More Rats Abandoning The Ship

I was talking with a handful of Georgia state legislators at a Christmas party (Rs, not Ds – and they shall remain nameless) and one of them made a comment that I think sums up the mood of the GOP base these days. I didn’t write down the quote, so I have to paraphrase. He said something to the effect of ‘It’s really nice of these guys to create this giant fiscal mess for the last 8 years and then bail out rather than trying to stay and fix it.’

I don’t know about you, but watching the parade of GOPers in Congress announcing that the party’s over and they’re going home has made me feel exactly like the Georgians.

Well, today brings word of yet another Republican (John Doolittle of CA) walking out the door shouting, “Will the last guy to leave turn out the lights?” (That’s a Roll Call link, so you’ll need a subscription, but I’ll give you the skinny).

Speculation has been rampant that Doolittle would retire from his 4th district seat ever since his Virginia home was raided by the FBI last spring in connection with an investigation into his and his wife Julie’s ties to disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Congressman has represented the suburbs and foothills just east of Sacramento for 18 years.

Granted, the guy could be indicted or plea out between now and the election and that makes it hard to focus on the campaign. Add to that the fact that his fundraising (the legal kind, at least) is in the tank as are his poll numbers. It’s not a pretty position to be sitting in.

That said, it seems Republicans are announcing they’re retirement about one-a-day.

In the meantime, the one guy we can’t get rid of (until the end of his term) is the one guy we most want to leave (immediately). And speaking of Mr. Widestance, he’s appealing the judge’s refusal to grant a do-over on his guilty plea.

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