WASHINGTON _ Speaker Paul Ryan's decision to retire isn't a good omen for the Republican Party.
Congressional leaders don't up and quit when they're on top _ not if they can reasonably foresee years of uninterrupted power ahead. They don't walk away when they have a reliable ally in the White House pushing the same agenda.
But those aren't the conditions Ryan faces.
"I have every confidence that I'll be handing this gavel on to the next Republican speaker of the House next year," Ryan said, despite growing evidence that the 2018 midterms will deal a body blow to his party.
He also insisted that dealing with President Donald Trump and coping with the chaos Trump has brought to Washington and the party had nothing to do with his decision.
"Not at all," he said. "I've made a big difference and he's given us that chance."
Ryan has made a big difference for Republicans.
When tensions with the Freedom Caucus/tea party wing became too much for John Boehner to bear, Ryan stepped into the breach. As chairman of the Budget and Ways and Means committees, and as Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012, he'd earned deep admiration for his sunny demeanor, magnetism and steadfast conservatism.
In the post-Boehner era he was by far the most unifying leader available. He's been the lid atop a simmering stew of grievances and cross-purposes.
And he has strategically kept the congressional wing of the party at a safe distance from a volatile president.
"I understand his frustrations," Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, said on the Senate floor after Ryan announced that he won't seek re-election. He all but dared the lame-duck speaker to use "his newfound political freedom ... to break free from these hard-right factions that have plagued him."
Some considerations as Ryan's move sinks in:
