Did the Dems Have a Strategy of Surrender?

By Suzy Khimm

Yesterday's avalanche of Democratic departures made for some high political drama: within hours of each other, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter all announced that they would be retiring, accompanied by the announcement by Michigan Lt. Gov. John Cherry that he would be abandoning his gubernatorial bid. "Democrats are dropping like flies," proclaimed ABC's "The Note," which later described the day as "a disastrous 24 hours for Democrats." Certainly, the exodus doesn't appear to bode well for Democrats, underscoring the growing anti-incumbency mood and an uncertain political landscape that's more likely to work against the dominant party in the midterm elections this year.

But the unusually close timing of yesterday's announcements also raises the question of whether the Democrats might have had a coordinated strategy of surrender. While such a proposition might seem like political hara-kiri, there are some tactical advantages to ramming all the news together.

For one thing, Dorgan and Dodd's retirements are likely to cancel each other out, in terms of the Senate's political balance. While Dorgan's seat is expected to be an easy Republican pickup, Dodd's departure makes it far more likely that his seat will remain Democratic, given his plummeting poll numbers and the immense popularity of the new Democratic contender, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. With the two announcements coming so close together, the GOP's jubilation about an unexpected pickup was almost immediately dampened by the news that the Senate's most vulnerable Democrat would not be seeking reelection.

And though the sudden spate of departures amplifies the prevailing narrative that the Democrats are in serious trouble this year, it also dumped all the news into one media cycle, rather than have the story revisited each time another Dem was headed for the exit. Yes, the Republican Party will do all it can to make hay of yesterday's exodus, and the Democrats still have the Herculean task of reviving their dispirited party. But if their critics are going to label them as "weak-kneed ship-jumpers," at least they can deploy their crisis management on a single day—then proceed to the more important task of funding and fielding the best candidates to run in a decidedly treacherous political climate.