Republicans Not Seeking Re-election

Even though it's very unusual for the President's party to hold onto a congressional majority in the midterm elections (only 3 times in 150 years has the same party held the majority), many Republicans are giving up and announcing retirement a full year before elections take place.

You've no doubt heard that Senator Chris Dodd (D) from Connecticut and Byron Dorgan (D) from North Dakota are retiring at the end of the year. But there are SIX Republican Senate incumbents compared to TWO Democratic incumbents retiring; and there are 14 House Republicans calling it quits compared to 10 Democrats. But the media will make it sound like only Democrats are retiring.