Dems Desperately Seeking North Dakotan

Two senator retirements do not a Democratic crisis make—especially when Chris Dodd's stepping aside is actually great news for the party—but the party may have a dilemma in North Dakota, writes Gail Collins. Byron Dorgan's retirement has taken everybody by surprise. Unlike in Connecticut, nobody seems ready to step into his shoes, Collins notes in the New York Times.

North Dakota Democrats are pleading with Dorgan to change his mind, Collins writes. As soon as his resignation was announced, a top party official got in touch with MSNBC host Ed Schultz, a former Fargo resident who—like most prominent North Dakotans—now lives out of state. "You’re giving yourself too little credit, North Dakota Democrats," Collins writes. "There’s got to be a potential junior senator somewhere in your 641,000 fine residents." (More North Dakota stories.)