Snowe gives Obama near-F on cooperation

Snowe gives Obama near-F on cooperation

Olympia Snowe may be considered the most moderate Republican in the Senate, but that doesn't mean she's a big fan of President Obama.

Asked by ABC News to grade Obama on working with Republicans, Snowe said it would "be close to failing on that point."

Snowe announced recently she would not seek re-election this year.

The Maine senator, who vo ted for Obama's stimulus plan in 2009 and sought to work with the administration on health care, also told ABC she has not had a face-to-face meeting with the president in nearly two years.

"The president should be reaching out, you know, to many on the opposite side of the aisle," Snowe said.

Obama and aides say he has reached out to Republicans, but too many members of the GOP don't want to work with the White House.

More from ABC News:

Snowe, who was first elected to Congress in 1978, claims that her meetings with President Obama have been less frequent than with any other President.

When she announced suddenly in February that she was not going to run for reelection -- after three terms in the US Senate and a previous 14 years in the House of Representatives -- colleagues and commentators alike were stunned.

"I think a lot of the frustration frankly in our party, in the Tea Party challenges or even Occ upy Wall Street is really a reflection of our failure to solve the major problems in our country," said Snowe. "It's become all about the politics, and not the policy. It's not about governing, it's about the next election."

So has this Congress failed the country on those critical questions?

"Absolutely," Snowe asserted. "You have to sit down and talk to people with whom you disagree," said Snowe. " And that is not what is transpiring at a time when we desperately need that type of leadership."