Silver Linings

Here’s a slightly belated posting of a story that came out this morning on time.com on what Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan’s retirements could mean for Dems in 2010 and beyond. There’s the obvious silver lining for Democrats to Dodd stepping down: Richard Blumenthal has a much better shot at the seat. I’d say that Blumenthal’s candidacy would help Joe Lieberman in 2012 – as Blumenthal was Lieberman’s top likely Dem opponent – but then I saw this poll. And in Colorado, as ABC’s David Chalian points out, Gov. Ritter’s retirement helps Michael Bennet’s bid to keep Salazar’s old Senate seat. Dorgan’s retirement, though, hurts Dems and there’s no way around that.