Liberal pundits have claimed that 2010 wouldn’t be another 1994 bloodbath because things are different this time. Specifically, they’ve said that one of the reasons why Republicans won 54 seats that election was the extraordinary amount of open seats that fell into the GOP’s hands.

Of course, that’s revisionist history, with chairmen like Dan Rostenkowski and Jack Brooks getting the ouster as well as sitting Speaker Tom Foley getting defeated. Other big name Democrats biting the dust were Dan Glickman and Frank McCloskey.

Now the Democrats’ pundits had better start worrying because the rats are abandoning Speaker Pelosi’s sinking ship:

Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon will not seek re-election in 2010, becoming the fourth Democrat sitting in a swing district to retire in the last several weeks.

“When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now, I’m one of the oldest,” Gordon said in a statement announcing his decision. “In fact, I have members of my staff who weren’t even born when I took office. That tells me it’s time for a new chapter.”

Gordon has held the central Tennessee 6th district since 1984 but was headed to his most serious race in recent memory in 2010 as national Republicans had aggressively recruited against him due to the GOP lean of the seat. (Arizona Sen. John McCain carried it with 62 percent in 2008 and President George W. Bush won it with 60 percent four years earlier.)

No Democrats had retired before the 09 elections. Now that they’ve seen how independents have fled the Democratic Party en masse, the retirements are coming faster. Gordon faced a particularly stiff uphill fight, running in a decidedly pro-Republican district in a decidedly pro-Republican year.

Every Democrat that abandons Pelosi’s sinking ship makes candidate recruitment that much easier for the GOP. Everyone knows that it’s easier to recruit candidates for open seat races than it is to recruit to run against an incumbent, though it’s true that some incumbents are less imposing than others.

There’s another thing that must be taken into consideration for this election. Democrats are democralized, especially if the gutted version of health care passes. In fact, according to AllahPundit’s post, a new lefty CW is emerging:

Insurance companies win. Time to kill this monstrosity coming out of the Senate.

That’s something Kos posted on his Twitter feed. In the spirit of bipartisanship, and acting on behalf of the Right Blogosphere, I hereby extend my hand to Markos in the effort to kill this bill.

I suspect that Democrat activists will be upset after this. I certainly understand their frustration. The lesson that the left should learn from this is that it outran public support for the bill. Had they listened, they would’ve heard the American people saying that they were going too far.

After all, a recent CNN poll showed the public opposing the bill by a 61-36 margin.

Regardless of what happens going forward, John Q. Public will remember that the Democrats didn’t hesitate in ignoring the will of We The People. Along with the retirements, that’s something that 2010 has in common with 1994.

Technorati: Elections, Bart Gordon, Blue Dog, Tom Foley, Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Brooks, Health Care, Retirements, Democrats

Cross-posted at California Conservative