There was a piece in the Washington Post Tuesday about how the name of Dede Scozzafava -- the upstate New York Republican who got run out of a congressional race by conservative activists -- has joined such other luminaries as onetime Supreme Court hopeful Robert Bork in seeing their names turned into political verbs.
Bork got Borked by liberal groups opposed to his judicial philosophy, and now, a Public Policy Polling survey suggests that Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe could get "Scozzafaved" after being the lone Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to help send the Democrats' health care reform bill to the floor.
The poll, conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 1, said 59 percent of Republicans would vote for a conservative challenger to Snowe in 2012, compared to 31 percent who would stick with her and 10 percent who were undecided.
Snowe still has the support of GOP liberals and moderates, but PPP notes that conservatives make up two-thirds of the party's base in the state, and she trails among them by 75 percent to 18 percent.
Of course, Snowe is not up for re-election until 2012, far enough away that no one can predict what the political environment will be then.
While Snowe's overall job-approval rating with Maine voters has her in positive territory at 51 percent to 36 percent, with 14 percent undecided, 46 percent of Republicans disapprove of her performance compared to 40 percent who approve and 14 percent who are undecided.
That compares to Democrats who approve of Snowe by a 60-29 margin, with 12 percent undecided.
Voters not affiliated with either party, who made up 29 percent of the sample, approve of Snowe by 51 percent to 33 percent, with 16 percent undecided.

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