With House Republicans poised to seek a floor vote to remove Rep. Charlie Rangel of his Chairmanship of the Ways & Means Committee, House Democrats in potentially competitive races will be in a tough situation in the wake of the Ethics Committee’s findings that House rules were broken.

The Hill’s Susan Crabtree writes on their tenuous situation.  Key excerpts below:

Reps. Betty Sutton (Ohio) and Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) have joined the ranks of Democrats calling for the New York Democrat to relinquish his gavel in the wake of the ethics committee finding that Rangel violated House rules.

There are now seven Democrats who have publicly called and/or voted to have Rangel give up his chairmanship: Reps. Bobby Bright (Ala.), Travis Childers (Miss.), Paul Hodes (N.H.), Mitchell, Mike Quigley (Ill.), Sutton and Gene Taylor (Miss.).

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) is giving money Rangel donated to his campaign to charity while Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) is returning funds to the 79-year-old chairman.

In a release, Kirkpatrick said, “The bipartisan ethics committee has found that Congressman Rangel did not live up to the standards Members owe to their constituents with this matter and continues to look into other serious breaches. While I deeply respect his lifetime of service as a soldier and as a U.S. representative, I can no longer accept his support.�

According to CQ Money Line, other Democrats who have received funds from Rangel this cycle include Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Reps. Dina Titus (Nev.), Eric Massa (N.Y.), Dan Maffei (N.Y.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Debbie Halvorson (Ill.) and Mike McMahon (N.Y.).

The ethics committee found that Rangel violated House gift rules when he accepted reimbursement for two trips to the Caribbean that were sponsored by corporations. House ethics rules Democrats passed in 2007 after they won the majority bar corporations that employ lobbyists from sponsoring travel that lasts more than one day.

David Catanese of Politico had this as the title of his article yesterday.  Some key excerpts:

-[Sen. Evan Bayh's]departure now places 10 Democratic-held Senate seats at risk. If all are swept under by a November GOP wave, Republicans are back in control of the Senate.

-The situation in Arkansas continues to deteriorate

-Romanoff roughs up Bennet in Colorado

-A Gillibrand challenge jells in New York

-Third time’s a charm for Rossi in Washington ?

-Specter’s campaign trail vigor in Pennsylvania

Each of the races highlighted were seats the Democrats had no expectation of even being in-play this cycle.  With a new poll out showing 52% of Americans saying President Obama doesn’t deserve re-election, the situation continues to get worse for Democrats. 

As Catanese sums it up: “The lesson of the tumultuous past 45 days is that the contours of the political landscape can change in an instant — and a death, a retirement or a top candidate’s decision not to run can wreak havoc on the best laid political plans.”