"An early trickle of retirements from House members in competitive districts is often the first sign of a coming political wave."

"In the 2018 cycle, 48 House Republicans didn’t seek re-election — and 14 of those vacancies were won by Democrats. Now Republicans are salivating over the prospect of reversing that dynamic and erasing the Democrats six-seat advantage." 

From "Why Democratic Departures From the House Have Republicans Salivating/A growing number of Democrats in battleground districts are either retiring or leaving to seek higher office, imperiling the party’s control of the House and President Biden’s expansive agenda" (NYT).

ADDED: An emailer wanted to know the purpose of a post like this, devoid of explication of what to think about the NYT. You can read the email and my response in this new post.

ALSO: I do wish I'd given this my "saliva" tag. I'll add it now. Maybe that will prod David along in his personal thinking.