After serving in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District since 2006, Representative Ed Perlmutter (D) announced on Monday that he’s calling it quits: “After much thought and reflection I have decided not to run for reelection.”
He said that he could win reelection again despite redistricting, which took away most of his Democrat advantage, but, said Perlmutter, “There comes a time when you pass the torch to the next generation of leaders.”
He didn’t mention the prospect of a landslide favoring Republicans in the November midterm elections. He didn’t mention that his far-left voting record — a rating of just 15 out of 100 on The New American’s Freedom Index, which measures adherence to the Constitution — causing angst among voters in his district, nor did he mention that it wouldn’t be much fun being in the minority following November’s expected blowout.
His retirement follows that of Representative Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), who sports a Freedom Index rating of 14, and announced last week she would not be seeking reelection in November.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave more reasons for Democrats to be leaving the sinking Democrat ship: “The House, under Nancy Pelosi, is not a very happy place.… What is this going to be like if I’m in the minority? It’s just not any fun.”
Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), agreed with Gingrich: “Ed Perlmutter knows House Democrats won’t be in the majority after the midterm elections. He’s made the smart decision to retire rather than lose reelection.”
Kristi Brown, Colorado’s GOP chairwoman, said that Ed “knew that he was going to lose in 2022, so instead he made the right decision to retire.”
Perlmutter is just the latest to abandon ship. As Congressional Leadership Fund Communications Director Calvin Moore said, “Democrats know they have a simple choice: retire or get fired.” He added:
Democrats’ retirement crisis has become a disaster of epic proportions because they know their failed record will cost them the Majority.
The Washington Post reported that the growing list of Democrats leaving the House could include the speaker herself, Nancy Pelosi: “After almost 19 years as House Democrat leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is expected to step down at the close of this Congress.”
That would leave the path open for Republicans to name the Speaker of the House, most likely the present House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). And he is making abundantly clear that Democrats will be relegated to seats at the back of the bus come 2023.
He made clear exactly whom he would remove:
If Eric Swalwell [who current sits on the House Committees on Intelligence, Homeland Security, and the Judiciary] cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there is no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security.
[Come January 2023] he will not be serving there.
McCarthy also targeted Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.): “[She] should not be serving on Foreign Affairs. This is a new level of what the Democrats have done.”
And Adam Schiff, who currently chairs the House Committee on Intelligence, will also be gone come January:
You look at Adam Schiff — he should not be serving on Intel when he has openly, knowingly, used a fake dossier, lied to the American public in the process … and says he wants to continue to do [so].
Alex Shephard, writing for the left-wing New Republic, sees the handwriting on the wall. He wrote, “The Democrats enter a new year more or less exactly where they were before Congress shut down for the holidays: their legislative agenda is completely stalled out, and it’s not clear how the party’s leaders will get it unstuck.”
Threats to dislodge the Democrats’ plan to federalize elections is going nowhere, wrote Shephard:
[Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer] has insisted that, by January 17, Democrats will either pass new voting rights legislation, or reform the filibuster so they can do so.
Unfortunately, at this juncture they have the votes to do neither … [Senators] Manchin [D-WV] and Sinema [D-Ariz.] won’t vote for filibuster reform, leaving Democrats … stuck in the mud.
This leaves Democrats seeking reelection in November with little to brag about. Their leader’s job approval rating continues to crater. At last count, nearly six out of 10 likely voters disapprove of his performance.
It gets worse. According to Rasmussen Reports, two out of three likely voters think that, under Biden, the country is headed in the wrong direction.
To add to their woes, Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, once considered to be a plus among voters, has turned against him and his party. Just a few months ago, a majority of voters lauded how he was handling the pandemic. Now, according to the latest AP poll, fewer than four in 10 think so. As AP noted, “Democrats [now] face considerable challenges to maintaining control of Congress as they head into a critical midterm election year.”
That’s likely why Ed Perlmutter and Brenda Lawrence joined the increasing number of Democrats announcing their intentions to retire. It’s no fun to row upstream.
