Excuse the cliche’, but it is all too fitting for the Democrats current situation.  Longtime North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan announced that he will not run for re-election, and hours later breaking news indicated that Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd will not seek re-election to his seat. 

Last week, we examined in this post why incumbent Democrats were not running for re-election or switching to the Republican party.  As tough votes loom over the pending health care bill, many of them realize in swing districts (or states) that they will not be able to face the voters for supporting very unpopular legislation.  Not running for re-election frees them up to vote for unpopular bills with no direct repercussions from the voters. 

How many more ‘retirements’ will we see from House and Senate Democrats in the upcoming weeks?

WRS client Peter Schiff, who is considering a run against Chris Dodd in Connecticut for U.S. Senate, rolls out a new website with the revelation that he has raised nearly half-a-million in less than three weeks despite being a political neophyte.

Here is an article highlighting Schiff’s haul.

PDF of Memo (content pasted below)

Wilson Research Strategies was commissioned by Peter Schiff to conduct a live-interview telephone survey of likely Connecticut voters to determine the feasibility of a run for U.S. Senate against Chris Dodd in November 2010. WRS completed the survey of n=400 likely voters June 24–25, 2009. The sample was stratified to be geographically and demographically representative of the likely voter population of Connecticut. The study has a margin of error of ±4.9%.

The following are the key findings from the ballot match-ups:

• Chris Dodd remains very weak in this deeply blue state that went 61% for Obama in 2008, allowing Peter Schiff to split the vote on the ballot inside the margin of error.
o Voters were asked: “If the general election for US Senate were held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were (Choices Rotated)…�
Peter Schiff 38%
Chris Dodd 42%
Undecided/Ref 20%

• Rob Simmons, who has been running for nearly six months, does not have a lock on the race against Dodd even though Simmons has likely benefited directly from any anti-Dodd sentiment and maintains higher name recognition than Peter Schiff.
o Voters were asked: “If the general election for US Senate were held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were (Choices Rotated)…�
Rob Simmons 47%
Chris Dodd 38%
Undecided/Ref 15%

o Republican voters are only slightly more supportive (just outside the margin of error) of Simmons than Schiff, despite knowing Simmons much better and for a longer period of time. Schiff garners the exact same support among strong Republicans as Simmons does, indicating that Schiff could start the race with significant base support, equal to the support Simmons currently enjoys.
Schiff vs Dodd
• Self Identified Republican: 69% Schiff
• Self Identified Strong Republican: 90% Schiff

Simmons vs Dodd
• Self Identified Republican: 74% Simmons
• Self Identified Strong Republican: 90% Simmons

By: Emily Cadei (link to article)

Investor and financial commentator Peter Schiff is doing polling in Connecticut to gauge support for a potential Republican Senate run. Schiff has signed on prominent Republican polling firm Wilson Research Strategies to survey the state, his brother and spokesman Andrew Schiff told CQ Politics.

“Peter is a non-traditional candidate,” said Andrew Schiff of his brother, an outspoken libertarian who has gained attention for correctly predicting the collapse of the mortgage industry despite mockery from other industry analysis. “We’re attracting a lot of very fervent believers.The question is whether or not this will all resonate with the voters of Connecticut.”

Indeed, Schiff was not considering a Senate run against five-term Sen. Christopher J. Dodd until he became the subject of an aggressive drafting campaign this past winter. Schiff’s first brush with politics was as an economic adviser to Republican Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. That role linked him into a network of Paul supporters who have urged Schiff to run for office — Andrew Schiff said his brother has been “bombarded with emails and phone calls” over the last several months.

What remains unclear is whether Schiff has a legitimate shot of taking on more traditional politicians like former Rep. Rob Simmons and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri in the Republican primary and Dodd in a general election.

“We do think there’s certainly room for the fiscally conservative, libertarian wing of the party to attract a lot of attention in the Northeast,” Andrew said, adding that Peter is prepared to develop a policy portfolio not just on finance and monetary policy, his speciality, but also on hot-button issue like health care and energy. But economics will remain is major focus.

“We’re leaning towards a run,” he said, however, “Peter doesn’t want to spend a lot of time and money if there’s really no chance.”