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Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
 Senator Snowe holds many firsts: she was the first Greek-American woman ever elected to Congress, and later the first Republican woman to secure a full-term seat on the Senate Finance Committee. Now, she is the First Lady of Funny, sending in the joke that overwhelmingly won our popular vote.
A leading moderate within the Senate, Snowe was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to submit to a phone interview. ("I don't care if she's in a meeting with the President!" I hollered at her press secretary. "This is important!")
HARGRAVE: Do you have a reputation for being funny among your fellow Senators?
SNOWE: I don't know that anyone would think of me as funny, but I use humor a lot in my speeches. I always have. I have less opportunity to use humor on the Senate floor, but I do use it a lot in my speeches, because I feel it's an essential ingredient. I think it's useful to emphasize a point, but more importantly to break the ice with an audience.
HARGRAVE: Were you a class clown in school?
SNOWE: [Laughs] No. But when I started in politics back in 1978, I saw that using humor was important, because people don't think you're taking yourself so seriously. I like being self-deprecating.
HARGRAVE: Your joke implies that all politicians go to Hell. Is that true?
 SNOWE: Well, some could! I think people like that joke, because it resonates with them. Again, people appreciate self-deprecation, because it's a way of conveying the point, and it's also a way of showing that you're not always serious.
HARGRAVE: Which is a funnier word: "gerrymander" or "filibuster"?
SNOWE: [Laughs] Ah ... let's see. I think "gerrymander."
HARGRAVE: I'm sorry, but the correct answer is "filibuster."
SNOWE: Well, I had a 50/50 choice there.
HARGRAVE: Do you believe Taiwan will declare independence from the People's Republic of China?
SNOWE: What kind of question is that?
HARGRAVE: Sorry, I just had to cleanse the palate there.
SNOWE: ...
HARGRAVE: When do you plan to address the shortage of decent lobster in the rest of the United States?
SNOWE: Well, you have to come to Maine for the real thing!
HARGRAVE: Why aren't you guys breeding those lobsters around the clock? I mean, have you ever been to a Red Lobster in Ohio? It's like chewing on a football.
SNOWE: Red Lobster in Ohio. Isn't that an oxymoron?
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