Exit Stage Right

Not since Brooks Brothers introduced its red-and-gold rep tie has a movement so seduced the G.O.P. Conservative stalwarts Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Phil Gramm of Texas have decided to yield their Senate seats after 2002, and strategists fear a wave of retirement notices in the next few months. Possible departures include Senator Pete Domenici, a five-termer from New Mexico, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, the other Texas Senator and a new adoptive mom. Aides to Alaska's Frank Murkowski have let it be known their boss is weighing a run for Governor, meaning he could leave the Senate next year. And Die Hard 2 alumnus Fred Thompson of Tennessee will soon announce his plans; most think he won't return. Many of these Senators are convinced that since Vermont's Jim Jeffords became an independent and gave Democrats a majority, Republicans won't regain control of the Senate anytime soon. The more who retire, the more likely that is to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.