Obey Seein' Ya

What person would give up being chair of the mega-powerful House Appropriations Committee?

Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, apparently.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, a senior member of the congressional Democratic leadership, announced Wednesday that he is not seeking re-election this November.

Obey, 71, represents Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District. He was the youngest member of Congress when he was elected to his first of 21 terms in 1969.

He is the fourth-longest-serving House member, serving behind Democratic Reps. John Dingell and John Conyers, both of Michigan, and Florida Republican Rep. Bill Young.

"I think that along the way I've made a difference in the district and the state that I represent, and for the country. But there is a time to stay and a time to go, and this is my time to go," Obey said in announcing his decision.

"Frankly, I hate to do it. There is so much that needs to be done. But even more frankly, I am bone tired," he said.

After 42 years of Congress, I'd be looking for the exits, too.  (Hell, I'd be looking for the exits after 42 minutes.)  But the bigger problem is that this is a huge, huge retirement for the Dems in a year where they stand to suffer notable losses...perhaps significant ones if the turnout numbers in yesterday's battleground primaries in Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina are any indication of the national picture in November.

Just 663K OH voters cast ballots in the competitive primary between LG Lee Fisher (D) and Sec/State Jennifer Brunner (D). That number is lower than the 872K voters who turned out in '06, when neither Gov. Ted Strickland (D) nor Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) faced serious primary opponents.

Only 425K voters turned out to pick a nominee against Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). The 14.4% turnout was smaller than the 444K voters -- or 18% of all registered Dem voters -- who turned out in '04, when Gov. Mike Easley (D) faced only a gadfly candidate in his bid to be renominated for a second term.

And in IN, just 204K Hoosiers voted for Dem House candidates, far fewer than the 357K who turned out in '02 and the 304K who turned out in '06.

By contrast, GOP turnout was up almost across the board. 373K people voted in Burr's uncompetitive primary, nearly 9% higher than the 343K who voted in the equally non-competitive primary in '04. Turnout in House races in IN rose 14.6% from '06, fueled by the competitive Senate primary, which attracted 550K voters. And 728K voters cast ballots for a GOP Sec/State nominee in Ohio, the highest-ranking statewide election with a primary; in '06, just 444K voters cast ballots in that race.

This is bad, bad news, folks.  Dems need to get on the ball.  Perhaps passing legislation that motivates progressives will help keep them in power.  That's why Obey's retirement is such a red flag: if the Democrat in charge of House Appropriations doesn't care about keeping his job after 42 years, the Dems could be in real, real trouble this fall.

[UPDATE] On the other hand, BooMan's not nearly as worried by all this.  He is right, a lot can happen in 6 months.