November 8, 2002
YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM:
Hollings Says He May Not Run Again: Soon-To-Be Senior Senator's Term Ends In 2004 (AP, November 7, 2002)South Carolina's 80-year-old junior senator said Wednesday that he may let this term be his last.U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings told The State newspaper that he had planned to run again, but will make up his mind later.
His term ends in 2004.
"We'll just have to see" Hollings said, reacting to Tuesday's election sweep by Republicans that took most of the major statewide offices in South Carolina and cost Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
This is just the first of what will be many retirements, now that retaking the Congress seems so dubious. In particular, many House members, who Gephardt has gotten to hang on for 5 cycles of GOP control, may well now give up. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 8, 2002 12:39 AM
Any chance he'll retire early? How about hook him up with a young wife and give him outside interests? I know that would be cruel and unusual though, for the wife.
Posted by: Tom Roberts at November 8, 2002 7:23 AMI love the phrase "80-year-old junior senator"...
Posted by: Glenn at November 8, 2002 8:39 AMI for one will be pleased to see Senator Hollings (D-Disney) off the head of the commerce committee. The CBTPA bill he was pushing (federally mandated copy control in all consumer electronics) still gives me the creeps.
Posted by: mike earl at November 8, 2002 9:12 AMRe Glenn - Lautenberg is now the 78 yr old junior senator from NJ.
Posted by: AWW at November 8, 2002 1:26 PMAWW:
of the minority party...
I agree with Mike Earl. That bill is one of the most loathesome to be introduced into Congress in recent years, and I think it directly violates the Constitution insofar as it virtually destroys the "fair use" privilege and the principle that terms of copyright should be limited. (Well, actually, that was the DMCA, but Hollings' bill goes even further along that noxious path.) Steven Den Beste has a good rundown on what the Republican victory means for the fate of this bill on his blog, but he forgot to mention one other reason why the CBTPA is dead; it's backed by the movie and record industries, which are absolutely dominated by hard-core Democrats. The proposition that Republicans would consider putting money in Barbra Streisand's pocket by crippling computers with copy-protection hardware is preposterous on its face.
Posted by: Joe at November 8, 2002 5:35 PMAbout Democratic retirements: because of gerrymandered districts, most House Dems who retire will be replaced by members of the same party. There is a strong likelihood that the GOP will maintain a majority with 225-245 from now til the next reapportionment after the 2010 census.
Over on the Senate side, however, there is a chance for the GOP to pick up seats vacated by retiring Dems. Right now 2004 looks like a good year for the GOP to significantly expand its Senate majority.