Bad Week for Democrats

Dodd, Dorgan, and a whole lot of unhappy voters.


It was a bad week to be a Democrat [Editor's Note, January 8]. Will it get worse? The decision by entrenched Sens. Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd not to run for re-election raised a whole lot of speculation that more of the mighty would fall. Both were reacting to an immensely unhappy electorate. The sour economy is surely a factor, as is discontent with the policies of President Obama and the performance of Congress as a whole. Surely, the tortured progress of the healthcare bill has won few fans for the legislative process. So how bad is it for the Democrats? How did they fall so far so fast? Have they overreached in pushing their agenda? Or is it all just about the bad economy? Most important, will they lose their control of the House and Senate? Please share your thoughts at