Monday, February 02, 2009
The Gregg appointment
I see that Barack Obama has appointed Rep. Repr. Judd Gregg from New Hampshire to be his Commerce Secretary. This seems like an ideal appointment. It gets a Republican in his cabinet, so verifying that his appeal to the country is bipartisan. Further, by removing a Republican from the Senate in a state where the governor is a Democrat (John Lynch), it could turn a Republican seat into a Democratic one, and give the Democrats a cloture-proof Senate, at least for a little while (provided Al Franken gets to occupy the seat from Minnesota).
But Gregg himself threw a monkeywrench into this. He said that he will turn down the appointment if it favors Democrats in the Senate. If this happens, can Obama turn to someone else? Who are the Republican senators who come from states with Democratic governors? Here is the list of those states where such exist:
Wyoming 2
Kansas 2
Oklahoma 2
Iowa
Missouri
Kentucky 2
Tennessee 2
Ohio
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire
Maine 2
So there are 17 other possible choices. I would choose the most Democratic state (the "bluest" state) among these, and so would pick Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
But Gregg himself threw a monkeywrench into this. He said that he will turn down the appointment if it favors Democrats in the Senate. If this happens, can Obama turn to someone else? Who are the Republican senators who come from states with Democratic governors? Here is the list of those states where such exist:
Wyoming 2
Kansas 2
Oklahoma 2
Iowa
Missouri
Kentucky 2
Tennessee 2
Ohio
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire
Maine 2
So there are 17 other possible choices. I would choose the most Democratic state (the "bluest" state) among these, and so would pick Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
