Jump! Juuuuuummmmppp!

This is really interesting. Would you give up your senate seat to take a second tear cabinet seat? I wouldn't.

Even if the Democratic Governor of New Hampshire does appoint a Republican, will the appointed Republican be a RINO? I bet he or she will be as moderate a Republican as the governor can find.

Now THAT is political jujitsu we can believe in. Let's hope Judd takes the bait!

I don't think anyone is going to see Obama as more bipartisan if he is seen to be trading a Senate seat for a relatively low profile cabinet postion in order to get a filibuster proof Senate. As a Dem, I certainly didn't see Bush as bipartisan when offered a cabinet position to John Breaux (I think it was Energy).

Would the GOP really want that vote so badly? Or would they just as soon be able to run against the "unstoppable Dems" in two years?

Whew - I didn't think Obama was so "Machiavelian" as to make a bipartisan overture that would force such a dilemma on the Repubs.

I didn't think Obama was so "Machiavelian" as to make a bipartisan overture that would force such a dilemma on the Repubs.

Word. The same is true with his overtures on the stimulus -- it's a win for Obama either way.

Plus it burnishes his bipartisan credentials -- the national media would have to be absolutely in the tank for the Republicans not to portray them as braying jackasses...oh, wait...

Much ado about (almost) nothing. Everyone seems to keep forgetting that the GOP still has Lieberman as their ace 41st vote when they really want it....

Actually, it does give Gregg something. As you note, he would have a tough time in 2 years for reelection. However, if he takes this position, and works well with Obama, and helps turn the economy around, Gregg will truly establish bipartisan cred in NH which would likely go a long way for him in any future races (Senate, Governor) in that state, or even a run for President down the road.

Everyone seems to keep forgetting that the GOP still has Lieberman as their ace 41st vote when they really want it....

Well, Gregg has already been voting with Obama most of the time anyway, so if there's some deal to appoint a moderate Repub to replace him, then the whole thing's a wash in my opinion.
I guess Obama can claim to have a more bipartisan cabinet by appointing a Repub to a second tier cabinet post.

I think old Joe tends to bolt on foreign policy but stay close on domestic issues. - Bernard HP Gilroy

And yet he is now complimenting Obama on his Iran position - you know, the position that proved Obama was not ready to be President? I think he's just an unprincipled hoar (I may have spelled that wrong).

Many states have rules that the appointment has to be from the same party. Does anyone know if that is true for New Hampshire or not?

p.s. It doesn't take a political rocket scientist to try this move, appointing a Repub to get another vote in the Senate--although Obama is certainly one of the best players. I just don't think this is some brilliant strategy.
Other presidents have tried it or done it in the past.

Many states have rules that the appointment has to be from the same party. Does anyone know if that is true for New Hampshire or not?

I read that there's no party restrictions on the appointment.

Many states have rules that the appointment has to be from the same party. Does anyone know if that is true for New Hampshire or not?

yeah, he's a whore. He may be hoary too, although I never knew what that meant.

Scu - I see Allan Snyder beat me to it, but here's an interesting map showing how Senators are replaced in various states. Only AZ, UT and WY require same state replacements.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/feingold-introduces-28th-amendment.html

Allan - Hoar means a wise old man. So I surely didn't mean that spelling. :)

dictionary.com is my friend. "hoary"--

–adjective, hoar⋅i⋅er, hoar⋅i⋅est. 1. gray or white with age: an old dog with a hoary muzzle.
2. ancient or venerable: hoary myths.
3. tedious from familiarity; stale: Please don't tell that hoary joke at dinner again tonight.

I would say that #3 applies to Lieberman.

Nor did I mean to spell party "state". :(

If the Gregg gambit should be deployed that does leave Lieberman in a powerful position. But it similarly puts Collins and Snowe (the last two New England members of the GOP?) in a very vulnerable position. They will always have to either defy their constituents or their southern white male GOP colleagues. As the New England GOP is depleted the surviving members become ever more vulnerable.

Too bad Senator Gregg couldn't have been offered the Pentagon. (Old TV series: "Judd for the Defense.")

Wouldn't surprise me if there's a personal element in this. Does anyone really think that Senators Gregg and Kyl are BFFs?

Lynch is a pretty staunch Democrat, and has to run every two years. Why would he appoint even a moderate Republican when he can as easily appoint a Democrat to give them both a leg up on the 2010 race? New Hampshire is now controlled by the Democrats. Gregg is vestigial, and a candidate for defeat in 2010. Appointing a Republican would only make trouble for him in his own party, and awkwardly force Lynch to repudiate his own selection during the 2010 campaign. Makes no sense for him to do that.

Obama's "trial balloon", if that's what it is, is brilliant. No matter what happens he can't lose, and he's already giving the Rethugs well deserved fits. Oh joy! Oh rapture!

While I would like to see the Dems reach the magic 60, it isn't all it's cracked up to be since they have never been able to exert the kind of voting discipline the Rethugs have (as evidenced by their unanimous refusal to support the stimulous bill).

Lieberman is an obvious loose cannon, but there are others. Feinstein is another. Plus Harry Reid has to find a spine. If the Dems would only behave a little more like the Rethugs would if they had a 60-vote majority then maybe enough could get done to save us from total collapse.

If Gregg is actually a moderate Republican, then he might be able to leverage this position into Republican support for bills they might otherwise oppose that Gregg realizes are good for the country. It would also boost his chances in the coming election if he can show that he swayed the Republicans to do what was right. He wins both ways, and so does Obama.

But if you check the S-CHIP vote (see next article), note that Gregg voted against the bill while nine other Republicans, including Specter (!!!), voted for it. One wonders just how moderate Gregg really is.

Much ado about (almost) nothing. Everyone seems to keep forgetting that the GOP still has Lieberman as their ace 41st vote when they really want it....

... except that it would result in Lieberman losing all of his committee chairmanships and having no rank at all in the party that's out of power anyway.

Which do you think Lieberman wants more -- to be the head of a committee, or to be one of the junior members of the minority? In a way, jumping to the Republicans would be a more principled thing to do since he would lose out in a major way by doing so. Lieberman's been backed into a pretty impressive corner.

Gregg is about 62 y.o. At that age some guys want to hang on until they're 90 (see R. Byrd, S. Thurmond) but some don't so much and might like to do something different for the next, say, eight years. Hard to know how he'd look at it personally.

Also, he seems to be a lucky guy (from Wikipedia): On October 20, 2005, Gregg won about $850,000 by getting five of six numbers on a Powerball lottery ticket when he purchased four different $5 quik-piks at a Washington DC gas station.

Also, Gregg was Bush's stand-in for both Gore and Kerry in debate preparation -- what do you make of that?

This is really interesting. Would you give up your senate seat to take a second tear cabinet seat? I wouldn't.

Perhaps not normally. But if you were part of a disgraced-at-the-polls party during the administration of a wildly popular president in the opposing party, and your own party were singularly unlikely to regain power and public trust any time soon, you might.

rich

I think there are news reports that the N.H. Governor has suggested he would probably appoint a Republican.

I think the Gregg announcement puts additional pressure on at least some Republicans to support the stimulus package. Obama has signaled that he isn't above using bipartisanship as a very effective political weapon. Of course, the CSA Republicans like Sessions are going to fight hard to further shrink their party's reach. Go CSA/GOP.

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