They’re dropping like flies, aren’t they?
Just after we learned that Republican Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) will retire, we now learn from Roll Call that Barbara Cubin of Wyoming will retire at the end of her team.
The writing was on the wall here for quite some time. Cubin’s disastrous victory against Democrat Gary Trauner in 2006 (she won by a mere 1000 votes and lost 25% of Republicans and a whopping 71% of independents to Trauner) sealed her fate, with the local and GOP aiming to knock her off in a primary. A host of health issues in her family made the decision obvious.
Unlike Saxton’s retirement, which moves his seat into “Lean Dem” territory, Cubin’s retirement is a setback for Democrats, who were relying on the state’s deep dissatisfaction with Cubin’s performance to carry their nominee in the 12th-most Republican district in the country. Still, Gary Trauner will perform strongly here for a Democrat, and there’s no telling how rancorous the GOP primary will be (and how ugly of a cretin that primary will produce).
Maybe because they are like flies, always buzzing around amid a stench of corruption and decay.
Now here we need a better DDT acronym than Determined Democratic Terminators. Maybe RAID would do — Republican Alliance of Incumbents Destroyed.
Seriously, glad to see her go. Nothing personal, it’s just politics. Sorry about her personal problems.
Gary Trauner won’t be hurt much by this development. Next year will not be an election about Rep. Cubin. It will be something bigger. The voters will be very clear in their minds what they want. If they’ve changed their minds and want a change in direction, they’ll want a Democrat. I’d bet that a poll in Wyoming that asked people who they voted for last year would show him with more than 50%.
Trauner was smart to run last year. Voters feel they know him, attack ads won’t define him. He’ll be fine without her in the race.
Anyone else think maybe Trauner should challenge John Barrasso for the Senate instead? I hope we find somebody to run in Wyoming, at least in the special election…Has anyone heard rumors about Dems challenging either seat? I doubt that the current Governor will run…