Retirements o'plenty

I'm going to agree with Jon Bernstein that Byron Dorgan's retirement is very bad news for Democrats while Chris Dodd's retirement is very good news for Democrats.  The Ritter retirement remains a tossup.  I tend to agree with Kyle Saunders that, in terms of electabililty, Salazar > Hickenlooper > Romanoff > Perlmutter, although the sign between Hickenlooper and Romanoff should probably be ≥.  At any rate, if early reports that Salazar is actually going to do this are true, then the chances of Dems holding this seat have probably gone up.  That comes at a price, of course -- Salazar is more conservative than Ritter.  But that might be what you have to do to hold the seat in this environment.

Update: Important point from Steve Benen:

In the House, 14 GOP incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while 10 Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement. Does this mean Republicans are "dropping like flies"?

In the Senate, six Republican incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while two Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement. Is this evidence of a mass Democratic exodus?

Among governors, several incumbents in both parties are term-limited and prevented from running again, but only three Democrats who can seek re-election -- Parkinson in Kansas, Doyle in Wisconsin, and Ritter in Colorado -- have chosen not to. For Republicans, the number is four -- Douglas in Vermont, Rell in Connecticut, Crist in Florida, and Pawlenty in Minnesota. (Update: the GOP number is five if we include Palin in Alaska.)