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One of the top electoral goals for the Senate Democratic leadership going into this Congress was keeping retirements to a minimum. That strategy doesn't seem to be going well.
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, D, a mainstay of the upper chamber since 1979, will not seek re-election next fall, he said Thursday.
Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced in a statement that he would not seek a seventh term in 2014. Levin is currently 78-years-old.
Levin, the longest-serving senator in Michigan history, becomes the sixth incumbent to announce that he won't seek another term in 2014. Of the six, four are Democratic: Levin, Iowa's Tom Harkin, West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller, and New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg.
Had he sought re-election, Levin would have won easily, so it's not as if fear of defeat scared him away. Rather, the Michigan Democrat just felt it was time to move on.
In light of Levin's announcement, there are two questions to kick around. The first, of course, is what's likely to happen to his seat. Democrats appear to have a structural advantage -- Michigan tends to be a "blue" state; Republicans have only won one Senate race in the state in the last four decades; and the GOP's bench is woefully thin, as evinced by the party's weak field challenging Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) in 2012.
It's obviously too soon to say with any confidence who'll run, but among Democrats, the most likely contender is Rep. Gary Peters, whose district was made far more challenging after the 2010 redistricting process. Also keep an eye on former two-term Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Among Republicans, attention is turning to state Attorney General Bill Schuette and Clark Durant, who lost in a GOP Senate primary in the last cycle.
Also note, Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, very likely benefits from the Levin news -- Democrats see him as vulnerable, but top-tier candidates will almost certainly prefer to run for an open Senate seat rather than challenge a well-funded incumbent.
And then there's the other question: what's with all the retirements?
It's only early March -- the year before the election -- and six senators are already headed for the exits. In the last Congress, there were 10 voluntary retirements. In the Congress before that, there were seven.
By historical standards, that's quite a bit of turnover, and doesn't even include senators who lost or died while in office. What's driving this? Why are so many senators, most of whom would have been re-elected if they chose to run again, leaving their exclusive club?
We can only speculate, of course, but I have to wonder whether being a senator is a whole lot less fun that it used to be -- the chamber just isn't a satisfying place to be right now. Republican abuse of filibuster rules have made it nearly impossible to do much of anything, and with a radicalized House majority, even if the Senate can pass something, it's likely to die in the lower chamber.
Senators effectively just spin their wheels, unable to govern, leaving both rookies and veteran senators alike feeling frustrated.
Maybe members should give institutional reforms another look.
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Legislating while getting rich was fun but playing God ain't so enjoyable? Could be that some members do not want to go down in history beside the screw ups. Could be some actually thought they were supposed to listen to the people and not the lobbyists?
One thing to consider is what they are retiring to. How many are going to get positions with corporations they helped? I would think the oil companies and war profiteers would be anxious to spend some of the money they stole on ex-congressmen.
Levin is 80 and well off. I doubt that "getting a position with a corporation" is high on his agenda. Having a comfortable position in a hammock or on the sofa is a more likely motive.
New blood.
Elizabeth Warren is the most prominent, but there are others- Rand Paul, for example. (example of what, I leave to the wags posting here!)
Steve mentioning Jennifer Granholm is most interesting. She gave a stem-winding speech at the convention that makes Governor Dean's 'rant' pale by comparison. And, like Ms. Judd, she is easy on the eyes. Which, sadly, counts for much in today's politics. How many votes did Brown's centerfold add to his total?
A few weeks ago she disappeared from hosting The War Room, on Current TV. Perhaps the new owners-(al Jazira)- pushed her out the door, or maybe she left to pursue more interesting options.
Stay tuned.
When its a struggle to even pass the VIolence Against Women Act because of cave-man opposition, and when one party doesn't seem to want to do anything but break stuff, and takes pride in rejecting basic science; imagine trying to reform health care so that it saves money, or improve education, or work to minimize climate change damage. It's got to be disappointing.
This is as good a time as any for a guy like Levin to retire. With the thin bench in Michigan, improving job numbers, and headlines featuring daily Repub tantrums, if the Dems can't put a younger body in his seat in 2014 they never will.
Whichever party that has the majority in the Senate for at least 6 years is always at a disadvantage when it comes to maintaining their majority. In 2014, there will be 21 dems up for election, while only 14 Republicans up for election. This means that the Republicans have a third more seats where they can possibly make gains in the Senate.
Maybe they're tired of fighting with a bunch of High Schoolers. Maybe they're letting the reigns go and are betting on God to take over the fight. Either way, we will survive, and if they succeed in killing the Middle Class, rest assured we're coming back with a vengeance, in order to save our children. All our hard work is not in vain.
Yeah the place is a royal pain and it's hard to tolerate that sort of thing as you get older.
There's another point though, Reid by not directly combatting Republican obstruction has contributed greatly to this.
Considering what the current GOP Gov. and State Senate are doing to the state of Michigan at the moment, I would think that even a somewhat thoughtful Dem would be swept into this seat.
They talk that drones would never be used in America to kill someone. Sure, we’ll agree with that just as everyone agreed about Bush, Cheney, and their cronies saying there is WMD’s in Iraq to cause another war. All we need is another Bush or Cheney types in the White House and you will see how laws and rules get ignored by some deceiving, corrupt, hypocritical, arrogant, greedy, power craving and lying people. Jebbie Bush should run for President it would be a nice reminder of that type of scum.
Let's look on the bright side new people coming into office with fresh ideas - that's not a bad thing. Second, in Michigan Gov. Synder has done enough damage that his re-election isn't a shoe in and after all of the GOTP shenanigans being pulled by them on the people, the people might be motivated enough to shut that GOTP thing down! Hey, I can hope can't I?! And frankly at 78, I think Mr. Levin has earned his right to retire.
I hope Granholm runs for the seat.
Part of it is the extraordinary success of incumbency: there is no turnover at a "reasonable" age. And because of the power in seniority, there is little pressure to get out of the way. In some cases, like the House seat for Iowa-3 (Boswell), overstaying meant losing a generation and ultimately losing the seat. Harkin, Levin, Lautenberg would all be in their 80s in the next term - it is hardly shocking they'd retire like anyone else in any other job. The problem is that we let a huge part of our Senate caucus age-up like that without periodically ceding to a younger class.
YES! Senator Granholm has such a nice ring to it!
These guys are getting old, very old. That's why they're retiring. Levin is 78; Lautenberg, 89; Rockefeller, 75; Harkin, 73. It look like Montana's Max Baucus, 72, will run again in 2014.
My concern is not that Lautenberg decided to retire. It's that he might die before the election, allowing Gov. Christie to appoint a replacement.
I wish they'd retire earlier. Some believe that (a) senators never die, and (b) those that do should die in office, like popes and supreme court justices.
Granholm should run for the Senate seat. Her name recognition and experience make her a natural.
Peters should run for Governor. What a great way to pay back Snyder and his buddies.
If the Republican abuse of the filibuster has made being a Senator less enjoyable, Levin has only himself to blame. He personally teamed up with McCain to prevent filibuster reform, after all.
Good riddance to a bad Senator.