White House Republican Departures

... Even If It Is In Dry Dock.

What is up with all these high level Republican / White House departures? Some we know about, Donald Rumsfeld, Tom Delay, Larry Craig and now we have the second highest ranking Republican, Senator Trent Lott, leaving five years before his seat was expected to be contested, causing the Katrina stricken state of Mississippi to spend over a million some odd dollars to hold a special election just to replace him. Why?