POLITICAL RETIREES: WHO ARE YOU SORRY TO SEE GO?

2010 is shaping up to be a year of political exits. ARE YOU SORRY TO SEE ANY OF THEM GO?

Chris Dodd was and still a good worker for the Democrat party, on and off the Senate floor. He will be missed by the democrats. But, it's almost a sure thing when one runs for the White House and loses, the person never recovers from the loss or having to bow out of the race. We can say the same for John Kerry who lost his clout , and a number of others that have ran and lost. Same more or so has happen to John McCain this past year, and he may lose his Senate seat come 2010.

I agree...and herein lies something for which I hold President Obama responsible. He came into his presidency with his hand held out to the Repubs, inviting them to join him as Americans rather than as Republican vs. Democrat. He didn't hold any animosity towards them and thus expected them to be feeling the same way, especially with the amount of "political capital" he had at the time. He was hoping to bring bipartisanship practices among the Congressional members into the forefront in a way they had not seen in many years. He was naive in this respect..and I think he realized his mistake early on, but didn't want to be seen as practicing "more of the same." I think he expected the Repubs to acknowledge the fact that they LOST, yet this is so foreign to them...it's something they've never done...to this very day. The Dems don't quite know what to do...behave like Repubs to get their agenda across, or not? If they say no, they're going to lose the opportunity they may never have again to actually help the American people with health care and job creation. Obama should have seen the writing on the wall and become much more proactive, much more visible, and he should have "called out" those who were and are spreading lies and misconceptions about him and what he wants to do to help the country. I hold out hope, though, that he will find his stride this year...and maybe the Dems will follow suit.