It's rarely good news when an incumbent member of Congress announces his retirement, but in the case of Rep. John Doolittle, the Roseville Republican whose house was raided by the FBI in April, a retirement would be good news for the House GOP. Hank Shaw, who reports on politics in Sacramento, speculates today that State Sen. Rico Oller is set to run should Doolittle step down.

Doolittle, Shaw reports, is about to do just that, and will throw his support behind Oller. Other likely candidates include 2006 candidate Eric Egland and Assemblyman Ted Gaines. Last year's Democratic nominee, Charlie Brown, outraised Doolittle about four times over last quarter, and if Doolittle remains on the ballot, Brown would be the odds-on favorite to capture the seat.

The district, which covers some suburbs of Sacramento north to the Oregon border and population centers in Roseville and Rocklin, is the most rural seat in California. The ordinarily Republican seat gave President Bush 61% of the vote there in 2004.

Doolittle's withdrawal would be the political equivalent, for Democrats, of Lucy pulling out the football right before poor old Charlie Brown makes contact.