Left to right, we have Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (veteran/unpopular politician, Friend of Angelo); Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (let's assume he's "outdoorsy") and North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan (the third guy).

They're all Democrats. And they've all come to the same conclusion…

With the 2010 election year barely under way, two senators and one governor – all Democrats – ditched plans to run for re-election in the latest signs of trouble for President Barack Obama's party.

Taken together, the decisions by Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota as well as Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter caused another bout of heartburn for Democrats as they struggle to defend themselves in a sour political environment for incumbents, particularly the party in charge.

As 2009 ended, Democrats watched a string of their House members announce retirements and one congressman defect to the GOP.

Now, with Dodd, Dorgan and Ritter out, Republicans have even more to crow about, if not better opportunities to pick up Democratic-held seats.

Trouble? Heartburn? Sour? This is so typical of media spin. Look, these guys aren't "ditching" anything. They're just passing the ball! They know exactly when to pass the ball so the team can win.

North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan returned to The Colbert Report last night and told Stephen that banking modernization could cause another Great Depression. Which sounds bad, but it would do wonders for the bindle and trashcan-fire industries.

The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c.

And, thus, the U.S. Senate officially moves to make the "That's what she said!" joke no longer cool…

(via Alex Balk)

Fox News has called Wisconsin, New Mexico, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island and Michigan for Obama, and North Dakota and Wyoming for McCain.

They called Ohio for Obama and took it back. Get it together, guys, Rove's in the room.

What is growing on David Axelrod's upper lip?

Kurt Braunohler is back with the last batch of informatively juicy facts about swing states, in our exclusive video series, Swing State Seminars!

Check out more Swing State Seminars here!

Earlier today, my friends, I wrote about John McCain's startling rise in the polls and the all-but-inevitable inevitability of his victory on Tuesday, my friends.

My friends, I looked at the available data, crunched some numbers, punched some statistics and tore apart some metrics with my bare hands before feasting on their still-beating hearts, my friends. And no matter which way I looked at it, it was clear that John McCain is heading for a win. But some of you, my friends, were left unconvinced, I suspect.

Well, my friends, let's see if this little piece of reasoning from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis can drive the point home, my friends…

Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn't have the votes to win.

You see that, my friends? You can't argue with that kind of reasoning. Or you shouldn't, at least.

In case you still don't get it, my friends, allow me, my friends, to spell it out: Barack Obama is closing the the difference in some very red states, including Arizona. If he's doing that, that must mean that he's attempting to win those states. Or, at the very least, willing to win those states.

Why would Barack Obama want to win states that he doesn't think would be helpful to his campaign? It doesn't make sense. So, he must suspect that he's losing.

And, furthermore, Barack Obama can't continue to win states if he wins them all. So, if he stops winning states eventually, that means he's losing. If you're not winning, you must be losing.

So, to sum it all up: The very fact that Barack Obama is beating John McCain means that John McCain is beating Barack Obama.

How, my friends, can you not understand an argument like that?

My friends.

(via Andrew Sullivan)