A short while back, the NRCC put together a list of House Democrats who they thought could be nudged to retire. Bart Gordon of Tennessee was on that list. The others:

Ike Skelton of Missouri
Rick Boucher of Virginia
Alan Mollohan of West Virginia
Marion Berry of Arkansas
Nick Rahall of West Virginia
Mike Ross of Arkansas
John Spratt of South Carolina
Allen Boyd of Florida
Vic Snyder of Arkansas
Baron Hill of Indiana
Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota
Tim Holden of Pennsylvania
Collin Peterson of Minnesota
Sanford Bishop of Georgia
Loretta Sanchez of California
Leonard Boswell of Iowa

If age is a factor, and a likely tough race (complicating a tough reelection bid in a district that votes Republican for other offices, or a particularly strong challenger) is another, then the highest names on my retirement watch list would be Skelton (age 77), Boswell (age 75), Berry (age 67), Spratt (age 67), and Peterson (age 65). The youngest member on that list is Loretta Sanchez at age 49.

Not that I’m smarter than the guys at the NRCC, but there are a few names I might add to that list. Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, age 72, had triple bypass surgery in 2007, and contemplated retirement last year.

Solomon Ortiz is a committee chairman, so he’s not likely to want to step down, but he comes from a slightly Republican-leaning district, is 72, and has a son rising in Texas politics. In North Carolina, Bob Etheridge comes from another slightly Republican-leaning district, and he’s 68. He contemplated a Senate bid earlier in the year but decided against it, citing unfinished business in the House. How bad does the outlook for Democrats in North Carolina have to get before he considers private life?

Parker Griffith of Alabama just got to the House last year, so he seems unlikely to retire. But he’s representing such a conservative district, he’s already said he won’t vote for Nancy Pelosi as speaker in 2011. One can’t help but wonder what he’ll do if polling indicates the national party’s reputation will drag him down to defeat.