Gregg withdraws as Commerce Secretary nominee

Apparently Senator Gregg paid his taxes so he felt he wouldn't fit in Obama's cabinet.

Seriously, it looks like the census issue was the killer.

Aside from the obvious implications regarding the membership of the senate, this whole bumbling affair will probably make it that much more difficult for Obama to cherry pick other Republicans. It may also have left enough of a bitter taste in Senate Republicans' mouths to make future cooperation with Obama even more unlikely.

Losing Judd Gregg

Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell believes that no Democrat will fill Senator Judd Gregg's seat if Gregg is appointed by President Obama to be Commerce Secretary.

"Sen. Gregg has told me that if he were to take this appointment, it would not alter the make-up of the Senate in terms of the majority and the minority," McConnell said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."

Obama reportedly will announce Gregg's nomination Monday. When word first circulated that the president had selected a New England Republican for his Cabinet, speculation immediately followed that Gregg would be replaced by a Democrat.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has the power to appoint a replacement to fill out the last two years of the term if Gregg accepts the Cabinet post.

There's a great moment in the movie Charade when two embassy employees get off an elevator discussing a poker game. The one employee explains why he was so unhappy:

1ST DIPLOMATIC TYPE
I bluffed the Old Man out of the last pot --
with a pair of deuces.

2ND DIPLOMATIC TYPE
What's so depressing about that?

1ST DIPLOMATIC TYPE
If I can do it, what are the Russians
doing to him?

Senate Republicans try to explain the bailout in real terms

Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona talks about his wife's small business and how she has had to lay people off. Senator Lamar Alexander talks about how the credit crunch affects the auto industry. Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire talks about the real loss to 401k savings and IRA accounts.