Catnhatnh thinks the source of the article is suspicious and doubts their motives in publishing it. Unless there is something different about the process in New Hampshire, or about Governor Lynch, I don't anticipate a Democratic governor appointing a Republican to fill the empty Senate seat.
Just a hunch.
Edit: Just learned that WaPo is speculating Gregg won't accept the Commerce Secretary appointment unless Governor Lynch agrees to appoint a Republican to fill his Senate seat. Hmmmmm. The thick plotens.
At a political level, the pick could well be a masterstroke. While sources on Capitol Hill suggest that Gregg will only take the job if Democratic Gov. John Lynch promises to appoint a Republican to serve out the remaining two years of his term, there are many people -- particularly within the GOP -- who wonder whether Gregg will really win that concession. Even if he does, the names being bandied about for Republicans are all in the "caretaker" model, meaning that the seat will be open in 2010. Democrats are quickly lining up behind Rep. Paul Hodes as their nominee and Republicans have no obvious candidate to step in for Gregg. Given New Hampshire's strong move toward Democrats over the last two elections, the party would have to feel good about winning in an open seat scenario. (FYI: The frontrunner for the caretaker nod is Bonnie Newman, a former chief of staff to Gregg, and a founding member of Republicans for Lynch in 2004.)
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/02/white_house_cheat_sheet_pickin.htmlI certainly hope Governor Lynch does not make such a concession. Then Democrats would win either way. If Gregg turns the appointment down, Obama's open hand would have been met with a closed fist of partisanship. If he accepts, we get Senate seat number 60 with a Democratic incumbent running running for re-election 2 years from now.
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