Massa- Another Democratic House Retirement

Reports vary on the reasoning behind the unexpected announcement that Eric Massa is retiring from his House representative seat, making this the 7th House Democrats leaving a seat in a district that McCain won in 2008. According to The Fix, this makes 43 percent of House retirements, so far, in the House for the upcoming elections have been in McCain districts.

Political handicapper Charlie Cook tells The Fix that Democrats are in the "Danger Zone".

Conventional wisdom has suggested that if Democrats have to defend 10 or more seats either won by McCain or narrowly carried by Obama that their majority status might be legitimately in danger. "We're in the [danger] zone," said Charlie Cook, a political handicapper and former Fix boss. "The open seats are a problem but [Democrats] have lots of problems." Remember, too, that filing deadlines have passed in only eight states. The next month, which includes filing deadlines in places like California (March 12), Iowa (March 19) and Missouri (March 30), will be critical in determining just how bad it is going to get for Democrats this fall.

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