CNN's Inside politics report that Rove offered Nelson (D. Ne) Sec of Agriculture..Rove is BRILLIANT

INside politics..CNN

[ken5050]

Judy (hmmm?) Woodruff just had a report that Karl Rove had offered Nebraska Sen Ben Nelson the post of Secretary of Agriculture. Nelson is up in 2006...and facing a hard race from popular GOP Gov Mike Johanns. Nelson is among the most conservative of Senate Dems..Does this make sense, because Nelson votes with the GOP on most of the key issues..?

[Numbers Guy]

Couple points: First, John Breaux was offered Secretary of Energy 4 years ago, but turned it down since he would have been replaced by a Republican. There was tremendous pressure applied to him by the Democratic Party not to take the job because the Senate was 50-50 at that time.

Second, by making it sound like a Rove idea, CNN has pretty much guaranteed that the Dems will put a tremendous amount of pressure on Nelson not to take the job.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Yep, Mike Johanns, who seems to be eager to challenge Nelson in 2006.

[Txsleuth]

I think this would be great if- Nelson does switch and when Chuckie Hagel is up for reelection.. the GOP contender could run against him and take it from that idiot.

[Red Badger]

Bill Nelson, Head of NASA......

[anniegetyourgun]

Think about it, billo....Card and Rove do "completed staff work".....so that NO ONE says no to the President. Ya' see how this works?

[SoDak]

I think he should offer it to Senator Tim Johnson(D), so that Governor Rounds can appoint Larry Diedrich to the Senate. Getting rid of two rat Senators in SD in a matter of weeks would be too much to ask?

[RockinRight]

I disagree.

The only GOP Senator in danger of losing might be Santorum, but that will depend on how this Specter debacle turns out.

OTOH several Democratic seats could be beaten.

[alwaysconservative]

Nebraska's governor is Mike Johanns, I believe, and he is a Republican, who could appoint Nelson's successor until 2006.

[Savage Beast]

You gotta admire Judy Woodruf for carrying on so bravely while in the throes of an advanced case of PEST.

[Van Jenerette]

...switch?

[EagleUSA]

Thanks Graf! Yep, he does now quack...but it would fly in the face of the left because he has been, and would be, very VOCAL ABOUT WHY HE IS ABANDONING THE DEM PARTY. Such a move might even encourage more fence sitters, Kennedy type Dems, that are fed up with the lunacy and irrational far-left behavior of the party.

Every little bit helps!

[RockinRight]

Hmmm...

[GraniteStateConservative]

Ha! Ha! Ha!

[el_texicano]

Ahhhhhh, i can hear the silent (or maybe not so silent) screems from the leftist media and the liberal democrats.

BWwwwwahaahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha "Suck 'em dry"

[Bikers4Bush]

If he takes it this would be the perfect time to reign in the moderates. Specter included.

[comebacknewt]

I think Rove is facing some possible defections from the GOP - as well as wants to remove the Dems from putting a more centrist face on their leadership.

I wouldn't say the Dems will be in the minority for the next ten years, though. We have at least two years - but I think the numbrs (as far as re-elections) are stacked in the Dems favor in 2006.

I would say your analysis is absurd.

First of all, who is going to defect from the GOP so that they can serve in the Minority?!? No one. Not even Chafee. These guys are all about power.

As for the RATs taking over in 2006, that is nothing more than a pipe dream. I will acknowledge that as things stand right now, we appear to have more tough seats to defend than they do, but at worst, I don't see us losing more than a net of two seats. If we knock off the Nelsons, we may even wind up with a net gain of two seats.

Not even Harry Reid would share your optimistic assessment of the RATs chances of regaining the Senate.

[BigMacGOP]

56-43-1

[Dems_R_Losers]

Tim Johnson would be a good choice for Comptroller of the Currency too. He has been great for the banking industry and does not get along with Paul Sarbanes, who is ranking Democrat on the Banking Committee. He was reeelected in 2002, but will probably have a tough race in 2008, since he only beat John Thune through vote fraud in 2002.

[Uncle Vlad]

Yes, Mike Johanns, Nebraska's governor, is a Republican, but he's a RINO. If Nelson was offered the Secretary of Agriculture position, he would do a good job. Johanns would certainly appoint Nelson's successor, but the successor might be another RINO like Hagel, then we'd be stuck with two of them. While it is a good idea, there are some downsides to is as well.

[MahaMarty]

2 simple words...Tom Osborn.