The Curse Of Obama's Cabinet Goes On

Sen. Judd Gregg has decided he can't get along with the Obama administration and has withdrawn his nomination for Secretary of Commerce. (At least, that's what he says the reason is.)

President Obama’s choice for Commerce Secretary, Senator Judd Gregg, withdrew his nomination on Thursday. He said there were “irresolvable conflicts” between him and the administration. “It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census, there are irresolvable conflicts for me,” Mr. Gregg said in a statement. “Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.”

I guess this undoes the deal to replace Gregg in the Senate.

Gregg Nominated For Commerce, No Senate Supermajority For Democrats

As expected, today Barack Obama nominated Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to be his Secretary of Commerce in a deal that included New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) appointing a Republican to replace him in the Senate.

Therefore, there will be no supermajority for the Democrats in the Senate.

Lynch has tapped New Hampshire politico Bonnie Newman, who once worked for Reagan and Bush I. Newman is a moderate Republican and is considered to be a weak opponent for whomever the Dems throw up against her in 2010. In fact, some are speculating that Lynch has asked Newman not to run at all. I'll see what I can dig up about Newman's positions on LGBT rights.

Sec. Of Commerce Pick Could Give Dems 60 Seat Supermajority In Senate

Barack Obama is reportedly leaning towards picking Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to be Bill Richardson's replacement as Secretary of Commerce. If Gregg is selected, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch would probably appoint a fellow Democrat to fill the empty Senate seat. Which means that IF Obama picks Gregg and IF Al Franken survives the latest recount and IF Lynch appoints a Democrat, the Dems would have a 60 seat supermajority in the Senate. Got all that?