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Washington (CNN) – Rep. Brian Baird, D-Washington, announced Wednesday that he will not run for a seventh term next year, making him the third Democratic congressman to retire and effectively end a career in elected public service.

"This is not an easy decision to be sure, but I believe it is the right decision at the right time," Baird said in a statement, where he also promised to serve out his term "with the same level of commitment I have always given the people" of the 3rd Congressional district.

Two other Democrats, Dennis Moore of Kansas and John Tanner of Tennessee, previously said they were retiring with no plans to run again. Six other House Democrats will leave at the close of the 111th Congress to seek another office.

President Obama won Baird's district in 2008, but President Bush won it in 2004.

The National Republican Congressional Committee cheered Baird's decision as a sign that Democrats would rather "throw in the towel" than face difficult re-election bids next year.

"With this being the third retirement by a swing-district Democrat in as many weeks, it is clear that the Democrat incumbents are feeling the ground shaking underneath them," said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain in an e-mail to CNN. "As the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high and Democrats continue on with their out-of-touch agenda, independent voters are rightfully fleeing the Democratic Party."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A rush-hour collision Monday between two Metro subway trains north of downtown Washington killed at least one person Monday.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN has learned that the Director of National Intelligence Admiral (retired) Michael McConnell is letting it be known he is willing to stay for up to six months in the next Administration to help facilitate any transition, if a new president wishes him to.

A source close to McConnell is confirming McConnell will make that offer, but that he has "no desire" to be re-appointed by the new president.

McConnell is the first senior Bush Administration national security official believed to have made such an offer.

This will be the first presidential transition since the massive reorganization of the intelligence community following the 9-11 attacks, and the first time the DNI office has been through a transition.

Administration officials say there is no specific intelligence indicating terrorists are planning an attack. But Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has assembled a military team to be ready to brief a president-elect on potential vulnerabilities to attacks during the transition.

Sens. Clinton and Obama remain in a tight race for the Democratic nomination after Saturday's voting.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Barack Obama swept Saturday's Democratic contests, giving him considerable momentum heading into Sunday's Maine caucuses and three primaries Tuesday.

John McCain, however, was handed a starkly different message from the GOP, as voters in Louisiana and Kansas indicated they weren't ready to support the Arizona senator. Washington, however, backed the Republican front-runner over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, according to state party officials.

McCain's camp congratulated Huckabee on the victories but with an air of confidence, saying that Huckabee threatened only to chip away at McCain's substantial lead in the GOP race for the presidential nomination.

"The reality is that John McCain is the presumptive nominee of our party," said campaign spokesman Brian Rogers. "We'll campaign in these upcoming states as long as Gov. Huckabee is in the race, but our main focus is on uniting the Republican Party for victory in November."

Though CNN calculations estimate that Huckabee would need to snare hundreds more delegates to catch McCain, the Democrats are in a much tighter race.

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Track the results of the Washington State Republican caucuses county-by-county by clicking here: Washington.

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SEATTLE (CNN) - The Washington State Democratic Party is estimating turnout in the state this year was double what they saw in 2004.

One legislative district in N. Seattle saw a 150 percent increase in turnout over 2004, from 7,529 to 18,220. A district official told CNN that "this is the bluest part of America. If you want to know what blue looks like, we're it."

At one caucus Saturday, there was a festive feel. The vote took place in an elementary school filled with more than a thousand caucus-goers, some of whom brought their children to watch. On one side of the gym, teenagers sold muffins and brownies. An announcer on the public address system welcomed people, saying "this is democracy in action".

The caucus site organizer welcomed everyone by calling on them to end "the tragic and immoral war" and saying "we're all angry over the damage George Bush and Dick Cheney have done to our country." She asked those who were attending a caucus for the first time to raise their hands – that category included more than half the room.

The state party attributes high turnout to the Democratic desire to take back the White House, and sense that their voices can actually make a difference in this tight race.

Voters seemed to be locked in to their final choices – in the several caucuses we attended, we did not observe anyone switch sides. If they came in for Clinton or Obama, they stuck with their pick.

–CNN’s Jessica Yellin and Carey Bodenheimer

Track the Washington State Democratic caucus results county-by-county by clicking here: Washington.

Obama is hoping for a big win in Louisiana.

(CNN) - Barack Obama launched a new ad in Louisiana on Friday, just one day before the state’s Democratic primary.

The Obama campaign’s ad, titled ‘Future,’ pairs images of the Illinois senator and a devastated, post-Katrina New Orleans – gutted homes, an affected man with his child, a shirt that reads ‘Rebuild New Orleans’ – with audio of his inspirational ‘Yes, We Can’ speech.

Earlier this week, the Illinois senator's campaign included a spreadsheet in an e-mail to supporters in which they projected a double-digit win in Louisiana.

“This election is about the past versus the future,” Obama says . “Hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope.

“There are people all across this great nation who are counting on us. Who cannot afford another four years without health care. They can’t afford another four years without good schools. They can’t afford another four years without decent wages.”

His campaign has also begun airing its Super Bowl spot, ‘Join’ in Wisconsin in advance of the state’s February 19 primary.

On Friday, on a conference call reporting a massive new fundraising haul, Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced that they were airing ads targeting voters in the Potomac primaries, which head to the polls next Tuesday, February 12.

Obama has been running spots in those states since the days before the February 5 Super Tuesday contests.

Clinton also has begun airing a long-running healthcare spot in Washington State, with the addition of endorsements from the state’s two Democratic senators.

Clinton and Obama will go head-to-head in eight Democratic contests in the next four days.

–CNN's Jeff Simon