Saturday, January 31, 2009

Judd Gregg Speculation

A lot of speculation has been going on lately as to whether or not Barack Obama is going to select New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg as his Commerce Secretary. Gregg is highly qualified to take the position, but it's more what will happen to his senate seat should he accept the position.

New Hampshire has a Democratic Governor who would select the replacement should Gregg's seat become vacant. So there's a strong chance that a Democrat would take over his seat. Add to that the fact that Al Franken is more than likely to win in the battle still going on over Minnesota's senate seat, and the Democrats would have a 60-seat majority in the Senate (independent Bernie Sanders caucusing with them).

I doubt that any of this is even going to happen. Consider the position that Barack Obama would find himself in. If he offers the job to Gregg and he accepts, it looks like political maneuvering. But if he offers the job to Gregg and he declines, it looks even worse; not only does it look like maneuvering, but it kills any likelihood of anyone taking seriously Obama's call for a team of rivals.

Expect Obama to select someone else, or if he does select Gregg, to request that the governor of New Hampshire select a Republican to take his place.

UPDATE (11:55 PM): Then again, I could be wrong.

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