Commerce Secretary

It is very clear what President Obama is trying to do with Judd Gregg: get a filibuster proof majority not through an election but through the President's virtually uncontested power of appointment. And if not with a Democrat, get it de facto through a Lincoln Chafee-style Republican hand-picked by the Democratic Governor. This is not about bipartisanship, but an audacious, and I would say impressive, game of political hardball.

Republicans should be prepared to play hardball in return.

First, we must frame this as an astonishing partisan power grab. President Bush had the opportunity to nominate Louisiana Democrat John Breaux as Energy Secretary in 2001, thus flipping the seat, but didn't -- leaving the Senate at 50-50 and vulnerable to a Democratic takeover, which as we all know, actually happened.

Second, we need to insist not only that Gov. Lynch appoint a Republican, but that he appoint a Republican from a list of three candidates prepared by Republican leaders in the legislature and the New Hampshire Republican Party -- preferably a strong Republican who would run in 2010. Gregg was about as conservative as you get for New England, and any replacement selected by a Democrat is almost guaranteed to be worse.

This is not unprecedented. Wyoming law required the Democratic governor pick from a Republican-prepared list of Senate candidates in 2007. Given the extraordinary nature of this appointment, Democrats should have no problem agreeing to the simple request that Republicans have a voice in choosing New Hampshire's Republican Senator.

As I've implied in this YouTube question to the RNC candidates, the ideological composition of our conferences on the Hill should matter to party leaders. It's not that we shouldn't be running candidates well-suited to their states and districts, including moderates -- I would be happy with another Susan Collins from New Hampshire, as that's probably the best-case scenario. It's that we should recognize that Lincoln Chafees are not simply another vote for organizing the Senate the right way, but that they are 60-80% of a Democrat on key policy issues.

We are going down the Lincoln Chafee route in New Hampshire by agreeing to any appointment of a Republican by a Democrat, instead of insisting on Republican participation in the process. If so, this shows we have learned very little as a party these last 3 years.