in connecticut, a popular democrat, state attorney general, richard blumenthal, announced he will rundodd's seat. >> i have not been pressured to take this step, i have received a lot of >> i've received a lot of encouragement. and i emphasize a lot. i have two dead cell phones right now. i have 2 dead cellfones right now. >> ifill: five democrats and six republicans will not seek reelection to the u.s. senate this year. in the house, 10 democrats have announced they're leaving, and an eleventh, alabama congressman parker griffith, has switched parties. but 14 house republicans have said they will not run again. party leaders are worried about state races too. in michigan, democratic lieutenant governor john cherry decided against a run for that state's top job. and in colorado, democratic governor bill ritter plans to step down. >> ifill: here to discuss the fallout from these high- profile decisions are two who specialize in politics, writ large and small. amy walter, editor of "the national journal's" political daily, "hotline". and chris cilizza, who reports on politics for the "w

richard blumenthal was elected attorney gener in 1990 and nce almost roughly that time hhas coveted ate seat. he has been urted many times. he's taken a pass. obviousl he's had senators dodd and lieberm in those offices for quite someime. he is by the far a the state's most popul politician, if you beeve skadz of independent polling. the question is is not meone who has had a real rac in rghly two cades. we will ve a real race he. he is clearly e favorite in th election. it is nnecticut. it is reliably democratic state. senatododd's probms were his known noabout the underlying problemsf the state. thataid , rob m fronz eastern nnecticut, my home district, as well as lindhcmeny, have pledged to spend upwds of $50 llion on her campaign are still the ce on the republan side. is it better today for democts than yesterday wh chris dodd in the race? absolutely. is it entire over? let's see w richard blumenthal performs on thcampaign trail. >> ifillamy, you are not, for the rerd, north dakota, and it isot a reliablely democratic ate so what is the fallout there? >> very, very different. you'

richard blumenthal will step in. how important is this? is it 1994 all over again? >> i want to give chris dodd credit for not saying i want to leave because i want to spend more time with my family. >> in this case, it might be true. >> look, i think it's going to -- you couldn't pick a tougher environment than you have today. election is ten months away. right now, today, the democrats stand to lose a couple dozen house seats and three or four senate seats. >> they'll hold control? >> almost an absolute to hold control in the senate. they could lose control in the house. this week aches event doesn't change much. the north dakota state goes into the republican side. the senate there have been six republican retirements but only two democrats. >> you could argue this has been a good week for democrats. if chris dodd stood for re-election, that looked really, really tough. now, as i think, al or you said, blumenthal is a strong candidate. >> jornl, good week for democrats? >> not great week. it's not that bad for them yet. republicans are not going to control the se

richard blumenthal will step in. he's ahead right now. how serious is this threat that the democrats are facing? is it 1994 all over again? >> i want to give chris dodd credit for not saying i want to leave because i want to spend more time with my family. which is what most politicians do. as journalists, we ought to track the next couple of years. >> in this case, it might be true. >> look, i think it's going to -- you couldn't pick a tougher environment than you have today. election is ten months away. right now, today, the democrats stand to lose a couple dozen house seats and three or four senate seats. i don't think the -- >> they'll hold on to control? >> almost an absolute to hold control in the senate. they could lose control in the house. it would have to be a tsunami. it would have to be 1994 all over again. this week's event doesn't chan much. the north dakota state goes into the republican side. retirements?ing to be other the senate there have been six republican retirements but only two democrats. >> you could argue this ha

i mean, richard blumenthal, who's the attorney general, is a consumer -- >> advocate rights. >> oh, he's to win, i think, in connecticut. so, it's -- >> i want to get back to dorgan with you, peter, because a little bit of inside baseball or playing the political chess board, if you want to. >> right. >> do you think dorgan got wind of bill owens in colorado, the governor who would not be running for re-election, despite his 2006 landslide victory, didn't think he could take it, and then there were theories that maybe former colorado senator ken salazar, now interior secretary, would say, look, i'm going to go for that post, and then he would have a position -- you know how it goes. >> in the administration. >> in the administration, but salazar says, no, i'm staying. >> well, that's a lot of dominos to fall, alex. >> right, right. >> and ritter's decision coming on the heels of these other two, you know, i think again a little bit of a blow. but i think he's looking to go out into the private sector probably to enjoy his life a little bit would be my guess with dorgan. >> okay. >> and s

the very, very popular governor of north dakota is a little bit like richard blumenthal. he has been talked about as a senate canada for many years. he won a third term with 70% of the vote. he was reluctant to take on byron dorgan, but now he will probably be talked into doing it. >> do you expect any more surprise announcements? >> i am not, but that's what makes some surprises. it is getting a little late in the political calendar for senators to pull these surprises because it does not do your own party any favors if they have to start recruiting candidates and raising money at this relatively late stage in the calendar. >> how do the 60 votes for the democrats shape up in 2010? >> i think it is a relatively safe bet that harry reid or his successor as majority leader if he loses his own race in nevada this fall while not have 60 votes to work with. that seems a pretty good prediction that one way or another the republicans will pick up at least a couple of seat this fall. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> you are watching c-span, created by america's cable

and picture is richard blumenthal, expected to succeed him and the "los angeles times" had a story about him as well. do you want to comment on that? guest: it was a very difficult decision for him. he has been thinking about it for a long time. in his speech yesterday mentioned he lost his good friend ted kennedy and his sister recently. he has also battled cancer over the summer. to his credit he also edged knowledge to was in the toughest political shape of his career. he said all that factored into his decision to decide to retire. an interesting anecdote -- on christmas eve he went to arlington cemetery to kennedy's burial site and thought about it. he soon made the call after the holidays that he would step aside. host: dennis is watching in fort washington, maryland. are you there? let me move on to kevin in hartford, conn. caller: if the healthcare bill is such a great bill then these democrats would not be dropping like flies. they would stand up and be proud. instead of doing this in secrecy. not transparent as they promised. they 1 because of republican incompetence, and now t

the very very popular governor of north dakota a little bit like richard blumenthal has been talked about senator for candidates for many years. he has never decide to run. he won his own term was 75% of the vote. he was reluctant to take on byron dorgan, but now if the now if the seat opens he will be talked into doing it. >> are you expecting any more surprise announcements, senate retirements? >> i am not but i guess that's a make some surprises. it's getting a little bit late in the political calendar for senators to pull these kind of surprises because it doesn't do your own party any favors if they have to start recruiting candidates and raising money at this relatively late stage in the calendar. >> and out of the 60 votes for the democrats shape up in 2010? >> i think it is a lover totally safe bet that you reread or his successor or majority leader back in nevada this fall will not have 60 votes to work with. it seems a pretty good prediction that one where the other republicans will pick up at least a couple seats this fall. >> david hawkings, managing editor of cq weekly. thank

>> the democratic candidates seems almost certain to be richard blumenthal who is in a rising star for 30 years. he has been seen as an obvious statewide candidates. he has never before action run for statewide office. he always thought it was thnot the right time. now it is the right time. the republicans at this hour have to viable candidates that were planning on running against chris dodd. he lost a few years ago. the other is a former executive of the world wrestling federation. she said chiselling to spend $30 million of her own money on the race. -- she is willing to spend $30 million of her own money on the race. kinetic politics are as a mixup -- connecticut politics are as mixed up in crazy as they always are. chris dodd seemed to have handwritten on the while for many months. by renegade indications that he wanted to run again for a fourth term. he expressed some frustration with the way things were going in washington, and not on the nation of partisanship but the whole competitive nature of how things had become even more competitive he was somewhat of a critic. he likes t