By Dave Andrusko

Part Two discusses an ominous decision made by the Mayo Clinic. Please send your comments and observations to daveandrusko@gmail.com.  If you'd like, follow me on http://twitter.com/daveha.

As they say, things are getting interestinger and interestinger. From the Wall Street Journal this morning,

Pro-abortion Senator Chris Dodd (D-Ct.) shown this morning announcing his retirement at the end of the year.

"The retirements [of prominent pro-abortion Democrats] underscore how sharply the political climate has turned against the majority party, which looked almost impregnable after the 2008 elections. With major initiatives such as the stimulus and the health-care overhaul unpopular, Democrats are looking increasingly vulnerable in the states that formed the basis of their new majority, particular places such as Colorado and Virginia."

All this is taking place while pro-abortion president Barack Obama and the pro-abortion Democratic leadership of the House and Senate are frantically trying to push through the massive health care restructuring bill.

The latest sign of the times was the not unexpected announcement this morning by pro-abortion Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Ct.) that he will not seek a sixth term this year. Dodd's stock had dropped sharply (a 40% approval rating) amidst allegations of corruption and cronyism.

By contrast the announced retirement pro-abortion Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) Tuesday was a complete shock. His decision "saddl[es] his fellow Democrats with a wide-open race that could be tough to win in a Republican-leaning state," according to the Journal.

And as many stories have chronicled, there have been retirements by other prominent Democrats and in at least one case a decision not to run. For example, Democratic Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is also announcing today that he will not seek re-election.

Pro-abortion Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced on Tuesday that he is retiring.

Meanwhile, "Another setback came in Michigan, where the Democratic front-runner for governor, Lt. Gov. John Cherry, announced that he would not run after all," the Journal reported. "Mr. Cherry, strategists believe, was too closely associated with the state's unpopular Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is blamed by many voters for a jobless rate that is far higher than the national average."

As one commentator put it, "This is un-spinnably bad news for the Democrats." (Ten House Democrats have also announced their decisions to retire.)

And as we talked about yesterday, there are continuing reverberations from the decision by the Democrats to avoid taking the differing health care bills in the House and Senate to a conference committee. It's not just that the impeccably non-partisan C-SPAN has written the leadership, asking for a chance to televise negotiations. It's that the Democrats' insistence on meshing the bills in secret flies in the face of Obama's specific promise of transparency made during a debate in 2008 with Democratic challenger Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama said, "That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are."

To their credit, reporters brought up the Obama pledge to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) "There are a number of things that he swore on the campaign trail," Pelosi quipped yesterday, about as clear a potshot at the President as you are likely to see from a member of his own party.

(As we observed yesterday, "While it is unhealthy for our system of government to bypass conference on such an historic measure, we must not forget that whether the bill is produced by the amendment process now anticipated, or through a conference committee process, the final bill can only reach the President's desk after an affirmative vote of a majority in the House and 60 senators. It is the substantive content, not the way the process plays out, that matters most.")

All this presents pro-lifers with many opportunities in 2010. Stay tuned to Today's News & Views and be sure to order multiple copies of the special January NRL News Commemorative Issue, ""Pro-Abortion President Barack Obama and Pro-Lifers: One Year Later."

You can call us at 202-626-8828. Information about prices can be found at http://nrlc.org/news/Jan222010.pdf.

Part Two