Democratic hopes for the United States Senate have taken a real hit. It’s not so much Bob Torricelli’s decision to drop out of the New Jersey Senate race today as the revelations last week which seem to have made the decision inevitable. Torch’s decision to bail out may be a blessing for the Dems in as much as it at least creates the possibility that that seat — which really should be a Dem seat — can be salvaged.
As emails from friends have streamed in over the course of the morning, I keep thinking of the stabbing scene in Julius Caesar. Not a perfect analogy, mind you. But it’s hard to exaggerate the sheer number of people who can’t wait to slip their own private dagger into this guy now that they see the blood in the water or, perhaps better to say, the body on the ground. Former staffers, old opponents, old friends, old girlfriends, miscellaneous pols, campaign workers, donors, house pets, you name it. Torch always ran his show on fear, bravado and muscle. The denouement is going to be ugly. It already is.
