Please tell me why Judd Gregg is being appointed? Is he the best qualified?

[Stinky The Clown]

Is he a strategic token for the right? Do we pick up his seat and get the mythical "filibuster-proof" senate? Does he have some special talent to build bridges? Was it his stand on ANWR? Will he now be a mole in the conservative caucus of the Repubican party, where he has been a long time card carrying member?

Is Judd Gregg the person singularly most qualified to run the United States Department of Commerce?

[SpiralHawk]

1. Da Juddhead - it's a Granite State of Mind (smirk)

The sneering & smirking Granite Brain Republicon has given, by example, new impetus to the Republicon Homelander's perverse proclivity to throw aged widows from their home...

Wait till Juddhead gets ahold of Commerce -- and elevates Republiconomic FAIL to a new level...

[MADem]

2. To loosen a GOP chink in the Senate for a future election. NT

[bunnies]

3. Gregg was sure to lose in 2010.

Now, if a moderate Repub runs... Dems might not take the seat after all. And now lets watch Lynch's numbers fall. Between slashing medicaid and appointing a Repub - I would be shocked if he gets reelected. What a mess.

[tekisui]

4. Hopefully, a reason will be found for Obama to fire him sometime soon.

[MADem]

6. Why? Obama has a built-in GOP scapegoat with Gregg.

It's not like the Commerce Secretary is front-and-center in most administrations, anyway.

[tekisui]

8. Point taken.

But, goppers have proven to be stubborn asses on their side of 'bi-partisanship'. I think Obama is making moves like these to take it directly to the people. He is slicing more of the republican voters off each time he makes efforts, alienating the neo-confederates in Congress.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. You're kidding, right?

Why not just appoint a replacement now?

[MADem]

15. Because Gregg made the deal, and obviously Lynch and Obama have no problem with it.

It helps to pick a Republican who has no experience in elective office. She's a Gregg staffer. which makes him happy, but she might not be a winner in a head-to-head contest with the right Dem going up against her.

[Skinner]

5. Cabinet appointments are 100% politics.

Being the "most qulified" is beside the point -- at least in the traditional pure meritocracy sense. In politics the "most qualified" is not usually the "most qualified."

Judd Gregg is being considered because he serves a political purpose: The appearance of national unity and bipartisanship. If we get another Democratic senator out of the deal, so much the better.

Cabinet appointments only matter for real when you have a chief executive who is, disengaged, intellectually lazy, and utterly lacking in principle. (Read: George W. Bush.) When you have a smart, hands-on chief executive with a clear vision, then the cabinet secretaries don't have room to go rogue. They serve the chief executive, and are committed to pursuing his agenda.

If Barack Obama thinks Judd Gregg would make a good Commerce Secretary -- that's good enough for me.

[ThomWV]

9. I think there is a small flaw here

"If Barack Obama thinks Judd Gregg would make a good Commerce Secretary -- that's good enough for me."

Here's what I think, if there are outstanding candidates available then we (the people) are being shortchanged by taking someone who is just good enough. Why should we pay for mediocre when we can have the best? Strive for excellence and all that.

[Skinner]

10. That sentence was not really central to my point.

My point is that Obama seems to believe Judd Gregg *is* the best choice. But pure merit is not the standard for cabinet secretaries, and never has been for any administration.

The standard for cabinet secretaries is politics.

[ThomWV]

11. Gotcha ....

Well, I hope he's right that as an overall package (competence plus political points) Gregg works out all right. My greatest concern is the upcoming census. Count the poor for a change to start with and then there will be the redistricting to follow. All of this is coordinated through Commerce if I remember correctly.

[ThomWV]

7. No better man could be found on earth. Sound familiar?

[kentuck]

13. Inside the tent pissing out....

rather than outside pissing in.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. So far inside the tent that he's pissing on our heads.

Maybe.

[Bucky]

16. (1) harmless outreach (2) makes Obama look bipartisan (3) pushes GOP senators further right

It's a very smart move, isolating the Republicans further to the right and making the incumbent party look more reasonable. Commerce is one of those posts where the appointee can do little harm. And before you panic, remember who Judd Gregg's boss will be.

[book_worm]

17. yet another Obama olive branch to conservatives, now if he would do the same with progressives.