Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) evidently agrees that he can’t overcome his vote for federal funding for abortion in the government-run health care legislation.

The eight-term Democrat announced today that he’s dropping out of the re-election race, leaving another vulnerable seat for Democrats to defend.

Mr. Stupak said that he made the decision within the last 36 hours not to seek a 10th term.

“I’ve struggled with this decision,” Mr. Stupak said during a news conference Friday at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich.

“I’ve wanted to leave a couple of times, but I always thought there was one more job to be done,” he said. “Either I’ll run again and be there forever, or it’s time to make the break and move on.”

Basically Stupak had to decide between a voluntary or involuntary retirement and went for the former. He was going to be defeated in November and he knew it. Stupak would never have been able to live down his vote for taxpayer-funded abortions. Republicans would have devastated him on the airwaves and in print.

And yet he was probably the best chance Democrats had to hold the district, which is now actually slightly Republican. Its Cook PVI score is R+3 and is majority white middle class. Still, incumbents hold an advantage over newbies even in tough years — an advantage Democrats just lost.

The best part is the obliviousness of Democratic leadership in Washington:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement, thanked Mr. Stupak for his service and called him a “stalwart advocate for the interests, hopes and aspirations of his constituents.”

Yes, clearly he stood up for the interests of his constituents with that last vote. That’s why he’s suddenly had to drop out of the re-election race at the ripe-old age of 58. Because his constituents are infatuated with him.

Actually, nobody liked Stupak in the end. The pro-abortion community ended up endorsing his primary challenger, Connie Saltonstall, while Republicans rallied around conservative candidates. He sold out his professed ideals and ended up politically winning…nothing.

Exit question: How long before he ends up working for an insurance company as a lobbyist? Or, you know, at a slightly more moderate Soros-funded organization? I doubt he left Congress without some sort of parachute.