This is going to be a case of what was said when and to whom, as Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn his nomination as Commerce Secretary amongst different stories floating out there that just don't add up.
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Rahm Emmanuel signaled earlier this week, according to Politico, that Gregg was having second thoughts. According to FOX News, there was an Oval Office meeting earlier this week between Gregg and Obama where he indicated he might back out. "At first they said this was a surprise but now [the Obama Administration] says it wasn't a surprise," according to Major Garrett.
But, wait, Barack Obama disagrees. He told The State Journal-Register “It comes as something of a surprise, because the truth, you know, Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic."
Ok, so Rahm Emanuel says they've known but Barack Obama says it was a surprise...what is going on here? It also highlighed the other mess they're in regarding who reached out to whom. Judd Gregg is saying he was asked to take this post while White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Gregg "reached out" to the Administration, whose right?
From the White House: "White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Gregg had “reached out” to Obama and sought the Commerce nomination – and that he’d promised that, “despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the president’s agenda.”Another question, how could the White House, through the process of interviewing Judd Gregg, not know he would be against porkapalooza? Change of Heart, we're to believe he was for the spendulus plan and changed his mind during the process of dealing with the Obama Administration?
Gibbs added once it became clear Gregg was not going to support some of Obama's top economic priorities, it became necessary for Gregg and the administration "to part ways, We regret that he has had a change of heart."
From Sen. Judd Gregg "The president asked me to do it," he said of the job offer. "I said, 'Yes.' That was my mistake."
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The question of who know what and when they knew it comes in to play here.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that Gregg had “reached out” to Obama and sought the Commerce nomination – and that he’d promised that, “despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the president’s agenda.”
SO, let me get this straight:
1. The President says he was surprised and yet his Chief of Staff is saying it's been in the works for days. The Inmates are running the asylum here.
2. Gregg says he was asked and the White House says Gregg approached them. Again, what is going on here.
3. The White House wasn't sure he would be on board, these guys just prove on a daily basis they are in WAY OVER their head.
Can you imagine if this incompetence happened in the Bush Administration what the coverage would be, the press would apepleptic over this. The whole thing is a huge mess and the main stream media will not cover it with the same gusto as if it happend to a Republican Administration.
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