GOP Exodus Continues

Posted by Parker V on October 21, 2007 under Elections | Be the First to Comment

Can Democrats capitalize on the stampede to the exit door?

For members of Congress, this is the time to get serious about seeking re-election next year or leaving office for something new. So far, only one party is heading for the exits.

While 17 Republicans already have decided to throw in the towel on their Capitol Hill careers, only two Democrats so far are calling it quits — and both of them are seeking higher congressional office. The disparity underscores the different moods prevailing in the two parties: Democrats, still heady from winning control of Congress 2006, are enjoying the fruits of power. Republicans, their party reduced to minority status in the House and Senate, see more allure in retirement or private life.

“I don’t like being in the minority,” said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who was first elected in the 1994 GOP landslide and will retire after this term. “It’s not that much fun, and the prospects for the future don’t look that good.”

The wave of retirements compounds the political challenge facing the GOP in the 2008 congressional elections, because the party is significantly trailing its Democratic counterparts in fundraising. That means Republicans will be defending more House and Senate seats with less money and will be fighting battles in places that otherwise would have been secure.

Additionally, many of the Republicans choosing to retire are older, more pragmatic lawmakers, such as Rep. Ralph Regula of Ohio, moderates like Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio and Sen. John Warner of Virginia, and mavericks like Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel. These departures fuel the generational and ideological changes that have pushed the Republican contingent in Congress steadily to the right over the past decade.

Eddie Mahe, a former GOP official, said it is no surprise that many Republicans are thinking about quitting politics at a time when President Bush’s popularity is low, Iraq is in turmoil and the U.S. economy might be going soft.

“If I was talking to my favorite brother-in-law and he was thinking about running for Congress, I would say, ‘Why would you want to do that now?’ ” Mahe said. “If anybody’s not smart enough to figure that out, I don’t want them around, anyway.”