BOSTON — Sen. John Kerry says the gridlock that drove Maine Republican Olympia Snowe’s decision to leave the Senate is an indication of “why our nation is in trouble.”

The Massachusetts Democrat told a gathering of business leaders in Boston on Monday that Snowe’s departure would be a loss for all of New England.

Snowe, a moderate, cited her frustration with the polarization in Washington in her announcement last week that she would not seek a fourth term.

In his speech to the New England Council, Kerry cited the failure last year of a 12-member supercommittee to reach agreement on reducing the federal deficit as an example of “ideological rigidity and stupidity in Washington.”

A spokeswoman for the state GOP says Kerry shares blame because he’s voted with Democratic leaders 97 percent of the time.