2010 Congress--Are Republicans looking at a THIRD Stinging Defeat!?

Say it ain't so! We aren't even TWO WEEKS into the election cycle, and already, Republican House and Senate seats are up for grabs. To hear about this amount of attrition so early in the cycle has got to be demoralizing for a party that seemed to get some swagger back last week (with the unanimous "NO" vote on Obama's stimulus package).

Let's take a look at the carnage, shall we?

Senate:

The map is already brutal for Republicans. Mel Martinez (R-FL), Sam Brownback (R-KS), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Kit Bond (R-MO), have already announced they won't seek re-election. Add to this the possibility of others announcing the same (Chuck Grassley-age, David Vitter-sexual escapades, Arlen Specter-age and health, Jim Bunning-age and lack of fundraising), and still more sitting Senators facing other challenges (Judd Gregg-liberal state and Obama offer of Cabinet job, Richard Burr-state trending blue, poor fundraising), and there are all the makings of a THIRD Republican bloodbath.

None of the Democratic seats are nearly as vulnerable, and it would take a further worsening of the economic times, and a true lack of leadership (or heaven-forbid, further terrorist act) to stem the tide. The Republican Senate caucus is a mess, and is showing few if any signs of improvement. Few prominent Republican leaders are stepping up to run in these states, and the ones who are have age issues (names like Warren Rudman in NH--he's 78 years old), or are extremely partisan (Roy Blunt--Missouri)

House:

Already, names like Roy Blunt, Jerry Moran, Todd Tiahrt, Gresham Barrett, and Zach Wamp have come out and said they are seeking other offices, or other employment, come 2010. Now Adam Putnam's announcement that he will not seek re-election comes as a surprise, as Putnam was considered a real star in the party. The common thread in most of these announcements is that these are all folks from the South and Mid-west, and mostly deep RED areas of the country. But what does it say that these folks have had it with the Congress? Being in the minority stinks, without a doubt. But getting back to leadership doesn't happen when your party has to spend all its time and money figuring out how to win seats it should have had in the bag. Putnam hurts bad, and really takes some of the wind out of the Party's sails.

In all, a further deterioration of the economy will probably bode well for Republicans. But not if they don't get their act together, and come up with something more substantive than tax cuts, and saying "no". If they aren't careful, and the stimulus WORKS over their objections, they will truly be the Whig Party, come 2010.