23 Republican Retirements So Far and More to Come

Posted by Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny! at 1:00 PM on November 27, 2007.

Howie Klein: The premature retirements of Hastert and Lott are just a small part of a larger trend.

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This post, written by Howie Klien, originally appeared on Down With Tyranny!

Yesterday Trent Lott's unexpected resignation from the Senate and Denny Hastert's long overdue one from the House, brought the number of Republicans leaving electoral politics to 17 in the House and 6 in the Senate. The Chairman of the NRCC, right-wing extremist Tom Cole (R-OK) tried to put on a brave face. "I don't hear a drumbeat that 'We're not effective and I don't like it here anymore.'" Maybe he needs to listen more carefully.

But with so many lawmakers -- including a large number from competitive states and districts -- heading for the exits, it's hard not to point to the GOP's newfound minority status in Washington, the turnover in party leadership and the perilous political environment heading into 2008 to explain the exodus.

Chris Cillizza in this morning's Washington Post thinks it's no exaggeration to say Republicans find themselves in serious danger of falling deeper into the minority in both houses. He points out how retirements seem to be throwing Republican held seats in New Mexico, Virginia and Colorado to Democrats Tom Udall, Mark Warner and Mark Udall, respectively.

"It's in the House, however," according to Cillizza., "where surprise retirements in swing districts have badly crippled Republican attempts to bounce back from 2006. And it's in the House where there are likely to be even more retirements. Currently on Republican retirement watch are John Doolittle (CA), Bill Young (FL), Tom Davis (VA), and Roscoe Bartlett (MD). And although increasingly unstable Chris Shays (CT) says he's not retiring (as of this week), he's become so bizarre that you never know what to expect from him.

And there is still a chance for some surprises out of New York, Florida and... well an indictment is likely to trigger a retirement (or two) in Alaska.

Tagged as: hastert, lott, republican party, democratic congress

Howie Klein is the creator of the blog Down With Tyranny!

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Hard to figure out [Report this comment] Posted by: UnEasyOne on Nov 27, 2007 7:20 PM Current rating: 1 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] If all these resignations have more to do with "The corrupt bastards club" or the "Hypocritical gay Republican fag basher's club." [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Good Riddance, But.... [Report this comment] Posted by: AlexLawyer on Nov 27, 2007 11:06 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] It's tempting to gloat, and we're all happy to see the back of these corrupt, odious, hypocritical guys, but the Democrats are only marginally better. They might not engage in as much bigoted, jingoistic rhetoric, but they still support Bush's vile neocon agenda and steadfastly refuse to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Good Riddance, But.... Posted by: UnEasyOne pfft! someone must have remembered to flush [Report this comment] Posted by: KaptainSpiffy on Nov 28, 2007 7:24 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] 2 words: term limits [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: pfft! someone must have remembered to flush Posted by: Timba » RE: pfft! someone must have remembered to flush Posted by: buzzsaw Watch these people closely, [Report this comment] Posted by: Chloe2005 on Nov 28, 2007 10:56 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] it will be very interesting to see where they all end up. Actually, the answer will be which lobby they join. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Republican retirements [Report this comment] Posted by: frank69 on Nov 28, 2007 11:08 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The retiring Republicans realize that Bush/Cheney is dragging them down. They want to keep their campaign money and flee - kind of like rats deserting a sinking ship. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] A question about healthcare and other benefits [Report this comment] Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN on Nov 28, 2007 11:16 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] these filthy pigs get. If they go to prison like cunningham, dp they lose these healthcare benefits or do they get to keep them for life? Isn't it wonderful that they are so interested in allowing REAL AMEICANS these same healthcare benefits? Goddamn scumbag pervs and theives. It;s obvious that they are rats off the ship to get into the OTHER professional theives union==lobbyists. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] A question about healthcare and other benefits [Report this comment] Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN on Nov 28, 2007 11:16 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] these filthy pigs get. If they go to prison like cunningham, dp they lose these healthcare benefits or do they get to keep them for life? Isn't it wonderful that they are so interested in allowing REAL AMEICANS these same healthcare benefits? Goddamn scumbag pervs and theives. It;s obvious that they are rats off the ship to get into the OTHER professional theives union==lobbyists. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] It seems likely... [Report this comment] Posted by: Bbear41 on Nov 28, 2007 11:37 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...That the repubs will keep the presidency but that the dems will have a larger margin in congress. The behavior of the present demo congress doesn't give much encouragement. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Forgotten but not gone [Report this comment] Posted by: willymack on Nov 28, 2007 12:33 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] OK, maybe it IS rats jumping a sinking ship, but, don't forget, there's another "election" to falsify. The ones who've "resigned" or "retired" may have done so to better conceal their activities in behalf of the neocrooks. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Sins of the Past [Report this comment] Posted by: ProgressiveManiac on Nov 29, 2007 8:02 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] To the extent that Democrats can survive the public's urge to purge the Congress of all of its incumbents, it will be interesting to see how effective this new crop of lobbyists are. One can expect that the new lobbyists' former colleagues will recall how they were always treated with such fairness and consideration while the Republicans were in power. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Maybe [Report this comment] Posted by: buzzsaw on Nov 29, 2007 4:15 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] the best we can hope for is the Presidency and the House in the hands of one party and the Senate very firmly in the hands of the other. buzzsaw [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Good Riddance, But.... Posted by: UnEasyOne

» RE: pfft! someone must have remembered to flush Posted by: Timba

» RE: pfft! someone must have remembered to flush Posted by: buzzsaw

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