Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, House, Progressives | Tags: 2008, Campaigns, Candidates, Dan Maffei, Democrats, Elections, Jim Walsh, New York, Republicans, Retirements
So says The Politico:
Republican Rep. Jim Walsh of New York is expected to announce his retirement soon, according to a GOP aide familiar with the decision, giving Democrats another pick-up opportunity following a wave of Republican retirements this cycle.
The veteran appropriator had a tough reelection fight in 2006 and was expected to face another challenge in the fall.
It marks another surprise retirement for the GOP. Moderates Republicans have been particularly depleted in recent years, both through retirements and losses in the 2006 midterm. As a result, House Republicans have adopted a more conservative thrust during the 110th Congress.
[Emphasis added]
Walsh is from a pretty liberal district in upstate New York–in 2006, he beat Democratic challenger Dan Maffei by only 1.6%. Maffei is running again in 2008, so now this seat is even closer to ending up in the Democratic column.
Republicans have been retiring in droves, anticipating another Democratic victory this fall. Moderate Republicans have been particularly disadvantaged, and now the GOP is in a self-defeating, self-perpetuating cycle: moderates lose because they get tagged with the extremism of the national party; since there are fewer moderates left, the GOP becomes more conservative, which disadvantages the remaining moderates even more.
GOP members of Congress have been like rats deserting a sinking ship, so don’t expect Walsh to be the last retirement. James at Swing State Project says it best:
Will there be any Republicans left in Congress to turn the lights off at the end of the day?
At this rate…
