For a political novice, Obama is showing his skills. He shows his bi-partisanship by adding a third Republican to his cabinet. He gets rid of the Republicans' filibuster by making the Senate a Democratic supermajority parliament. Republicans will be relegated to the sidelines and hope that the Democrats trip up (eventually).
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GOP fights to keep Gregg in the Senate
Republicans in Washington and New Hampshire are mounting a full-court press to keep Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) in the Senate and out of the Obama administration, aides and senators said Friday.
But if he does take the commerce secretary job, they want a commitment that New Hampshire?s Democratic governor will appoint a Republican senator so the party holds at least 41 seats, the minimum needed to sustain filibusters. No such commitments have been made, even as Granite State Republican sources tell Politico they are worried Gregg will take the Cabinet job if offered it by Obama.
?I think it would be a loss to the Senate of a great mind and somebody who I think we need a lot as we chart our way through economic challenge,? Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Politico on Friday.
Asked what could be offered to keep Gregg in the Senate, Cornyn said: ?I would say whatever it is, name it.?
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said luring Gregg with a Cabinet job was ?sneaky? because it would put the GOP in a bind and take away a valuable member.
Friends tell Politico they expect Gregg to accept the seat if it?s offered, even though Gregg has only confirmed he is under consideration and would not comment further. Gregg has to run for reelection next year and could lose in his increasingly Democratic state.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that Obama told him ?a final decision had not been made. . .until the president asks me to make a personnel announcement from this podium, I?ll refrain from getting into any names.?
The Cabinet job would provide Gregg with a cushy bridge to retirement, but it would be a headache for Senate Republicans. The White House was already making phone calls to senators Friday to gauge support for his potential nomination, aides said. What remains unclear, however, is how high up he is on the list of potential candidates. The White House had also approached Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a moderate, about an administration job, but she declined, sources close to Snowe told Politico.
?If we were to reduce the number of Republicans by one, that would make a big difference,? Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the third-ranking Senate Republican, said Friday. ?Perhaps if he went into the administration, the Democratic governor of New Hampshire would appoint a Republican senator so that wouldn?t change. I have no idea what the discussions are.
?I?m not sure what the different steps would be,? Alexander added. ?But I like the idea of 41 Republican senators a lot better than 40. And I like the idea of Judd Gregg being in the United States Senate rather than him not being.?
Obama and Gregg may need to convince New Hampshire?s Gov. John Lynch to appoint a Republican. Assuming Al Franken defeats Norm Coleman in Minnesota, a new Democratic senator from New Hampshire would give Democrats a 60-seat majority ? enough to overcome filibusters, the remaining GOP tool to block Democrats? ambitious agenda in Washington.
Lynch spokesman Colin Manning stayed out of it: ?This is between the White House and Sen. Gregg and I am going to have to refer questions to them.?
But New Hampshire Republicans are already fretting about their senator, regardless of the outcome.
?If he doesn't do it and stays, he has unhappy folks waiting here,? warned one veteran Granite State Republican. ?Republicans would hate him forever ? even up here,? said another about the prospect about Gregg accepting the position.
To hear such language aimed at Gregg, a former governor and son of another with deep Yankee Republican roots, is astounding.
Republican names being floated for the Gregg seat include former Gov. Walter Peterson, former Sen. Warren Rudman, former Rep. Charlie Bass, former state House Speaker Doug Scamman (a friend of Lynch) or a political outsider businessman. Democrats on the short list include Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, who are already thought to be interested in running for the Senate seat next year ? regardless of whether Gregg is still holding the seat.
In a statement Friday morning, Gregg said he was ?honored? to be considered but declined to elaborate on the process.
?I am aware that my name is one of those being considered by the White House for Secretary of Commerce, and am honored to be considered, along with others, for the position," said Gregg, who serves as the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee. "Beyond that there is nothing more I can say at this time.?
The job offers some obvious attractions. Gregg, 61, would have to spend heavily in 2010 to keep his seat and would be a top GOP target. And instead of being a part of a slimmer GOP minority, he would command a major department that would have a big role in responding to the deepening economic recession.
But while he has been an architect of the Treasury Department?s bailout of the financial system and his position on immigration lines up with Obama?s, he splits with Democrats on taxes, labor issues and fiscal policy. He would have to implement an agenda of a Democratic administration with far more liberal views.
?I was going to organize a friendly Republican filibuster? to block the nomination, Alexander said he jokingly told Gregg on Thursday night, adding that the loss of the senator would be a big loss to the institution because of his deep knowledge of fiscal and economic matters.
?It would be like the Steelers recruiting Larry Fitzgerald right before the Super Bowl,? Alexander said, referring to the Arizona Cardinals? star wide receiver.
Cornyn tried to assuage any of Gregg?s concerns about his 2010 bid, predicting that the upcoming election cycle will be easier for the GOP than the last two.
?I think 2010 will not be 2008. President Bush and his low approval ratings won?t be on the ballot. And neither will President Obama be on the ballot,? Cornyn said. ?So my hope would be that New Hampshire would sort of return to its roots, so I think would make it very conducive to his reelection.?
A White House spokesman said Thursday only that Obama ?has not made a decision? about the Commerce job.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said Thursday night he had not been told by the Obama administration that Gregg was under consideration, calling the episode ?strange.?
Rockefeller said he and Gregg are ?good personal friends,? and he downplayed the conflicts that might arise if Obama tapped Gregg for the post.
?He would be representing what the president wanted, or else he won?t take the job,? Rockefeller said. ?Judd Gregg is the type of person who would not take a job that he could not do on terms that are satisfactory to himself.?
Democrats ? eager to get to 60 ? were enthusiastic about the idea of a Commerce Secretary Gregg.
?He's one of my best friends in the Senate, and he's competent in doing anything he wants to do,? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday. ?Everybody knows he's one of my friends around here.?
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Budget Committee, said he had ?very, very high regard? for Gregg ? and that his departure would be a ?very significant? loss to the Senate.
Earlier Thursday, several well-connected New Hampshire Republicans said they were skeptical that Gregg would accept.
These sources noted that Gregg has fundraisers lined up as far into the calendar as April. But they also acknowledged that Gregg has spoken positively about Obama.
?Judd Gregg not running for reelection makes it extremely interesting,? Kathy Sullivan, a former New Hampshire Democratic chairwoman, said with evident glee in her voice.
Senate Republicans are, to state the obvious, far less joyful.
?The conference would be considerably weakened without Judd Gregg,? said one Senate GOP leadership aide.
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