And the filing deadline is Tuesday.

Wow...a lot of Senators--on both sides of the aisle--are jumping ship.

2/15/2010 2:28:57 PM

yea - posted in the 2010 elections thread.....

2/15/2010 2:36:45 PM

Even with that more GOP's are jumping shipping in the House, in the Senate, and on the governors level.

2/15/2010 2:50:31 PM

retiring =/= jumping ship.


It can be jumping ship, but eventually some congressmen just get tired of being congressmen.

2/15/2010 3:34:52 PM

Quote :

"Even with that more GOP's are jumping shipping in the House, in the Senate, and on the governors level."

just b/c you lost the super health bill from december doesn't mean you have to start crying

2/15/2010 3:37:47 PM

Quote :

"retiring =/= jumping ship. It can be jumping ship, but eventually some congressmen just get tired of being congressmen."

That, or they're all headed for an "extended vacation" in a country with no extradition laws.

2/15/2010 3:45:18 PM

Quote :

"It can be jumping ship, but eventually some congressmen just get tired of being congressmen."

If I can ever get elected as a Congressman, I think I'm likely to just go in there with all guns blazing, making all the impact I can in a term or two, with little or no regard to long-term political considerations such as keeping lobbyists and party whips happy. I don't really care to spend decades on the Hill.

2/15/2010 5:26:06 PM

He was a governor before he became a senator, so I'm sure he feels disenchanted with doing nothing and trying to toe the liberal party line.

2/15/2010 5:46:52 PM

thats exactly how he feels, he said so himself

he said he was used to getting stuff done and its frustrating to be in congress and it's not where he wants to be, he wants to see a positive influence that his work does on a day to day basis

2/15/2010 9:24:16 PM

specifically mentioned the republicans who wouldn't vote for the deficit commission bill that they had co-sponsored as one of his tipping points. seems like he's really screwing the democrats with his timing though.

2/15/2010 9:43:56 PM

weird..."I don't like the R's, so I'm going to make it difficult for the D's."

2/15/2010 9:59:41 PM

I dont know why but i have only heard of democrats who have quit
i dont recall one GOP stepping down

2/15/2010 11:08:32 PM

that's because that doesn't fit into the media narrative.

brownback, bunning, lemieux, bond, gregg, and voinovich are retiring from the republican side in the senate this year.

(dodd, kaufmann, burris, bayh, kirk, and dorgan for the dems)

2/15/2010 11:21:39 PM

well i watch cnn and msnbc mostly and still never heard of these
perhaps they are of different circumstances like a planned retirement

2/15/2010 11:25:03 PM

cable news is shit. all of it.



[Edited on February 15, 2010 at 11:37 PM. Reason : too late.]

2/15/2010 11:25:49 PM

i also daily check huffingtonpost and never recall any GOP stepping down
weird

2/15/2010 11:29:58 PM

i'll dig into each one:

lemieux was appointed to replace mel martinez in 2009 and is not going to run for re-election. same basic story with roland burris.

brownback is retiring due to "self-imposed term limits" and is likely running for governor.

bunning was not well-liked and the republican party pulled support. saying that he thought justice ginsburg would be dead by the end of the year last year didn't help things.

bond decided not to run for re-election. reason wasn't given on wiki. his disapproval and approval ratings were 45% which is pretty bad for an incumbent, so that could have been part of it.

gregg was nominated to be commerce secretary for obama and then withdrew his nomination. shortly thereafter said he would not run for re-election.

voinovich: "In an interview in 2005, Voinovich expressed his intention to run for reelection to the Senate in 2010.[11] A December 2008 poll by Quinnipiac University found that he would face a tough "fight for a third term, with 36 percent wanting to give him another term and 35 percent backing an unnamed Democratic candidate."[12] On January 11, 2009, Voinovich's aides reported that he had decided to retire from the Senate rather than seek reelection in 2010."

so no. it really was that the msm is going with a narrative.

oh yeah and huffingtonpost isn't much of a news source either. good for horse-race stuff and gossip. not so much for news.


haha. apparently this was the header for the story on maddow tonight: "KTHXBAYH"

[Edited on February 16, 2010 at 12:01 AM. Reason : .]

2/15/2010 11:38:09 PM

perhaps cause every dem lost seems to give an opening to repubs, but not the other way around

2/16/2010 12:26:22 AM

dems are certainly losing to a lot of generic republicans in polls certainly. but specific republicans are going to run. and they often fare far worse than these mythical generic republicans.

but yeah in blue dog districts, republicans will likely pick up those seats.

[Edited on February 16, 2010 at 12:50 AM. Reason : .]

2/16/2010 12:50:16 AM

Yeah its easy to dislike dems who aren't getting much done in Washington (thank you gridlocking GOPers on massive nomination holds, filibustering bills you cosponsored, voting against bills you actually like then taking credit for them) and those who are considered socialists who hate america (thank you fox news & tea party) and thus prefer a generic republican. But once you have to consider voting for a bank-run Burr, or loony Virginia Foxx (just to use some NC examples), or the like... the GOP dinner special starts looking a lot less appetizing.

2/16/2010 1:01:13 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/16/bayh.senate/index.html

Quote :

"Bayh says his retirement won't leave Democrats in a tight spot Washington (CNN) -- Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh says his decision to retire at the end of the year rather than run for re-election has not left his party in a bind. "The party hasn't been left in the lurch. We have a real shot of winning this election and having a good senator follow me in the United States Senate. And I'm going to help that individual very vigorously," Bayh said Tuesday on CNN's "American Morning." The two-term senator's unexpected announcement Monday gives national Republicans one of their best opportunities to take over a Democratic seat, according to independent analyses from two leading nonpartisan political handicappers. The Cook Political Report revised its rating for the Indiana contest to "Leans Republican" shortly after news of Bayh's decision broke. The race had previously been rated "Leans Democratic." The Rothenberg Political Report modified its rating from a "narrow advantage" for Democrats to "toss-up," meaning the race could go either way. But Bayh says he's confident that Democrats will be competitive in the contest. "I do think we have a strong chance of being successful this fall. We've got several congressmen who are considering this race, some other substantial figures who are considering this race. The Republican Party has a five-way primary. ... I mean, they're going to be very divided before this is over. We have a chance to focus on the fall campaign. I think our candidate will start off with a monetary advantage. Indiana's a challenging state. But if we nominate the right person, I think we've got a real shot," Bayh told "American Morning" anchors John Roberts and Kiran Chetry."

Bayh obviously had a better shot at winning re-election than a non-incumbent. But given the anti-incumbent winds and the sizable warchest he can use to help whichever dem runs... I wouldn't call this race as decided by any means.

2/16/2010 3:30:28 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzRC434jSs4

2/18/2010 2:01:29 AM