Departing Dem Senators & The Midterm Elections: Roseanne Frangione

The news that Senators Dodd and Dorgan will retire instead of facing an uphill bid for re-election comes as no surprise to me. It would have taken nothing short of a miracle for Dodd to have been re-elected after news broke he received two sweetheart loans through a VIP program with subprime lender Countrywide, along with the fact he added language in the economic stimulus bill that allowed AIG bosses to keep their fat bonuses. Polls showed Dorgan would lose if popular North Dakota Governor John Hoeven decided to run against him. Lets not forget that a year has passed since the media coronation of Barack Obama and voters are still nervous about an incredibly high unemployment rate and an unpopular health care bill.

The GOP is poised to do well in November, but they need to win 40 House and 11 Senate seats to regain control of Congress. Is that possible? The 2006 and 2008 elections spoke volumes about the general public's dissatisfaction with the Bush administration. Unless the economic situation greatly improves in the next six months, I am confident that the voters will seek a change, and that is not good news for the Democrats.

Guest blogger Roseanne Frangione resides in the Tampa Bay area where she is raising two sons, ages three and six, and works as a media consultant.