The NYT reports that President Obama has indeed chosen Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) for Commerce Secretary, but got nothing for it:
The Democratic governor with the power to fill the Senate seat signals that he will leave it in Republican hands, depriving his party of a chance to reach 60 votes, a magic number when it comes to passing legislation.
What’s the point? As I have previously blogged — Is a possible 60th Senate seat worth a not-very-green GOP Commerce Secretary? — Gregg isn’t green, he has consistently voted with uber-denier Sen. James Inhofe (R-OIL) against renewables, he is a huge step down from Bill Richardson, and whatever bipartisanship there is in Washington these days, it is solely in the minds of Democrats.
The only point of naming Gregg was to get his Senate seat for a Dem.
This is unforced error number two (see “An Anti-Regulation Regulatory Czar — Obama’s first unforced environmental error?“).
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Not necessarily. I personally would mind having another Republican like Maine’s Olympia Snowe in the Senate.
I like your writing but think this statement might not be completely true. In fact I seriously doubt it.
“The only point of naming Gregg was to get his Senate seat for a Dem.”
The new appointee to the Senate won’t be as likely to be re-elected as Judd Gregg. The new appointee to the Senate couldn’t be as extreme in his denial of global warming as Judd Gregg. It is sort of like gaining a fraction of a senator.
Judd Gregg may not last long in his new job. Judd Gregg will have to take orders from Obama.
Wait and see.