Within a week of "Retirement Tuesday", the Democrats are awash in new growth in the wake of the spate of exits made in the 24-hour period.
Whereas the Democrats were planning on a Chris Dodd re-election bid in Connecticut, they now have state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal looking like the solid favorite in an open-seat contest.
In the wake of Democratic Governor Bill Ritter's surprise retirement in Colorado, the Democratic slot will now likely be held by popular Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
And, in the state of Michigan, where state Lt. Governor John Cherry put an uphill and underfunded bid for Governor to bed, a Democrat has stepped up to say that he wants to provide an electoral upgrade in the gubernatorial race.
Bart Stupak?!
Stupak said Tuesday that he will be traveling across his state in the coming weeks to gauge support for a bid, but added that he wants to avoid a bloody primary. Stupak has noted in the past that his support for gun rights and opposition to abortion rights would make it difficult for him to win a statewide Democratic primary. But he said Tuesday that his independent streak could make him the strongest Democratic candidate in a difficult election environment this year.
Let's be clear on one thing: Stupak knows his positions are anathema to a Democratic primary electorate. He also knows that the bulk of the Democratic primary voters in Michigan are going to be centered far from his district, which is in the farthest northern reaches of the state.
So when Stupak says that "a divisive primary would not be good," what he is really saying that a primary would not be good...for him.
But Stupak assures that he is worth it in the interview, arguing that he is a "strong leader" and that he "may very well be the strongest candidate" for the post.
Stupak further endeared himself to Democrats later in the interview by declaring a certain GOP pickup in the Michigan 1st district if he does decide to run for Governor:
Stupak said that he's already gotten a call from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) urging him to run for re-election.
"It's a gone district, if I'm not in there," Stupak said. President Barack Obama won the district by a few hundred votes, Stupak said, despite pulling out all of the stops.
Aside from the healthy dollop of faulty history (Michigan, of course, was all but conceded to Barack Obama weeks in advance of the election, and Obama won the district by over 6000 votes, according to the Almanac of American Politics), it reveals a great deal about Stupak's character to see him bragging that Democrats are begging him to stay in the House, because they'll get clobbered without him.
Even if you can make the analytical argument that a 50/50 district in a tough election cycle is a challenging hold for the incumbent party, there is no percentage in bragging about that fact in an interview.
Unless, of course, feeding your own outsized ego is more important than your loyalty to the party that you are insisting should anoint you as its gubernatorial nominee.