Evan Bayh’s announcement that he will retire this year, combined with the current state of the Democrat party reminds me of Al Pacino’s famous line in the 1975 film Blue Dog Day Afternoon.

“I’m dyin’ here…”

The stunning announcement by centrist Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh that he’s retiring from a Congress he no longer loves adds yet another name to a list of lawmakers fleeing a town they say has become acidly partisan. And it gives Republicans a chance to pick up a seat.

The decision by the Indiana Democrat, who was in strong position to win a third term in November in his GOP-leaning state, also compounds the problems facing Senate Democrats this fall as they cling to their majority in the chamber, where they now hold 59 of the 100 votes.

Bayh joins a growing roster of recent Democratic retirements that includes Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Yet the congressional casualty list has a decidedly bipartisan flavor, with recent retirement announcements coming from Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and other GOP House members from Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas and Arizona.

The comparison between the Democrats and “Sonny,” the main character in Dog Day Afternoon is especially ironic when you consider the fact that Sonny was caught trying to rob a bank.

Cross posted at Mike LaChance.

The law professor, William Jacobson, who blogs at Legal Insurrection has set his sights on unseating Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) of Rhode Island in the 2010 midterms. Patrick Kennedy is the son of the late US Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Professor Jacobson, who hails from Rhode Island, is a big Scott Brown supporter. As a fellow New Englander, I’d like to offer my own explanation of how Patrick Kennedy is going to lose his seat in Rhode Island this fall.

Our President and his friends on the left will be glad to know that I’ve boiled my theory down to five simple points which can hopefully be understood by every knuckle dragging troglodyte conservative in all the bitter, gun-clinging, bible clutching, flyover red states like… Massachusetts.

Here goes…

1. Scott Brown won every Massachusetts town on the Rhode Island border except one.

2. Scott Brown won more than 50% of the Massachusetts towns that border Connecticut.

3. On February 4th, less than three weeks after Scott Brown’s stunning Massachusetts victory, Patrick Kennedy referred to Brown’s win as “a joke.”

4. Rhode Island news outlets are already reporting on Patrick Kennedy’s vulnerability.

5. Rumor has it that a well known politician is planning to run against Patrick Kennedy and he’s very popular with the people of Rhode Island. Perhaps you’ve heard of him.

Buddy Cianci has had his share of troubles as a politician but a majority of citizens in the Ocean State absolutely love him. As the Mayor of Rhode Island’s capital city of Providence for over 21 years, Cianci was incredibly effective. He has the trust of Rhode Island voters and tremendous name recognition.

If Cianci chooses not to run, the anti-incumbency wave that recently helped carry Scott Brown to victory will most likely defeat Kennedy anyway. When I recently covered a “campaign school” in the Boston suburb of Braintree, I met more than one attendee from Rhode Island.

If the rumor is true and Cianci decides to run, I suspect most Rhode Island voters will be asking themselves only one question this November.

Patrick who?

Cross posted at Mike LaChance.