If Governor John Lynch appoints a Republican to replace Gregg, there could still be some benefits. A Republican that committed not to seek election in 2010 would leave Gregg's seat open, and therefore much more vulnerable to Democratic takeover. Additionally, other concessions could be part of any deal, including a commitment to allow an up or down vote on the Employee Free Choice Act or other key legislation that is likely to be contentious in the 111th Congress. It's hard to tell what kind of deals might be going on behind the scenes.Whatever this deal is, it's the crucial info that is missing from why Obama is doing this. Chris Cilliza believes the deal may in fact be having Gregg as a crucial voice on entitlement reform.
Finally, at the practical level, putting Gregg at Commerce would give Obama someone known and trusted in the Senate whom he could task with selling the need for entitlement reform -- a high priority for the new president that will be a centerpiece of the upcoming fiscal responsibility summit in February. Gregg, who has served in the Senate since 1992, is a past chairman of the Budget Committee -- a perch from which he emerged as a strong advocate for just the sort of entitlement reform Obama is now advocating.Which means Obama is looking past 2010 to a Senate that he expects to have his 60+ votes on for tackling Social Security and Medicare, and Gregg as his bipartisan point man. Both BooMan and Cilliza make a lot of sense here if Gregg is playing ball...and again, that's a big if.
Cilliza also notes that Gov. Lynch is not the favorite Granite State Dem to be mentioned taking Gregg's seat, but Rep. Paul Hodes is. This keeps getting more and more interesting. Perhaps Lynch will name Hodes directly, but I doubt it. Almost everyone I've read agrees that Lynch is picking a Republican: Bonnie Newman, former NH State Speaker of the House Doug Scamman, or former 13-term NH State Rep. Elizabeth Hager.
We'll see how it shakes out.
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