PRE-EMPTIVELY STRIKING THEMSELVES:

Vic Snyder retiring (Josh Kraushaar, 1/15/10, Politico)

Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) announced tonight that he will be retiring at the end of his term, citing the difficult political environment that he would have faced to win an eighth term in the House. [...]

He was one of the most vulnerable House Democrats, with a SurveyUSA poll released today showing him trailing his Republican challenger Tim Griffin by 17 points.

Snyder is the 11th House Democrat to announce his retirement. -- and Republicans are aggressively contesting nine of those open seats.