In a stunning single day development, Sen. Byron Dorgan, Sen. Christopher Dodd and Gov. Bill Ritter announced that they won’t be seeking re-election. First, Chris Dodd’s retirement isn’t surprising because he’d been written off months ago:

Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.

Dodd’s retirement comes after months of speculation about his political future, and amid faltering polling numbers and a growing sense among the Democratic establishment that he could not win a sixth term.

Sen. Dodd didn’t stand a chance of defeating Rob Simmmons. His expected replacement, does. That’s Sen. Dodd’s retirement in a nutshell. Next is Sen. Dorgan’s retirement stunner:

Dorgan is the first Democratic senator to announce his retirement this cycle, with his decision coming one month after several House Democrats representing conservative-minded districts decided not to run for re-election.

Democratic Senate campaign officials only found out about Dorgan’s decision within the last 24 hours. Dorgan began calling Senate leaders on Tuesday afternoon to inform them of his decision to retire, according to Senate insiders.

He had previously given no sign that he wasn’t going to run for re-election or was even considering retirement and had been raising money for his 2010 campaign.

“It caught us totally by surprise,” said an aide to one top Senate Democrat. “We had no idea this was coming. Total stunner.”

I’ll be stunned if Charlie Cook doesn’t rate this seat as Leans Republican the next time his report is published. The Democrats don’t have a chance of keeping this seat, especially if Gov. Hoeven runs.

Gov. Ritter’s unexpected retirement completes the Democrats’ trifecta of trouble:

Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to announce Wednesday that he will withdraw from the race for governor, numerous sources close to Ritter confirmed Tuesday night.

Ritter began making calls to other prominent Colorado Democrats around 6 p.m. notifying them of his decision. Sources said his office contacted key legislators asking them to be available for an 11 a.m. press conference where Ritter will make his announcement.

It isn’t likely that the Democrats will retain this seat. Again, I’ll be surprised if Charlie Cook doesn’t rate this Leans Republican the next time his report is published.

There’s a common thread running through these retirements, especially in the Mid- and Mountain-West, namely that moderate Democrats don’t exist anymore. Nebraska voters now know that Ben Nelson is just as corrupt and just as liberal as Chris Dodd. Louisiana voters now know that Mary Landrieu is just as liberal as Bernie Sanders.

This is only part of a trend. It’s something that Dick Morris is picking up on in this Hill article:

The Democratic game of electing moderates in conservative districts who then vote to keep liberals in power is over. It overreached. By collapsing so completely and so publicly, it has become self-evident to even the most gullible of voters that there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat. You are either an Obama, Pelosi or Reid clone or you are a Republican. That’s the new two-party system.

This development will make it difficult for Tim Walz, John Spratt and Heath Schuler to run as moderates. Rep. Walz is particularly vulnerable after voting for the stimulus, cap and trade and Pelosicare. In fact, Rep. Walz put himself in additional trouble by recently telling the Minnesota teachers union, EdMinn, that voting for Pelosicare “was the easiest vote of my lifetime.” Even in liberal Minnesota, that’s how you spell H-I-S-T-O-R-Y.

Rep. Chris van Hollen said recently that this wouldn’t be like 1994 because they’re more prepared than 1994. He noted that there were alot of retirements in 1994 and that there wouldn’t be nearly the same amount of retirements this year. I didn’t buy into van Hollen’s theory or van Hollen’s premise. First, I’m not so certain that more Democrats don’t retire over the next month. Second, the reason why alot of Democrats retired in 1994 was because they knew they’d be defeated. Rather than tasting defeat, alot of Democrats retired in 1994 rather than being remembered as having lost their final election.

Democrat ‘moderates’ have repeatedly and quickly caved when their votes were needed to pass President Obama’s and Speaker Pelosi’s radical agenda. The Democrats captured a majority in 2006 because Rahm Emanuel recruited enough moderate-sounding candidates for swing districts. Since then, these politicians have accumulated voting records that they have to defend this cycle.

The Republicans that are left in the House are strong conservatives in strong conservative districts. In a year that’s already favoring Republicans, that makes the Democrats’ opportunities for picking off a couple Republicans difficult at best.

The best way I know how to summarize this is to say that the Democrats’ rough year just got worse.

Technorati: Chris Dodd, Byron Dorgan, Bill Ritter, Retirements, Open Seats, John Spratt, Heath Schuler, Tim Walz, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Moderates, Wave Election, Speaker Pelosi, President Obama, Cap And Trade, Pelosicare, Election 2010

Cross-posted at California Conservative