In recent days, two of our most senior solons (combined age: 139) have come to the conclusion that they are irreplaceable.

Vermont’s Democratic attorney general, Bill Sorrell, said Thursday he plans to run for a ninth full term as the state’s top prosecutor next November.

Asked if he would seek re-election to a dysfunctional Congress in 2016, [Sen. Patrick] Leahy responded, “At the end of yesterday, I was thinking, I probably should, just to try to have some more grown-ups down there.”

Sorrell originally announced his intention on WDEV’s Mark Johnson Show earlier this week (key passage about 33 1/2 minutes into the show), and provided some additional self-actualization in a follow-up with Seven Days’ Paul “The Huntsman” Heintz. Leahy stated his intentions — and provided a fig-leaf caveat by saying he wouldn’t make a final decision until 2015 — in a news conference after his Escape From Washington on Wednesday.

I have very different views of these two men; Sorrell has been a decidedly mixed bag as AG, and is the very definition of a man born on third base who thinks he hit a triple. Leahy has been a strongly positive force, and I’ll vote for him without hesitation if he’s on the ballot in 2016.

But the two men’s determination to stay in office only exacerbates a couple of real problems: a gridlock in the top offices, and the fact that our political leadership (Beth Pearce aside) is a complete sausage party. While right next door, in supposedly antediluvian New Hampshire, women occupy the Governorship and all four Congressional seats.

Governor Shumlin himself has acknowledged that Vermont’s gender gap is an issue that needs to be addressed — but I don’t imagine he’ll ever step out of the way himself to make way for a female Governor. (He certainly didn’t lift a finger to replace John H.A. Campbell with Ann Cummings when he had the chance.) He’s indispensable, just like Sorrell and Leahy. At least they are in their own minds. Take Bill Sorrell, who consulted the state’s leading expert on Being Attorney General — himself:

Sorrell said he pondered a number of questions before deciding to seek another term: “Did I still have the energy for the work? Was I very engaged and was it interesting to me? Or should I pursue other opportunities? What was I bringing to the table? Was I being value-added or not and such? And how did my staff feel about me as leader of the organization?”

The answers, he said, convinced him to run.

There you have it: Bill Sorrell loves him some Bill Sorrell. And so should you.

As for our Senior Senator, I know the “grown-up” comment was a reference to the Tea Party kiddie pool that tried to hijack the government, but there’s a less charitable interpretation: Does he really think the voters of Vermont are incapable of choosing a different “grown-up” to be our Senator?

I dunno, I think we might be able to find somebody else who could fill the job. Maybe even somebody without the old twig-and-berries between their legs.