Another Republican sees handwriting on the wall & quits!

(AP) Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, an influential Republican voice on budget issues for a generation, intends to retire at the end of his term next year, party officials said Wednesday.

These officials said the 75-year-old, six-term lawmaker intends to make a formal announcement on Thursday in his home state. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the decision.

Domenici would be the fifth Republican senator to decline to seek a new term, giving Democrats an opportunity to expand their majority in the 2008 elections. GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Larry Craig of Idaho and Wayne Allard of Colorado have previously announced plans not to run again.

A spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not immediately return a request for comment.

The New Mexico Republican had earlier signaled a desire to run for re-election, despite coming under criticism this year over possible role in the firing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

A Domenici adviser said the prospect of a potentially tough race in what is expected to be a difficult year for Republicans...

 

You may see another Republican not run again in 08. Senator Stevens(AK). He says he intends to run, but in the face of mounting scrutiny he may decide to retire or he may get indicted. Who knows...There is also the chance that he could lose to a democrat running against him. With the GOP in Alaska falling like flies these days on corruption charges there is a real chance of that. Same goes for our lone Congressman Young. He is getting old, unpopular and might is facing some serious accusations. It is shameful to Alaskans our political system in this state has been through. Hopefully good change will come.

 

Top gun, the guy's 75 years old. Give him a break.

 

36 years as a US senator, if you go that far, might was well die in office.
Is now the time when I should ring my "we need congressional term limits bell?"

 

The guy is suffering from a progressive and incurable illness - that is why he is retiring.

 

Top gun was just being 'economical' with the facts.

 

Hey there's no doubt the guy is old I thought that was a given. (I liked that interpretation sublime... I was being economical with the facts )

But he had stated to everyone until just recently he was going to run one more time. Some of these guys hold on. Look at Strom Thurman he was about what 200 when he quit... just kidding.

My point was look at all the major Republican players that are getting out before the outcome of the 08 election. Some are very young like Hagel, some are involved in some scandal and some are old and just want to go out on a halfway decent note.

That's all I was saying.

 

USMC, if there is "Republican" in the title, "conservative" in the description, along with a few other hot-button words, it is like the proverbial waving of red to a bull. It will result in senseless attacks, leaving one to wonder where they keep this compassion they claim to have the corner of the market on.

Sen. Domenici is quite well respected by his peers. In fact, by nearly all. At least he has been to date. He's not without flaw, and has at times raised questions. But overall, a pretty good record. Who knows what will happen now that he's announced his retirement and revealed his medical condition. I sincerely hope that he will be shown the respect he's earned throughout his years in office.

Judging by the nature of the media's treatment of the announcement, I don't have much hope of a dignified transition for Domenici. After Googling the news sector, it's disheartening to see how so much of this story is written.

Example: The original post in this thread is from the AP. I'm not sure what the articles' posting time was, or it's writer. I didn't find that one, so possibly the AP found their original news on this in poor taste, possibly even premature with less than adequate information. Possibly it was pulled, possibly it's just back further chronologically than I explored.

I've got to say, the newer AP story I found was not bad at all. It was sometime just before noon today, EDT, and was by David Espo. The headline N.M. Senator Quitting for Health Reasons was a promising start. The first nine paragraphs are about the Senator, his health situation and information about the condition. Nine paragraphs before the political side is even hit on. But never a feeding frenzy, and never losing sight of the Senator's grave condition. It is an excellent, spot-on article. Kudos!

Example: CNN Paul Steinhauser's article Domenici announces his retirement from Senate updated about 7:25 p.m. EDT doesn't even mention the illness. It's a total political feeding frenzy, with no redeeming factors at all. Fine, except it was supposed to be about Domenici. A second article by Dana Bash, Domenici will not seek re-election because of brain disease posted at 8:55 p.m. EDT DOES go into the illness immediately. Quite well written, it's closer than most to being on a par with Mr. Espo's article for the AP.

There are a few others that have their priorities in order. For the most part, it's totally the feeding frenzy that all but a handful of responsible, compassionate journalists avoided.

So USMC, it's not surprising at all that top gun and company would go for the throat instead of showing a bit of compassion and respect. Like attracts like.