Judd Gregg, who is currently under consideration for Commerce Secretary, is supposedly making it known that he’d want Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, to appoint a Republican to his seat should he get the gig. From the Hill:
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) won’t accept a position as President Obama’s secretary of Commerce unless he is guaranteed his Senate seat remains in GOP hands, said two Republicans who know Gregg well.
Departing the Senate without one could give Democrats 60 members and a filibuster-proof majority.
“Gregg would never allow his seat to go to a Democrat, the only way he would allow it is if he died,” said a Republican close to Gregg. “He would consider it to be a breach of trust to people who elected it.”
As DavidNYC presciently argued yesterday, Lynch is just the type of Dem who would probably gladly acquiesce to such a demand. However, if Lynch tapped, say, Walter Peterson or Warren Rudman — both oldsters whom I would not expect to see run in 2010, then this wouldn’t be a bad deal.
who would they likely run if Gregg doesn’t in 2010?
just appoint Gregg’s chief of staff? He or she is probably a complete unknown who has no interest in elective office, couldn’t get elected if he or she did, and would be very close to honoring the voters’ wishes to have Gregg serve from 2005 to 2011 since the senator and staffer probably agree on just about everything.
Shalom
ZWrite
doesn’t mean you get to run the world.
If that is a condition of Gregg’s, then don’t appoint him, period.
Feingold better be writing fast.
I hear a lot of wishful thinking in those quotes. Granted, there’s a lot of wishful thinking on our side too. But the quoted persons, one of whom is the recent chair of the NH GOP, basically just say “But Gregg couldn’t do that!” Well, he and everyone else in DC are talking about it pretty seriously, so I’d say yes, he could. Not to say he will, but he could.
The quotes from Fergus Cullen, the GOP chair are in particular all garbage. Everything he says is contradicted by one of the other two quoted persons.
The question is, just how moderate is this Walter Peterson person? Obama’s not going to pick Gregg instead of his pal at Symantec unless he’s getting something meaningful out of the change in the Senate seat. Is there a significant enough difference between Gregg and Peterson that Obama would go for it? Or is he going to insist on a Democrat (of Lynch’s choice, probably not Hodes), in a sticking point that may break the deal?
If Peterson is a Chafee or Snowe, likely to vote for EFCA or other progressive legislation that Gregg could not while running for re-election, then this may go through. And that would still be good for Hodes and for the 111th Congress. So I guess I’m ok with that, IF this Peterson guy is the doppelganger of Snowe or Chafee.
can appoint any Republican, in other words a place holder, I willing to take the deal. First, we have a better chance of picking up an open Senate seat and hopefully get a more liberal Republican in place of Gregg
Appoint a Republican… but appoint a weak Republican. One that is too leftwing for the GOP base so he will be a primary challenge. And one that will be easier to defeat in 2010.
With Gregg in the seat, it’s an uphill battle for the seat in 2010. With a caretaker, it’s an open seat in a state with strong prospective Democratic candidates. Strongly beneficial electorally.
If Gregg isn’t going to play it straight up, then forget about it. Gregg’s weakened himself with this. Republicans are pissed at him and Democrats smell blood in the water. So I don’t think an open seat, rather than Gregg, would be that much of an advantage at this point. Drop the idea of Gregg at commerce.
What makes Judd Gregg qualified to be the Commerce Secretary in a Democratic administration?
I remember reading somewhere that Gregg agreed to be considered for the job because Obama assured him that he wouldn’t mind if Lynch appointed a Republican.
the Republican version of Zell Miller, I’m fine with this.
got to say who their successor shold be. why should he?
he and lynch can certainly talk, but it doesn’t seem appropriate to “make a deal.”
I’m sure many of his constituents saw the name ‘Judd Gregg’ and wondered aloud “Who is this man? What’s that? Our Senator? I had no idea! He was our Governor too? Well, you learn something new everyday!”.
Anyone know where either of these two might stand re: EFCA? Picking up a vote for cloture would make a huge difference.
All things being equal, I think Peterson would be the better bet. You don’t want a Lautenberg situation with Rudman perhaps falling back into the old job.