From Bucharest to Bangor, the media has zealously grabbed onto Tuesday’s about-face by Sen. Olympia Snowe on the war in Iraq. “Another Republican questions war,” the headlines trumpeted, following last week’s well-publicized break by Republican Sen. John Warner of Virgina.

The influential chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, Warner said after his latest visit to Iraq that the country’s turmoil should make Congress “reconsider its options” if it fails to improve.

Snowe followed Warner’s path, and said in a statement Tuesday, “As conditions in Iraq continue to worsen, there must be no question among the administration, the Congress and the Iraqi unity government that staying the course is neither an option nor a plan.”

“The Congress and the administration must be open to considering alternative plans for the future role of the U.S. in Iraq. We must be willing to reassess and rechart our future military presence in Iraq and seriously consider input from all groups,” the senator added. “The bottom line is if Iraq is not going to transition as the Congress has called for, then our strategy must undergo a transformation.”

Sen. Susan Collins, while visiting the Sun Journal on Thursday, also commented. Collins, fresh from her watershed political moment with the embarrassing Federal Emergency Management Agency hearings, reiterated her earlier comment in which she called Warner’s statement “clearly significant.”

When Warner, a presidential ally and vocal proponent of the Iraqi conflict, speaks about the war, it carries great weight, added Collins. She agreed, as well, this could represent a tipping point for war support in the Senate and the Republican Party. She did decline to advocate for an established timeline for troop withdrawals from Iraq.

From a writer’s perspective, the words and phrases chosen by Snowe and Collins to describe their stances on Iraq are weak: “Clearly significant.” “Growing unease.” “Transition.” “Rechart.” “Seriously consider.” “Reassessment of our strategy.” It’s all leaden language that’s really feather-light.

But the weakness of their words shouldn’t mask the strength of their sentiments. These are neither paper statements being made by Collins and Snowe, nor throwaway utterances to appease an inflamed electorate or serve some partisan interest.

These assertions are being made after years in the center of the Iraq controversy, by senators politically and ideologically – most of the time – aligned with those managing the war. They are pounding criticisms wrapped in lacy language.

Americans of all political stripes are concerned about the war. Time Magazine, on Thursday, reported 52 percent of Americans feel the government misled the country into war. Fox News reported Thursday that voters are split on Iraq, 39 percent to 41 percent, for and against the war, with 45 percent saying the war weighs heaviest on their vote.

In politics, it’s often those who speak wisest, not loudest, that effect change. Maine is lucky to have two senators unafraid to speak their minds.