Sen. Snowe Braces for Tea Party Challenge in Maine

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maine's Olympia Snowe has long thrived as one of the Senate's leading GOP moderates, but she has recently sided with tea partiers on high-profile votes involving Libya, the budget and the environment as she braces for a primary challenge from the right.

Such votes could help Snowe fend off tea party foes who mock her as a "RINO" — and hope to sink her bid for a fourth term next year.

Snowe has insisted she's been true to her moderate roots. She is preparing for her first primary challenge, after cruising to a third term in 2006 with 74 percent of the vote. Maine is known for its strong moderate streak.