Today, the New York Times ran a follow-up to its story about how every now and then Blumenthal encourages the belief that he fought in Vietnam. (One odd thing is that the story’s main source is former Republican congressman Chris Shays, who claims to be very friendly with and admiring of Blumenthal. Shays was also seriously considering a run for the Senate seat himself as of last year.)

But despite following up on the story, there’s no new news. Most of the time, Blumenthal correctly recounted his service. Sometimes he didn’t. He never corrected anyone who, based on his often vague language, assumed he fought in Vietnam. I’d say it’s impossible to know, at this point, how damaging this will actually be to Blumenthal, and how effective his forceful response was. (Furthermore, I’m still not convinved Linda McMahon is electable. Doesn’t anyone remember what her husband did to their daughter Stephanie?)

Steve Kornacki laid out the possible Blumenthal scenarios yesterday, but there’s a new wrinkle: The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the state secretary of state is ineligible to run for Blumenthal’s current job, attorney general. Which gives Blumenthal an out, should more reliable polls show his support collapsing.

What happens if Blumenthal leaves the race? The convention is this weekend. Anyone who gets 15 percent of the vote will make it onto the primary ballot. After the convention, anyone who can get the signatures of 2 percent of the enrolled membership of the Connecticut Democratic party (approximately 15,000 people) by June 8 can also qualify for the ballot. That’s a tall order for anyone hoping to replace Blumenthal, should he turn out to be unelectable.

But after that petition deadline, and before the August primary, should a qualifying candidate remove himself from the race, the Democratic Party can select literally anyone it wants to replace him. So Blumenthal and Connecticut Democrats have months to figure out whether they need to find a new candidate.

Personally, I find Blumenthal’s misleading Vietnam statements much sadder than outrageous. The guy clearly wants desperately for veterans to think he’s one of them. But this aspect of his fantasy is much, much more annoying:

When it was his turn to speak, Mr. Blumenthal at one point brought up the subject of his military service and lamented that when “we returned from Vietnam” Americans had spit on soldiers, Mr. Shays recalled.

I know Richard Blumenthal’s entire Vietnam experience is a guilt-induced daydream based primarily on half-remembered scenes from “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” but the spitting thing is most likely a pernicious myth.

“The real question is whether Harry Reid, now the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrat, will follow Chris Dodd’s lead and step aside,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. (Take this one to Vegas, in Reid’s home state — he won’t.)

Clear away the overheated rhetoric, though, and the reality in Washington looks a little different. Sure, Democrats will struggle in November’s elections — which they were already going to do anyway. The timing is bad, because all the retirement announcements stacked up on top of each other. So the “optics,” as political operatives say, are terrible. But the Democrats aren’t actually in substantially worse shape Wednesday than they were Monday.

Take Connecticut. Dodd may be a beloved member of the Senate Democratic caucus, but there was almost no way he was going to win another term. His ill-fated move to Iowa during the 2008 presidential primaries, his sweetheart mortgage deal from Countrywide and his work to enable AIG to issue bonuses despite billions of dollars in federal aid left him the most endangered incumbent senator in either party. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, though, entered the campaign Wednesday with at least a 30 point lead over his GOP opponents, according to one poll taken before Dodd bowed out.

“Let’s get real here,” one Senate Democratic leadership aide told Salon. “We had a huge problem, and now it’s gone.”

With Blumenthal in much better shape than Dodd, the party won’t have to devote anywhere near as much money to holding Connecticut as it might have otherwise. Buying ads in the state means buying ads on New York television; Democrats say the cash they’ll save in Connecticut could help out in races in Ohio, Missouri or Kentucky.

North Dakota is a little different. Dorgan gave no advance warning to any of his colleagues (and barely any to his staff, informing aides by e-mail just before he announced his decision), and his departure doesn’t relieve any pressure on the Democratic majority. But it’s not entirely clear he would have won another term, anyway. There was persistent speculation Wednesday among Senate insiders that North Dakota’s Republican Gov. John Hoeven had tipped Dorgan off over the holidays that he would get into the race, and that Dorgan opted out as a result. A poll taken just before Christmas showed Hoeven beating Dorgan easily. Of course, now the seat is a virtual lock for the GOP to pick up, even if Hoeven stays out, but Republicans might have won it no matter what. (Dorgan, for his part, said in his retirement announcement that he would have held on if he’d run.)

Colorado, where Ritter was deeply unpopular, may turn out to be better for the Democrats after Tuesday, as well. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar could run for the job, or Andrew Romanoff, who’s challenging Democratic Sen. Michael Bennett in a primary, could switch to the governor’s race.

And as Democrats were forced to point out repeatedly Wednesday, even after the retirement announcements, there are more Republicans who won’t run for their seats this year than Democrats. Already, 14 House Republicans have declared they won’t seek another term, compared to only 10 Democrats. (Some are seeking higher office.) Six Senate Republicans, compared to only four Democrats, are stepping down. And four Republican governors will retire this year, joined by three Democrats.

Again, none of this means Democrats are eagerly awaiting the elections right now. Things were bound to be tough for the party that controls the White House, the House and the Senate during a midterm election, especially if the economy doesn’t improve. But the map hasn’t fundamentally changed, no matter what you hear on TV.