News-Record.com

For a guy who just saw his party switch from uncontested majority control of Congress to loosing the House and maybe the Senate, Republican Congressman Howard Coble was an upbeat guy today.

“I’ve ridden in this rodeo before,” Coble said.

And so he has. Before the Republican revolution of 1994, they were the minority party. Coble says he remembers those days and doesn’t think the adjustment for him will be too hard. The bigger problems, he said, may come for Republicans who were elected in 1994 and who have never been in the minority and will need time to adjust to life in the loyal opposition.

Toward the end of our phone call, I asked Coble whether he had given any thoughts to retiring from the gig he has held since 1984.

“A guy told me a month ago, ‘Howard, I want you to stay up there until you die.’ Well, I don’t plan to die there,” Coble said. At age 75, Coble said he’s still in relatively good health and still enjoys the job. But he cracked the window on retirement more than I’ve ever heard him do so before.

“I don’t anticipate spending a whole lot more time in Washington. I don’t want to set a deadline for myself, but I’m 75 … I will certainly fulfill this term, but I won’t be up there eternally. In two years, we’ll see how things are.”