Sen. Judd Gregg abruptly withdrew his nomination as commerce secretary Thursday, telling Politico that he “couldn’t be Judd Gregg” and serve in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
The White House ”” where some aides were caught off guard by the withdrawal ”” initially responded harshly to Gregg’s announcement, portraying the New Hampshire Republican as someone who sought the job and then had a “change of heart.”
In a statement, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Gregg had “reached out to the president and offered his name for secretary of commerce” ”” and that he’d promised that, “despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace and move forward with the president’s agenda.”
[i] From [url=http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/02/gregg-was-pwned.html]Andrew Sullivan[/url]: [/i]
It gets clearer. When Judd Gregg approached the Obama administration to see if he could be a part of it, he was assuming that his own party wasn’t going to adopt a policy of total warfare against the newly elected president in a time of enormous economic peril. Between that moment and the current all-out ideological assault on Obama, his position became untenable. His recusal on the stimulus package provoked fury at home and dyspepsia among the GOP who are intent on responding to an open hand with a clenched fist.
I have to say even I am a little taken aback by the force of the Republican assault. Even in a downturn as swift and alarming as this one, even after an election that clearly favored one approach over another, even after the most conciliatory efforts by an incoming president in memory, these people have gone to war against the president. The president should stay cool. The rest of us should realize what motivates the GOP: the opportunism of selective ideology.
Please, Pres. Obama is politicizing the 2010 Census by removing it from the Commerce Dept. – was Gregg just going to be window dressing? Obama can get the stimulus bill passed without any Republican votes – both Senate and House are controlled by Democrats, in the majority. They only want Republicans on board as cover as this thing tanks (what happened to the promise to give the public at least 48 hours to review online any bills? Reneged by the Democratic leadership). Just vote on it and let the Democrats take ownership.
Meant to say above that “Pres. Obama is politicizing the 2010 Census by removing it from the Commerce Dept. and moving it into the White House“
I was unable to understand how Sen. Gregg could have accepted the nomination to begin with, considering the situation.
But it’s amusing to see poor Andrew Sullivan, quoted in #1, bemoaning the treatment of a new President who has made “conciliatory” gestures. 2001, anyone? The winning of an election does not automatically mean that anything the new President supports was why people voted for him.
I was told if I voted for John McCain I could end up with and inexperienced incompetent running the white House and we would have politics as usual with the same policies (Obama is supporting the holding of some war on terror prisoners with a judicial review the, same Bush policy) and problems with partisanship. Will I voted for McCain and look what we have!
Was looking at Fox News at the hospital last night. A congressman was on and he pointed out that they were to vote on the the “stimulus” package tonight and they still didn’t have the actual bill to look at and it is over 750 pages of dense legislative jargon. It includes a high speed rail from LA to Las Vegas (Harry Reid pork) and other ear marks.
It really is done quite poorly on the part of Judd Gregg. The fact that he didn’t somehow know that Obama’s ideology and policies were completely and utterly opposed to that of conservative ideology and policies is really alarming. He should never ever have considered such a thing and it was not right to do to President Obama.
The other amusing thing is how we were all treated to “look at Noble Obama reaching out across the aisle” talk just a week ago — but now, oh no, [i]he[/i] didn’t reach out, it was Mean Judd Gregg. ; > )
But still, Judd Gregg should have known better and he ought to be ashamed of his indecision and bad actions.
I have to say even I am a little taken aback by the poor decisions of the Democrats in Congress which has led to a very very bad beginning for Obama. They just really believed they could enjoy the trampling out the grapes of wrath victory, it seems.
And they are! Only . . . the president isn’t.
But it is good news to see a florid-prosed, angry, shill like Sullivan upset. The similarities between his and Bishop Robinson’s rhetoric, tone, and emotions are interesting to watch.
We had all the hand wring from the media about the vetting process with Palin and how incompetent McCain was. We had a former Baptist minister who wanted to become and Episcopal Priest. The Bishop asked the person seeking candidacy to inform him how he would handle a conflict between the Bishops interpratation of scripture and the candidate’s. That ended the process. Why wasn’t Gregg properly vetted in the same way? We now have four or five appointees who have had problems and can not get the nomination or are tainted. Bush the dumb had one!
I don’t think we can blame Gregg’s naivete about the differences between the worldview and philosophies of Obama and conservatives on Obama, DaveB. For anyone to be unaware or indecisive about those profound and foundational differences is just ridiculous.
The blame, from my perspective, for this withdrawal or failure or whatever people like to call it, rests squarely and entirely on Gregg.
“The Democrats are reaching out to Republicans”???
Pelosi forbidding Republicans from offering amendments and refusing to consider Republican versions of bills. This is reaching out?
Obama meeting with Republicans and reminding them “I won”. This is reaching out?
From this vantage point, it looks like the Democrats are doing less reaching across the aisle than President Bush did when he invited (INVITED) Ted Kennedy to help draft the new Education bill.
In fact, it looks like the House Democrats are lording their status of ”large and in charge” quite loudly in putting down the Republicans.
By the way, the Democrats PROMISED that after the comprise ‘stimulus’ bill had been reached, no vote would be held for 48 hours to give everyone a chance to read it. Well, the compromise was published at 11 PM last night, and they are calling for the vote this afternoon. Another promise broken.
Sarah, I think you’re being a little harsh to put so much “blame” at Sen. Gregg’s feet. Consider that Obama had expressed – throughout his campaign – an interest in bi-partisanship; many fully expected him to sell the illusion of governing from the center (a la Bill Clinton); Gregg was probably involved in conversations about this many weeks ago (perhaps even put his name forward for consideration back in November, and was passed over initially). Look at all that has happened to the tone in Washington in just the last week since Gregg’s nomination! (Stimulus bill negotiations behind closed doors, only one party invited; announcement that the Census is going to be overseen by the White House; etc). Could that reasonably have been foreseen? It seems to me that Gregg sized it up and realized “this isn’t what I was expecting.” Perhaps some voters are realizing the same thing?
Yeh . . . but come on, Klein — “bi-partisanship” with two different visions of the Constitution and two different visions of how economies do and should grow, and with completely different worldviews on the principles of economic strength and international relations, and with an entirely different vision of the role of the State, and . . . . well, and on and on it goes.
It’s possible to be “bi-partisan” in a rather incredibly limited way, I suppose — and certainly the liberals in Congress have not gotten even there yet. But good heavens — working on the cabinet, with two such opposing worldviews? That’s not bi-partisan — that’s just sheer naivete and insanity, at the very best.
RE: “Look at all that has happened to the tone in Washington in just the last week since Gregg’s nomination! (Stimulus bill negotiations behind closed doors, only one party invited; announcement that the Census is going to be overseen by the White House; etc). Could that reasonably have been foreseen?”
Absolutely. No surprises for me or other conservatives, either.
The Democrats won the election. Cold. Hands down.
Conservatives will pay the consequences for that. And the Republican Party has a lot of blame for that since they didn’t run conservatives in so many races.
RE: “Perhaps some voters are realizing the same thing?”
Mmm.
Personally, I doubt it. I doubt those who voted for Obama who weren’t died-in-the-wool liberals will ever admit just how foolish they were. Humans aren’t made that way.
And of course the died-in-the-wool liberals — as well as died in the wool conservatives like me — have experienced no surprises at all. The former are happy — and the latter prepared for their medicine over a year ago when it was clear what tack the Republican Party would take.
As I said above, I don’t see why Sen. Gregg took the Commerce nomination, considering some of his past votes on the department and its work. However, Obama’s alleged “bipartisanship” consisted in great part in giving interviews between his election and his inauguration and shortly after it (I think) in which he outlined a stimulus plan which sounded halfway sensible to this conservative. The actual plan now being shoved through doesn’t resemble those interview statements. And the plan to take over the census may have been in response to agitation from liberals about Gregg’s nomination. This was strange on both sides, I think. Genuine “bipartisanship” would be more finding approaches in common and, if found, appointing people to jobs in which they could work constructively on your team.
The example I gave of the Baptist minister and the Episcopal Bishop stands. Obama’s team should have asked Gregg how far he could go in comprimise. I may apply for 100 jobs and not fit any, the fact I applied showed I am interested not that I fit into the organiztion and the philosphy of the organization. It is the employers task to locate the talant to do the jobs. Obama is failing and this is bad for the country!
Once again – – I have the personal satisfaction of saying, “Don’t blame me! I didn’t vote for the guy.”
jkc1945, See my post #8. They told me things like this would happen if I voted for McCain. I voted for McCain…..
This is what happens with an affirmative action president. Don’t blame me, I voted for McCain, and for the breast feeding, gun toting lady from Alaska who put herself through college without the benefit of quotas, and who isn’t afraid to post her SAT scores and college thesis.
Somehow I do not believe that Iran would be asking McCain for an “apology”. Nor would the various crazies in Pakistan be emerging from beneath their rocks were a war hero Commander in Chief. Nor would Russia be eying Alaska if Palin were Veep.
Qualifications matter. Obama ran on HYPE not HOPE. America voted for glamour. All of us will pay dearly for our stupidity.