Breaking out of Nashville...

Another Democrat Congressman has announced his sudden retirement. This makes the fourth Dem incumbent in the last few weeks to decide against reelection. Just last week Rep. Brian Baird of Washington State unexpectedly stepped aside, in a district (southwestern WA), that leans Republican. And the week before that it was Rep. John Tanner of Eastern Tenn.

From the Nashville Post Politics.com:

From Press Release: After more than a quarter-century of public service to his home state of Tennessee, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon announced his plans to retire from Congress when his current term ends in 2010.

There really isn’t anyway to spin as anything but bad for Democrats. Whatever their reasons, the retirement of both John Tanner and Bart Gordon mean that only two years before redistricting the Democrats will have to defend two marginal seats that will likely be carved up anyway.

It had always been assumed that the GOP would flip the 5-4 congressional delegation majority for Democrats to at least a 5-4 Republican and likely 6-3 or 7-2 in 2012. It just wasn’t expected to happen in 2010.

Editor's Note - a special hat tip to our very high-placed GOP source in Washington, DC who sent to this to us early this morning.