Retiring senators: Why are so many calling it quits?

"What that tells you is that any [Republican] that even ventures the idea of working with the other side, no matter how conservative they are, can end up in real trouble," he says.

Gregg and Bayh say they are disappointed that, in the current climate, even genuine bipartisan efforts – the gold standard of good legislation in the past – have little chance of success, in part because of pressure from outside groups.

On Jan. 26, the Senate voted down a proposed bipartisan commission to rein in soaring deficits and debt, 53 to 46. "The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea voted 'no' for short-term political reasons," Bayh said in his retirement speech.

Negotiators on both sides of the aisle were also stunned on Feb. 11 when Senate majority leader Harry Reid withdrew an $85 billion jobs bill developed with bipartisan support in the Finance Committee, in favor of a scaled-down $15 billion leadership plan.

"It's important not to engage in political mythology: Politics has always been a bare-knuckled sport, but it just seems institutionally in the Senate now the forces of gridlock are greater than ever before," said Bayh. "The extremes in both parties are the most dynamic elements, and they tend to hold members to rigid litmus tests and any deviation is punished."

What to a senator looks like a compromise, to a blogger or "tea party" activist looks like a capitulation, he adds. "What separates elected officials from editorial writers, pundits, bloggers is: At the end of the day, people expect us to get things done. This constant all-or-nothing situation constantly leads to nothing."

In his departing words on the Senate floor, Sen. Paul Kirk (D) of Massachusetts, appointed to the seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) until a successor could be elected, said the Senate needs its own form of "climate change." "Bipartisan comity and collaboration must replace the polarization that threatens to poison the atmosphere and impede the work of this body," he said.

With the swearing in of Sen. Scott Brown (R) of Massachusetts on Feb. 4, the Democratic caucus, including two independents, fell to 59 – one short of the head count needed to block a filibuster.

Still, the climate in today's Senate is far from the poisonous atmosphere in the run-up to the Civil War, including the caning of Sen. Charles Sumner in 1856. Harsh debates over civil rights and the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early '70s also set high-water marks for animosity and personal rancor. In a chilling speech in 1970, during the debate to end US military operations in Vietnam, Sen. George McGovern (D) of South Dakota said: "Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This chamber reeks of blood."

"It was chilling to hear that," says former Senate parliamentarian Robert Dove. "I don't think anything today compares to the poisonous atmosphere then over civil rights and the Vietnam War."

By contrast, departing senators often note that their frustrations are not personal nor directed at colleagues.

"This decision does not relate to any dissatisfaction I have about serving in the Senate," Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) of North Dakota said in a Jan. 5 statement. "Yes, I wish there was less rancor and more bipartisanship in the US Senate these days. But still, it is a great privilege to serve, and I have the utmost respect for all of the men and women with whom I serve."

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