Tales from the Trail

One more Democrat retiring who won’t run for re-election in November.

(It would be tempting to say they’re dropping like flies, but then the Democrats would point out that some Republicans also won’t seeking re-election).

Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry (no, sounds like, but definitely not the former D.C. mayor) was expected to announce his retirement on Monday, The Washington Post’s blogger Chris Cillizza reports.

He would be the second congressman from Arkansas not to seek re-election, with Democrat Vic Snyder also retiring.

Berry, 67, comes from a Republican-friendly district that voted 59 percent for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Of course the timing of Berry’s expected announcement is going to make people wonder. Did it have anything to do with the  Massachusetts Massacre, as Frank Rich called it, last Tuesday when the Republican won the long-held Democratic Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy?

Politico says Berry would be the 12th House Democrat to retire this year. Arkansas is shaping up as a state that Republicans are likely to target in this year’s election.

The Hill reported last Thursday that Berry didn’t sound wedded to running for re-election and that speaking on a local radio show, the congressman said:  “Nothing is certain in this world except death, and I hope don’t have to face that anytime soon.”

He added: “But beyond that, I’m not going to make an absolute (commitment). I’m 67 years old; who knows what I’ve got coming to me before the sun goes down?”

For more Reuters political news, click here

Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (dome of the Capitol in December),  Reuters/Enrique de la Osa (Berry in middle during congressional trip to Cuba in 2007)