Good-bye and good riddance...

...but I wish he'd waited 10 months...

In the words of W.S. Gilbert, the news out of Connecticut offers "modified rapture."

Democratic U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, a 30-year incumbent who has been struggling in public opinion polls for more than a year, announced today he will not seek re-election, while Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he will seek the seat.

Obviously, anything that removes this detestable hack from the public teat is a good thing. So why is the rapture modified?

Because this move, in all likelihood, leaves that seat in Democrat hands in November. Dodd was un-re-electable in this climate. We know this not only because of the public polls, but because there is no other conceivable scenario under which this "public servant" would have given up his power. But now, instead of "voting the bum out" in November, Connecticut voters have the choice between a non-Incumbent, non-corrupt Democrat and a Republican. As bad as the environment is for Democrats, it's hard to imagine that they won't hold the seat now.