Commerce, Gregg, and The Politico

I'm watching this situation with New Hampshire Republican senator Judd Gregg with great interest. In case you haven't heard, the Obama administration is considering nominating him for Secretary Of Commerce, which would leave a Senate vacancy that would be filled by New Hampshire's governor - who is a Democrat. The thought that Gregg would be replaced by a Democrat - moving President Obama closer to a 60-seat, veto-proof majority in the Senate - has got Senate Republicans in full-on freakout mode.

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 by Obama.

This is actually a pretty savvy move by Obama's people - removing a Republican senator with a very real possibility of seating a Democrat in his place (as josh marshall said yesterday, it almost seems too easy). But the question that comes to my mind is this - how in the world do Republicans get the idea that they're entitled to any type of commitment regarding Gregg's replacement?

Seriously. If the shoe were on the other foot and the GOP stood to pick up a Senate seat, would they for a minute consider giving Democrats any assurances that they wouldn't fill the seat with a Republican? Frank Murkowski did it in Alaska in 2002, appointing his own daughter to his senate seat. And Democrats, do it, too - our governor here replaced Hillary Clinton with fellow Dem Kristin Gillebrand. Party chooses party - that's the way it goes. And these Republicans know full well that if it were a Democrat vacating a Senate seat and a Republican governor choosing his replacement, they'd laugh out loud at any Democrat suggesting that they replace the exiting Democrat with someone from the same party.

But the Republicans, looking at being marginalized even further than they've been in the past two elections, are still acting like they run the place and have standing to demand assurances that they won't lose another Senate seat. And the guys at The Politico for some reason seem to think that Senate Republicans have some sort of standing here. This is what the article goes on to say (emphasis mine):

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.

I've read that graf five times now and I'm still scratching my head over it. Why in the world would Obama 'need to' convince New Hampshire's governor to replace Gregg with another Republican? Because not doing so would mean Obama would end up with a majority that would neuter the GOP for the length of his term? That sure reads more like an argument for doing it, not against it. Team Obama are not stupid - they're considering appointing Gregg to Commerce because it would move them closer to 60 in the Senate.

And judging by the way Republicans in congress have been acting since Obama took office - their game plan seems to be to tie Congress in knots and prevent Obama from getting anything done - Democrats should tell Mitch McConnell and the rest of those obstructionist putzes that there's an old saying - 'To the victor go the spoils.' Republicans sure did enjoy kicking Democrats when they were the majority. I think it would be a nice character-building exercise for McConnell and the rest of his GOP buddies in Congress to really feel what it's like to be the minority.

I'm sure they'd do the same to us if they still held the majority in Congress, right?

And the guys over at Politico should really check their biases at the door when the get to work in the morning. They're gonna throw their backs out carrying all that Republican water.