," she said. "Probably yes. I'm a good chitchatter."
Snowe was joined at the Kennedy Center gala by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood; singers Jordin Sparks and Naomi Judd; actors Jaclyn Smith and Richard Roundtree; former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; and CBS correspondent Bob Schieffer, who served as master of ceremonies for the evening.
Schieffer surprised reporters by hamming it up on the red carpet, proudly showing off a large belt buckle.
The "Face the Nation" host told Yeas & Nays he won the buckle during a bull-riding competition, before admitting it was in fact given to him when he started working for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at the beginning of his career. Besides his belt, Schieffer doesn't pay too much attention to his red-carpet look.
"I just get dressed and try to get clean," he said. "Brush my teeth."
Thursday's gala raised $1.5 million for breast cancer programs in the Washington area.
