http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/report_gop_leaders_pressuring_rep_doolittle_to_retire.phpReport: GOP Leaders Pressuring Rep. Doolittle To Retire
By Greg Sargent - October 16, 2007, 10:08AM
Muck-encrusted Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is in so much political trouble that GOP leaders are convinced he has no chance of winning reelection next year and are privately urging him to retire, according to Roll Call (sub. reqd.).
Doolittle, whose home was raided earlier this year by the Feds, barely survived reelection against Dem challenger Charlie Brown, who is targeting Doolittle again for 2008. Brown is trouncing Doolittle in polls and has more money stockpiled for the 2008 race than the embattled incumbent does.
According to the paper, House GOP leaders held off on urging Doolittle to drop his reelection plans, hoping that he'd voluntarily decide to retire over the summer. But when Doolittle pressed ahead with reelection efforts, GOP leaders -- worried about losing an otherwise safe seat -- privately sat down with him and told him the game's over. No word on what Doolittle will do yet.