There’s a moment in the near universally loved film “The Princess Bride” in which one of the heroes, Inigo Montoya, comes face to face with his lifelong nemesis, Count Rugen, known as the “six-fingered man.” Rugen had bested Inigo in a duel decades ago and scarred his face for life. He had also killed Inigo’s father. Inigo has spent decades perfecting his fencing skill. Their encounter has all the hallmarks of an epic showdown. Rugen looks at Inigo, draws his sword, assumes an en garde position, and then…
Rugen suddenly turns and runs away.
Rep. David Obey (D-WI) announces his retirement after 40 years in Congress.
It’s a comical scene that makes me chuckle every time I see it. I couldn’t help but recall this scene when I heard about the sudden and totally unexpected retirement of Wisconsin Representative David Obey last week. Congressional retirements this late in the election cycle, while uncommon, are not unheard of. It’s highly unusual, however, for a high-ranking Congressman, still at the height of his power, to retire so unexpectedly.
Obey has had an interesting career. He first won his seat in Congress in the spring of 1969 in a special election to replace Melvin Laird, who had been appointed Secretary of Defense. Obey was, at the time, the youngest member of Congress, just over 30 years old. He fit the definition of a 60’s “new liberal” – - antiwar, pro-massive social spending, pro-affirmative action – - a prototypical young radical.
Fast-forward a little more than 40 years. Obey, now 71 years old, is the proverbial “old bull.” Congress’s third most senior member, he chairs the House Appropriations Committee, arguably the most powerful committee in Congress, determining, in essence, how money is spent in Washington. Just this past year, he accomplished what will undoubtedly be considered the crowning achievemnt of his legislative career – - authoring in large part and securing passage of Obama’s “stimulus” bill.
Obey is Wisconsin’s longest-serving representative. His district in northwest Wisconsin has given him less than 60% of the vote only twice in all of his years in office, including his initial run.
Obey was facing a difficult challenge, however. He’d become somewhat infamous in 2007 for blowing up at an angry constituent when she refused to accept his explanation for why Congress could not stop the Iraq War. The stimulus bill turned out to be controversial, to say the least. With growing deficits and an economy that continues to sag, he’s become something of a poster child for wasteful spending in Washington. He was also viewed as a beltway fixture at a time when the establishment is less popular then it’s ever been.
Sean Duffy, a District Attorney in Wisconsin's Ashland County, is running for Obey's Congressional seat
Seeing an opening, Sean Duffy, a 38-year-old district attorney from the sparsely populated Ashland County, decided to make a run for Obey’s seat. Duffy is attractive and hard-charging, and when he raised more than a half million dollars to take Obey on, became something of a celebrity among conservative political junkies. National Review, the conservative magazine of record, ran a flattering profile of Duffy some months ago, and he won Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s 2010 Candidates Contest, which got him some extra financial and institutional backing from the likely presidential candidate. It was clear that Duffy was going to give Obey a real race.
However, giving Obey a real race and actually winning are two different things. Obey had over a million dollars in his campaign account, had never lost an election, and held one of the most powerful positions in Congress. His district leans Democratic, but not overwhelmingly so. So while not impossible, toppling Obey was a tall order.
Yes, it was going to be quite a race. Obey’s district isn’t nearly as liberal as he was, the stimulus bill was unpopular and the health care bill, which Obey also helped pass is even less popular in Obey’s district than it is nationwide. Duffy’s message mirrored the themes that voters themselves seem to be concerned about. He was running against Obey’s spending and his long tenure in Washington, reminding voters repeatedly that Obey had been in Congress longer then he, Duffy, had been alive.
The Duffy-Obey race promised to be emblematic of the midterms nationwide, young Turks vs. old bulls, look-what-I’ve-done-for-you vs. too-much-spending, and so on. To some of Duffy’s supporters, it wasn’t even about a specific Congressional race as much as it was about sending a message of accountability to a previously untouchable Democrat. There could be no bigger trophy for those opposing Obama’s fiscal agenda than Obey’s scalp. The race had all the earmarks (no pun intended) of an epic showdown.
But then, just like Count Rugen, Obey unexpectedly turned away.
Did Obey fear losing? Possibly. It’s always nice to retire undefeated. he was facing his first real race in quite some time, if not the most difficult race of his career. Obey’s own explanation for his retirement was that he was “dog tired” and had better things to do than explain why investments in various projects were in fact necessary to skeptics who were upset about the deficit.
A more likely explanation is that Obey simply didn’t want to face such a difficult campaign, even while likely emerging victorious. He hadn’t even set up a campaign website until about a month ago. Obey’s retirement amounted to an admission on his part that the chances of Republican takeover of Congress in the next cycle are excellent; going through a bruising campaign only to return to Congress without the gavel of the Appropriations Committee was just not worth it to him.
Obey’s retirement is good for Republicans; the race for Obey’s seat in is currently a toss-up, if not tending toward Duffy, who already has an excellent campaign organization and a sizeable warchest in place. Yet Obey’s exit robs political observers of a truly epic showdown on fundamental issues of politics, style and emphasis.
It’s worth noting that Inigo eventually did catch up with his nemesis Count Rugen and exacted his revenge, even if the initial confrontation was something of a disappointment. And although Obey is walking away from the race, it seems increasingly likely that Republicans will nonetheless exact their revenge by taking over the House of Representatives and thereby seizing Obey’s his gavel.
A Seattle, Washington native, Cliff Smith worked for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Finance. He also worked on numerous campaigns in his home state. Cliff holds a law degree from Catholic University, a Master's in Public Policy from Pepperdine and a BA from Washington State. 
