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Top Democrats head for the exits
By: Manu Raju and Josh Kraushaar
January 6, 2010 04:17 AM EST

The grim outlook for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections just got a little worse.

Four top Democrats — including veteran Sens. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan — all prepared to pull the plug on their campaigns in a 24-hour period that began Tuesday, and in the process, offered an unnerving glimpse at the perilous election year ahead.

With Dorgan’s stunning retirement announcement Tuesday evening, Democrats are now facing their bleakest election outlook in years — and the very real possibility the party will lose its 60-40 Senate supermajority after the November elections. On the House side, the prospect of a 20 to 30 seat loss is already looking increasingly likely.

“It’s not good news for Democrats,” said Roy Temple, a Democratic strategist. “The reality is this is going to be a challenging year, and this is an additional challenge you would prefer not to have. Because of the success of the last two cycles, there are a lot of seats to defend. This is just an additional complication.”

Dorgan’s announcement was accompanied Tuesday by Michigan Democratic Lt. Gov. John Cherry’s decision to end his floundering bid for governor, and by the revelation that both Dodd and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter would announce Wednesday that they would not seek reelection.

There is some silver lining in the Democratic cloud: Ritter, Cherry and Dodd were all struggling to gain traction and their departures could actually increase Democratic chances of holding those offices.

Several top-tier prospects immediately surfaced in Colorado as potential Democratic candidates for governor. In Connecticut, Democrats expect that state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will run in Dodd’s place, providing them with a stronger nominee than the embattled five-term senator.

But the retirements of two senior Democratic senators, and the suddenly altered landscapes in Michigan and Colorado, continue a wave of Democratic bailouts that began with a burst of retirements by veteran House Democrats representing competitive districts, followed by the stunning late December party switch by freshman Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith.

In the meantime, President Barack Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s poll ratings have slipped across the board, generic polling is now generally more favorable to Republicans and a handful of promising Democratic House candidates have abruptly ended their campaigns.

Suddenly, the sad sack GOP is looking at its best shot in three election cycles of making serious gains in November. ...............>>>>.............>>>>.............http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31186.html

Time for change....not party but more like generational......

I guess the "swing" voters are finally waking up. While I'm glad, I wish they did some research before the 2008 election.