Judd Gregg Withdraws From Commerce Post

Another Obama cabinet embarrassment:

Senator Gregg Statement on His Withdrawal for Consideration of U.S. Commerce Secretary

Sen. Gregg stated, “I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle.

“However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.

“Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives.

“I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.

“As we move forward, I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the President’s proposals. This will certainly be a goal of mine.

“Kathy and I also want to specifically thank Governor Lynch and Bonnie Newman for their friendship and assistance during this period. In addition we wish to thank all the people, especially in New Hampshire, who have been so kind and generous in their supportive comments.

“As a further matter of clarification, nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision. I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate.”

I've been critical of Gregg's decision to take this post from the beginning. For one thing it put a pretty reliably GOP Senate seat into question for 2010, and was going to elevate a liberal Republican to the Senate for the next two years.

Secondly, almost as soon as Gregg was announced the black and hispanic caucuses had a temper tantrum, which was followed shortly by an Obama cave-in on the census issue. Obama decision to politicize the census operation by having it report to the White House instead of the Commerce secretary is probably unconstitutional and will be challenged in court by GOP House members if not reversed.

This is a significant embarrassment to Obama, and once again proved that the notion of bipartisanship in an Obama adminstration is a myth. Look for a staunch Democrat to get the nod for Commerce now, and for Obama to back off on running the census out of the White House. With an ideological twin at Commerce he won't have to worry about the census results or the methodology of counting.

A bad day for The One and a good day for the GOP. And, another no vote on the stimulus.

UPDATE: White House "blindsided" by Gregg's decision:

The harsh response from a White House caught off guard: Gregg was the one who asked for the job – and he repeatedly promised that, “despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the president’s agenda.”

White House aides described themselves as “blindsided” by what White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs described as Gregg’s change of heart.”

Perhaps if they hadn't pulled a major responsibility away from Gregg (the census) they wouldn't have this problem. It's their own stupid fault.

UPDATE2: Word is that Gregg will not seek re-election in 2010, and that makes that seat somewhat problematic.