Friday’s announcement that the economy unexpectedly lost another 85,000 jobs in December was the latest weave in a growing tapestry of bad news for the Obama administration and the Democratic majority that controls Congress. Earlier in the week, Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota announced their retirements, as did Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter. Their decisions came hard on the heels of four House Democrats opting to retire rather than seek re-election, and a fifth choosing to switch parties and join the GOP.
Republicans are even doing well in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, where polls show conservative state Sen. Scott Brown within striking distance of liberal Democratic Rep. Martha Coakley in the special election later this month to succeed the iconic Sen. Ted Kennedy. The political environment has gotten so negative for Democrats that Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson aired a TV spot last week defending his support of the president’s health care reform bill even though he isn’t up for re-election until 2012.
