Digg has been opened Pups! So go fo it and Digg this Post!

OOPS ZED!

This does not compute.

Would this not be an opportunity to grab that one Dem slot that we have all been dreaming about?

Am I missing something here?

Hey its Cow Hampshire what do you expect??
But I do Hope this possible appointment is just BS!

WTF? Geeze Louise, I thought this was a slam-dunk. Then we would have all simply been sitting around waiting for the Franken/Coleman debacle to play out.

I want to think Obama is a brilliant strategist, but I have to admit that the logic behind this move escapes me…

Anyone we can call to badger about this?

Is Obama thinking Hagar will vote with the Dems?

OT but….Holy fucking shit did y’al see that?? Cardinals are now ahead!! This has beena great game!!

There are actually more people than cows now in New Hampshire!

Commerce has become one of those departments that has a few worthwhile bureaus in it like NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Census but really should not be a Cabinet level office. So I’m not sure if it matters much if a Republican or Democrat heads it. This is very much not the case with Gates for example at DOD.

Ya think??? When my territory there I saw more cows than people in my rounds(:>))

EDIT: Ya think??? When my driving in my territory there I saw more cows than people in my rounds(:>))

I should know I can almost see New Hampshire

Hey BB how ya doing??? Warmed up yet?

Wow. This is a reminder that some republicans with a brain still exist. I wonder how long any republican could stay sane in this environment, though. billybugs, I think Obama knows what he’s doing. Not in the sense of trusting the potential senatorial selection, but in knowing the governor.

Is that Sarah and Russia??

Is this the best deal he could get? Maybe Gregg held out to get an R appointed (or the rest of the Rethugs would crucify him for taking the appointment) and the thought is Hager would be a RINO. (Just guessing; I don’t like the idea, either.)

Hit 48 today a real heat wave!

I’m not sure Gregg would even take the job knowing the result

WOW!! We hit 74! And I still have some tomatoes from last season still producing!!

Shit we wont see 70 anything for 4 more months!

But what on earth does Gregg bring to the Commerce job that we couldn’t get better from a Democrat? Without replacing him with a Dem in the Senate where is the upside for anyone but Gregg? And do we really want any Republicans within spitting distance of any job that involves business???

Shit Touchdown Steelers with 35 seconds left.

I know.. you can’t plant any tomatoes until Memorial day! This is the second time a tomato plant has gone for two seasons!

I lived the first 2 weeks of my life in So Cal,Santa Ana ,my parents were just waiting around for me to be born to come back east

And Hugh…

Commerce runs Census? There’s hiring in ND already for the 2010 census.

Could mean the loss of a district in Minn…lots of population shifting across the country.

Census means jobs.

It’s over.
Steelers win.
I am going to take a short time out for a minute, carry on with the conversation.

Really not long enough to enjoy any of the California weather(:>((
Shit Steelers win… But it was a great game!@

Took the trip of a lifetime a cross country car ride and don’t remember a thing!

Thanks.

*(;-)*

Interestingly, what the f*ck does Gregg know about US Commerce to begin with…?

how very post-partisan of him. At first blush it looked like a good idea to get to 60. Gregg would be facing a hard election in 2010 against either Hodes or Shea-Porter. It could be a solid pick-up. If Lynch would promise to pick a dem, then could be a decent price, but what kind of dem? If Gregg wouldn’t take it without a R. appointed, then what’s the point. I agree with Jane on this one.

I suppose the good part is that we have a mystery on our hands. These republicans are getting boring even to the masses.

Maybe she’s smart.

The deal is not Obama so much as Lynch, the NH governor. He’s been very into bipartisanship himself. However, the Republicans must have pissed him off with their demands for the seat, as Hager is somebody they rejected for being too sensible. Considering she endorsed Obama for president, don’t be surprised if she pulls a Jeffords and gives the Dems a 60-seat presence anyway. She has no reason to stay loyal to the people who forced her out of politics.

Reading this post after having read Greenwald’s piece on Daschle(s), I get a sinking feeling. I had no idea that Daschle was such a parasite. The incestuous and corrupt nature of the Beltway boys and girls is going to make it difficult to enact any meaningful change. It makes no sense (from our point of view) for a Democratic governor to appoint a Republican Senator. When was the last time a Republican appointed a Democrat? This is incredible, disheartening and sickening.

A Lynch-appointed Liebermanesque Democrat would likely draw a divisive 2010 primary for the nomination. A Lynch-appointed Rockefeller GOP caretaker — who endorsed Obama, for pete’s sake! — creates an open seat in blue-trending New Hampshire and a likely divisive GOP primary while clearing the field for populist Democrat Paul Hodes.

When they say Obama’s playing chess, perhaps this is what they mean?

That is the true irony of it…! Snowe might be so inclined too…! ;-)

NH is one of those states that’s going to be in play for the dems for a while, but not confidently so. The dems are going to have to work to keep hold of it. All politics there is retail and local. Should be interesting to watch, for sure.

No one EVER thought Shea-Porter could ever win and now she’s done it twice. Go figure.

;)~

A brilliant strategic move!

It doesn’t so much matter who the next New Hampshire Senator caucuses with; what matters is who she votes with on EFCA, Health Care, tax reform, the Big Gay Bill, etc. If she can stomach having Mitch McConnell as her leader and still vote reliably with Obama and the Senate Democrats, especially on cloture for EFCA, what’s the harm? Especially since creating an open seat is much better than trying to take on an incumbent Gregg in 2010.

Although even the most intent caretakers-to-be usually end up fond of being called “Senator” and try to stay.

B O’s doing what he can to shore up his power He’s thinking ahead to 2010 and beyond

Hi Teddy. I can’t respond to your question, cuz I don’t know all the players.

I saw MILK last weekend. You’d have had to have been a juvenile, but were you there by any chance? I was schooling in Chico at the time of the deaths. It was difficult to follow news in those days, and I had no sense that there was a movement this strong. I would have been there, but I knew nada. (plus I was taking 18 units and working 35 +/- hours per week.)

i agree that it’s the cloture votes that matter. but we don’t know now how that will go. what we do know is there is an R where we wish there was D.

i just don’t know.

All true, but, she already seems pre-disposed to vote against Steele/Mitch’s version of conservatism…! ;-)

Obama’s tried to get Snowe into his cabinet — and Snowe’s replacement would also be picked by a Democratic governor (and one who actually wouldn’t be rolled by the GOP the way Lynch is).

Not sure that an open seat would be easier to win than beating Gregg. I think he’s living on borrowed time in the Senate now—otherwise why would he be interested in giving up his seat?

And Snowe would be more likely to be able to hold on to her seat than Lynch.

Oh joy. Now that the Obama admin is filled with senators, we have two useless bodies in DC.

Heh, you’re full of good cheer, eh? ;-)

It does seem that the Senate has been the main playing field for much of the ‘08 elections/future cabinet…! Wtf? Senators aren’t typically so prominent players…!

Heh, you’re always so succinct, eCAHN…! :-P

Yes. (*g*)

A Dem gov appointing a Rep to the senate. WTF? Franken will eventually get the MN seat so why pass up the chance to thwart the obstructionists? Sounds like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Thanks for the background, I sure hope you’re right!

We don’t need her to be a Democrat, we need her to vote with the Democrats on cloture. Organizing resolutions may be set anyway; what we need is a RINO who supports Obama. Gregg may not leave without the assurance of a GOP to replace him, and this may be a chance to get a reliable vote for EFCA, etc.

I thought of ya when I was making my ‘dirty’ clam/corn chowder today, no tomatoes were harmed so it’s not a Manhattan Chowder and I digress from New England standards by not adding any cream, but, hot dayam, it’s tasty…! *g*

looks like pay for play to me…I’m just confused about who paid whom and for what. but I demand an investigation :)))

Sounds yummy.

My freezer is full of soups so I’ve sworn off making more until I deplete my stock. Got soup for lunch for a loooong time.

teddy upstairs

Oh, my!!

Most definitely, Teddy… Even a chance to swing Snowe and/or Collins too…! Gives us leeway for Blue dogs like Pryor or Baucus or even Tester to defect…!

Bet any takers that Gregg is NOT it …

Hager gets the nod and converts to the Democratic Party after she’s sworn in, in a “suck on this” gesture to the Party that screwed her.

This definitely could be some real chess playing here. The Republicans may try and block or stall Gregg, or work hard to stop him, if they think that Lynch will appoint a Democrat. So Lynch offers up this option…which he could rescind, of course. Or, as Linda R suggests, Hager could vote with the Democrats. You have to think that she figures that she has no electoral future in NH with the current Republican climate. She couldn’t win a primary. But as a Democrat she might win enough moderate Republicans and Democrats to hold the seat.

God, Democrats love to fail.

Jeez, no one won here. God, Lynch should be primaried for this, if he goes through with it. Make him worry a little less about Republicans and a little more about the people who brought him there – Democrats. God Dems grasp victory from the jowls of defeat.

Obama ends up looking like a dummy on this – and the Republicans get a blank slate chance for the Senate, which is probably better than putting Gregg up there. And there’s no way Gregg was the best possible pick, or close to it, for commerce. So I fail to see how this is at all, in any conceivable way, a good idea.

I guess we can be happy that the woman who will likely be appointed is fairly liberal and not afraid of taxes to pay for essential goods and services, but Lynch could have just tapped Hodes, who could hold the seat and have 2 extra years of seniority in the senate, not to mention be a solid vote in the Senate for a long time to come. Lynch could do well to learn that people in his state want effective governance, not an R or a D. So this puts NH back and could ultimately cost him votes from all corners, especially since Hager isn’t viewed as a real Republican, so republicans won’t respect the decision anyway (indeed, they may despise it: they ran her from freaking office, for heaven’s sake). This boggles the mind. Everyone’s a loser in this one but Hager.

Bingo.

This is real New England, where the Republicans used to grow like granite boulders out of the spring soil.

She’s their Lieberman. They can’t say she’s not a Republican. They can’t leave her in the hall when they caucus, but they can’t control her because she doesn’t want what they are selling.

I don’t think she’s going to have a ADA rating of >70%, but she will do the job.

And she may show the Republicans what their heritage looks like, sort of like tasting a Macoun apple when you’ve been used to waxed Red Delicious.

I say BS. We hear about “moderate Republicans” all the time and when they get in office they can be counted on to vote with the rest of the GOP herd.
And about not running for reelection…well I’ve heard those promises from Republicans before. Have not heard of too many of those promises being kept though…