Another Victim of the US Attorney Purge Scandal: Domenici Expected to Announce Retirement, Says WaPo

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WaPo blogger Chris Cillizza is reporting:

Veteran Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is expected to announce tomorrow that he will retire from the Senate in 2008, according to several informed sources, a decision that further complicates an already difficult playing field for Republicans next November.

You’ll remember Domenici, of course, as the senator (along with NM Rep. Heather Wilson) who was haranguing US Attorney David Iglesias to bring phony “voter fraud” indictments in the state via several inappropriate phone calls prior to the 2006 election. Iglesias was later fired for not having done so.

Like most Repubs, when called out, he’d rather run (or not run, as the case may be) than fight.

Though Cillizza speculates that NM Gov. Bill Richardson would be the “dream candidate” to run for the seat, it seems he’s currently too busy for the moment running for vice president. We’d be delighted to see him change his mind and do something actually useful for the country in 2008.

UPDATE: AP confirms, and notes that “Domenici would be the fifth Republican senator to decline to seek a new term.” They’ve also got more details on the “health issues” that Domenici, who had previously planned on running again, will use as his excuse. We guess “need to spend more time with the family” is getting a bit worn out by now.

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Another Victim of the US Attorney Purge Scandal: Domenici Expected to Announce Retirement, Says WaPo

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8 Responses

  1. 1)
    KestrelBrighteyes said on 10/3/2007 @ 4:05pm PT: [Permalink]

    So how many is that now, who were in some way tied to this “we did nothing wrong” issue and have now resigned? Is anyone keeping score?

    Move along folks, nope, nothing to see here…

  2. 2)
    oneguy said on 10/3/2007 @ 5:08pm PT: [Permalink]

    Why the GOP Must Nominate Ron Paul -posted October 2, 2007

    Why must the Republican Party nominate a 72-year-old grandfather from the Gulf Coast of Texas, until the past few months little known outside his district, as its 2008 standard-bearer? Very simple: the alternative is eight years of President Hillary Clinton. That ought to be enough to get the attention of every conservative who happens upon these words, so let me explain.

    It should come as no big revelation to anyone inside or outside of the Republican Party that the GOP has lost touch with its conservative roots. Massive deficit spending that would make Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter blush; foreign adventurism beyond the wildest dreams of Woodrow Wilson or Teddy Roosevelt; more big government programs than FDR or LBJ (Google “Medicare expansion” for a massive example) … the Republican Party of the early 21st century is clearly not your father’s or grandfather’s GOP.

    {Ed Note: Please do NOT cut and paste long quotes. Use a link. I fixed this one for you, but…. –99}

  3. 3)
    Big Dan said on 10/4/2007 @ 6:23am PT: [Permalink]

    So, the old “need to spend more time with my family” routine isn’t being employed by R-Domenici(DOJ)??? (they’re starting to put the scandal in parenthesis, after Republicans names; ex: R-Ney(Abramoff); R-Noe(coingate); R-Foley(pageboy); R-Vitter(DCMadam); etc…)…

  4. 6)
    MarkH said on 10/4/2007 @ 10:39am PT: [Permalink]

    He’s saying he has a brain disease. Does that mean we can get all those crazy votes back? How about all the soldiers who died because he voted for war?

    Repubs are running from Bush like rats from a burning building.

    But, 1/20/09 is a long long time from now. What will save us from Bush & Co until then? And, if Hillary is elected will we be safe? She voted for the original Iraq AUMF and recently for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment which declares the Iranian military to be a terrorist organization.

    Be afraid, but act courageously!

  5. 7)
    Jeremy said on 10/4/2007 @ 3:27pm PT: [Permalink]

    You guys are a little sick. He does have a degenerative brain disease which from the time of diagnosis leads to death in 6-8 years. He’s pioneered mental health parity and legislation and has had a distinguished 34 year career. Have a little tact, you can criticize his decision to vote for the war, but recognize that he did not choose to have this disease. I will not be revisiting this blog.

    Jeremy

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