Admittedly, this revelation is coming from Chris Cillizzia, so take it with a grain of salt – but it’s hardly unexpected news; the Senator almost certainly feels like he has a target on his back these days*.  This immediately makes the seat a strong Republican pickup prospect: Senator Conrad was in that seat largely out of personal popularity, and is unlikely to pass that popularity along.

Still, this is a bit of a pity: I was looking forward to having Senator Conrad explain why he took that sweet, sweet Countrywide mortgage deal.  We never got a good answer on that, after all.  Unless this retirement news is meant to explain things, to those skilled at reading between the lines?

Via @davidhauptmann.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*I’ll use whatever political metaphors I darn well please, if you don’t mind.  In fact, I’ll use them even if you do.