Exit of High-profile Democrats Underscores Obama Woes

Exit of high-profile Democrats underscores Obama woes.

WASHINGTON — The unexpected retirements of two senior U.S. Democratic senators on Wednesday underscores the deepening political woes facing the majority party as it heads into midterm elections widely expected to be a referendum on American President Barack Obama.

Facing bleak prospects for re-election in November, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota joined a growing list of Democrats who have decided to step down rather than risk defeat by a restive American electorate.

A third prominent Democrat — Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado — also announced Wednesday he would not seek re-election.

“In the long sweep of American history, there are moments for each elected public official to step aside and let someone else step up,” Mr. Dodd told reporters in East Haddam, Conn. “This is my moment to step aside.”

Mr. Dodd, a former Democratic presidential candidate who chairs the Senate finance committee, cited a variety of personal reasons for his decision to leave politics — including a recent battle with prostate cancer and the death of his friend Ted Kennedy — but admitted he was also “in the toughest political shape” of his 30-year career.

“I’m very aware of my present political standing here at home in Connecticut,” said Mr. Dodd, 65.

“But it is equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or defeat nearly a year from now would be absurd.”

Mr. Dodd’s political stock has plummeted over the past year over his close ties to the troubled U.S. financial industry and his support for the $700-billion Wall Street bailout. He’d been accused of using his financial industry connections to secure lower mortgage rates on $800,000 in loans from Countrywide, a chief player in America’s subprime mortgage crisis.

But he also alienated Connecticut voters by moving his family to Iowa ahead of that state’s Democratic presidential caucuses in January 2008.

Mr. Dorgan, meantime, was for the first time facing the prospect of a difficult re-election battle in conservative North Dakota. A five-term moderate who in the past, faced little opposition, Dorgan was likely to face a popular Republican opponent, Governor John Hoeven.

In a Wednesday news conference, Mr. Dorgan said Mr. Obama’s falling popularity and his own re-election chances did not play into his decision to retire. But he acknowledged the difficult political headwinds facing Democrats.

“I really believe this president inherited the biggest batch of trouble any president has faced since the 1930s,” Mr. Dorgan said. “I fully understand the anxiety and angst of the American people about where we are.”

Both Mr. Dorgan and Mr. Dodd have been caught up in a broad public backlash against the Democrats, who only a year ago were riding high after winning the White House and strengthening their control over the Senate and House of Representatives.

Several polls have shown the Democrats feeling the brunt of anger over the troubled U.S. economy, particularly discontent over double-digit unemployment, a $1-trillion-plus deficit and a belief that Washington’s $787-billion economic stimulus program has failed to quickly spark a recovery.

Mr. Obama’s struggles to rein in Wall Street excess and congressional bickering over forthcoming health-care legislation have also prompted voters to question his ability to deliver on the “change” he promised in 2008. The president’s approval rating has fallen from 68 per cent at the time of his inauguration to 50%, according to Gallup.

The shifting political mood has raised hopes among Republicans that, come fall, Democrats will lose their 60-seat supermajority in the Senate and perhaps more than a dozen seats in the House of Representatives.

“There’s a consistent theme from coast to coast, the heartland of America, that people have expressed a concern about the growth, the direction, the reach of government,” Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele told MSNBC.

But the GOP is facing troubles of its own as the 2010 election cycle begins.

So far, six GOP senators have indicated they won’t seek re-election in 2010, creating potential opportunities for Democratic newcomers.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in December showed only 28% of Americans had a positive view of the Republican party, compared to a 35% favourable rating for the Democrats.

By comparison, the poll showed the antigovernment Tea Party movement had a 41% favourable rating among U.S. voters.

Steele, the GOP chairman, was asked this week whether the Republicans could win back their congressional majorities in the midterm elections.

“Not this year,” he responded.

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