New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg-- the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee who initially accepted being President Obama's Commerce Secretary before withdrawing-- called the administration's budget outline "a half-hearted attempt" to reduce the deficits and "missed opportunity" to take the country in a fiscally sound direction...

Gregg also challenged Obama's stated desire to reign in government spending, asking in his statement "Where is the spending restraint? Instead, government spending continues to grow and expand."

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"Oh, the names are really bad. I don't even want to mention it, because there are names floating around and they're bad," Mrs. Obama says with a laugh. "You listen and you go - like, I think, Frank was one of them. Frank! Moose was another one of them. Moose. I said, well, what if the dog isn't a moose? Moose. I'm like, no, come on, let's work with the names a little bit."

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"Senator Gregg is now the leading candidate for commerce and a pick that could come as early as Monday," a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made.

Mr. Gregg's name has been circulated for several days as Mr. Obama tries to replace his previous nominee for commerce secretary, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who withdrew amid revelations that a grand jury is investigating how he awarded state government contracts. Mr. Gregg himself said on Friday that he was under consideration.

shot at a filibuster-proof majority

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The following is a list of elected officials who will be guests at the President's Super Bowl party.

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)

Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Congressman Artur Davis (D-AL)
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH)
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC)
Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA)
Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)

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STEPHANOPOULOS: What kind of a dog are we getting and when are we getting it?

OBAMA: The -- they seem to have narrowed it down to a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound.

STEPHANOPOULOS: A medium sized.

OBAMA: Medium sized dog, and so, we're now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you're closing in on it?

OBAMA: We're closing in on it. This has been tougher than finding a commerce secretary.

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Barack Obama's transition team pressed Bill Richardson about a federal probe into "pay-to-play" allegations against his office - the same investigation Richardson cited Sunday in withdrawing his name as commerce secretary.

But a Democratic source said Obama's questioners came away empty handed. "Those guys were pressed for information and they gave nothing," the source said.

Now some Democrats are questioning Obama's vetting process -- and asking whether Obama's team went far enough in pushing the New Mexico governor for information in face of the federal grand jury probe that has been public since August.

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Today, Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, Bill Richardson, removed himself from consideration due to an ongoing federal investigation into possible public corruption.

Bill Richardson announced he intends to remain as Governor of New Mexico. Obama released a statement saying he looks forward to Richardson's service as a Governor and within his administration.

At present, it is believed that Richardson's removal as Commerce Secretary nominee is only because the FBI cannot speed up an investigation involving allegations of public contracts given special preference by Richardson to his campaign donors. This storyline assumes Richardson is Innocent and it is only a matter of time before being cleared.

Politically, it's a good opportunity for Obama to re-balance his team. He could add another woman to the post, previously Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) had been mentioned for this post. Or any other talent set or demographic that seems lacking.

One does wonder at the incompetence displayed by Obama transition team in picking someone under a federal investigation. The investigation became public in August, 2008. "Change" stumbles out of the gate.

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"I think it was a mistake for him to get rid of it," the president-elect said. "I thought that the whole western, rugged look was really working for him. For some reason, maybe because it was scratchy when he kissed his wife, he was forced to get rid of it. But we're deeply disappointed with the lost of his beard."

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"After the campaign, I grew a beard as a rebelion against those consultants who told me I had to comb my hair, shave, lose weight. I said, 'You know, I'm gonna do what I want now."

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Led by political commentator James Carville, who makes a living by being confrontational and provocative, Clinton supporters have speculated about events surrounding this endorsement and engaged in personal attacks and insults.

While I certainly will not stoop to the low level of Mr. Carville, I feel compelled to defend myself against character assassination and baseless allegations.

So, when asked on Good Friday about Richardson's rejection of the Clintons, the metaphor was too good to pass by. I compared Richardson to Judas Iscariot. (And Matthew Dowd is right: Had it been the Fourth of July, I probably would have called him Benedict Arnold.)

I believed that Richardson's appointments in Bill Clinton's administration and his longtime personal relationship with both Clintons, combined with his numerous assurances to the Clintons and their supporters that he would never endorse any of Sen. Hillary Clinton's opponents, merited a strong response.

And after three attempts by AOL reporter Tommy Christopher, Wolfson said that James Carville should speak for himself about whether he regrets comparing Bill Richardson to Judas, but, added, "If I had said it, I would apologize."

Tommy Christopher: In your op ed today, first of all, you credited Keith Olbermann with the line, "So if he's Judas in this analogy, who's Jesus?" I just wanted to let you know, that was my line, I asked Howard that at the conference call.

James Carville: (laughs) Well, sorry, I didn't mean to give him credit, (necessarily)

TC: I wanted to get your comments on...

JC: I have never spoken out against any of Obama's supporters, Bobby Casey, Daschle, we're all friends, but considerin' the relationship with the Clintons, this (Richardson) was a special case that merited a special response. It was intended to cause him pain, and I think it did, it burned him.

JC: Look, this campaign ain't dirty, this is nothing. If the Obama campaign thinks the Republicans are going to leave him alone, they're livin' in a dream world.

TC: Sure, I get that, but the thing I really had a problem with was hitting him with the Commander in Chief thing, which I think hurts both of them.

JC: Well, I can't say anything about that.

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The former president went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking super delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

"It was very, very intense," said one attendee. "Not at all like the Bill of earlier campaigns."

"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended."

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

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"That's typical of many people around Senator Clinton," Richardson said. "They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency."

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I'll bet it was, via MSNBC:

Richardson described the conversation that he had with Clinton last night "tough."

"It was tough to make the call, but I did. It got a little heated. It got a little tense. But it was understood, and I'm proud of my decision."

He stressed that his decision to endorse Obama came a week before, but it was reinforced by the speech Obama gave on race last Tuesday. He cited his own racial background as a Hispanic to underscore why the speech was so significant.

"I'm a Hispanic and I felt that what he said about being a nation of what all of us being together really clenched it," he said.

Clenched it? Perhaps, but I bet it was really what clinched it for you, unless it was a teeth-gritting experience.

So... really what he thinks or is he gunning for VP on the first black/hispanic ticket in American history?

But yeah, I do believe that that conversation with Hillary was not fun at all. She is settling back down in the polls. Obama has staunched the bleeding (in the primary anyway) over the Pastor Wright scandal. And everyone is being reminded that Obama is, after all, still leading with delegates. Richardson is from a small but strategic state and may be able to help with the hispanic communities throughout the Southwest. So despite his lack of showing on his own, this is a major blow for the Clinton campaign.

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president ...

"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."

Obama has seen his fortunes reverse dramatically since just before the Big State Primary, when Senator Clinton began attacking him with the panic-inducing "3am" ad, and although Obama came away from those contests with a nearly insurmountable delegate lead, relentless coverage of several examples of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's inflammatory rhetoric have damaged Obama's standing in national polls.

The full effect of Senator Obama's historic "A More Perfect Union" speech have yet to be reflected in polls, although as mononymous Dave reports, daily tracking numbers show it at least stopped the decline. After all of the dust has settled, Hillary Clinton has managed to close the polling gap with Obama, but has also erased a nearly campaign-long Democratic lead over McCain. With Obama's delegate lead, the net effect has simply been to weaken Obama's chances against McCain in November.

The Clinton campaign clings to hope that it can go to Denver having closed the gap enough to put the Superdelegates in play. Richardson's endorsement could be the signal that it ain't gonna happen that way. If several more endorsements like this, from key Democrats like Al Gore and John Edwards, go Obama's way in short order, that would indicate that the grownups have made their ruling. Because Richardson is so influential with Hispanics, a key Clinton and McCain demographic, this is one heavy domino.


Clinton's supporters have been stressing that pledged delegates are not bound by the rules to vote the way their state does, but fail to explain the extraordinary circumstances in which they would circumvent the will of the people. They don't look at the votes and say, "Hmmm. Let me mull that over." The expectation is that they will vote that way.

The flexibility is there to allow, say, Edwards' delegates to vote for Obama, or on the Republican side, both of Rudy Giuliani's to vote for McCain. It is not there to allow the pledge delegates to play Solomon.

The Democratic Party can ill afford to have their nominee seen as illegitimate, and would be wise to try to engineer a clear victory for one or the other. Since the delegate math is stacked so significantly against Hillary, and she has signaled her intent to remain at the party long after the host has handed her her coat, now would be the time for them to finish their drinks and go home with Obama.

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Primaries are funny things (as I noted earlier today). They tend to be susceptible to dramatic convulsions due to various unpredicted influences. Candidates have provoked marked shifts in their numbers through entirely unplanned episodes - think of Hillary's recent near-tear-shedding epiphany, George Allen's Macaca-moment and Howard Dean's infamous scream-heard-'round-the-world.

Often, the actions of candidates have profound effects on their rivals. The most prevalent factor (apparently unless you're Fred Thompson) is simply whether or not a candidate is present in the race. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader (and, potentially, Ron Paul?) demonstrate the incredible impact of a third-party presence.

Usually, however, the sudden waves in the primary pool are caused by the jettisoning of a candidate from the race. Already, the present cycle has seen the departure of Sen. Joe Biden (D), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R), Sen. Brownback (R), Sen. Chris Dodd (D) and Gov. Bill Richardson (D) (and Stephen Colbert (I), if you insist). While these resignations have had little effect (as the candidates held little sway among voters), we've now reached the point at which major contenders will begin packing it in and calling it quits.

The Democratic race has already reached the critical stage in this regard. The political wisdom (for what it has proved to be worth) has pretty much narrowed the field to a contest between Clinton and Obama. While the jettisoning of Kucinich [Did you remember that he was still a candidate?] will likely prove unmentionable, John Edwards could possibly swing the nomination with his parting. If either of the remaining Democratic candidates were to siphon off a solid majority of Edwards' not-insignificant voter base, they would likely sweep the primaries and clinch the nomination.

However, Paul Mirengoff over at Powerline thinks this unlikely. Mirengoff posits that Edwards' anti-corporate voters will shy away from Clinton, whereas the New York Senator will attract his female and blue-collar constituencies. The result would be "a wash," with neither candidate having an opportunity to decisively capitalize upon the moment. If true, the Democrats might endure a far more bloody and divisive two-person conflict than the somewhat diffused Republican race.

The dynamics and possibilities are endless and impossible to predict with any certainty - but we augur our entrails and peer into our crystal balls nonetheless. Thus is the curse of the thinking and restless class!

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