A good tyrant kills off any pretenders to his throne to protect and secure his power.  While that’s not exactly how it’s done these days, President Obama may be executing a strategy that accomplishes the same thing.

Roll Call is reporting that Senator Judd Gregg is aware of a potential nomination by Obama to be the next commerce secretary.  Gregg, who has been warming to Obamanomics, and appears to be cozying up to the new administration, has never been considered long on republican principles by conservatives, and likely to have a fight on his hands in two years to seperate himslef form any Democrat rival.  (Or any serious conservative primary cadndaites) So It’s not difficult to see him taking the job.   

But is he willing to make that kind of mark on history?   He could forever be known as the Republican who helped give Mr. Obama and his massive liberal agenda  with a filibuster-proof Senate. 

And there-in lies the subterfuge (if genius isn’t the right word) of the Obama administration.

Picking any Republican Senator (but Gregg in particular)—whom any democrat led Senate committee would confirm for obvious reasons—allows Democrat Governor John Lynch to appoint his replacement until the 2010 election when Greggs term expires.  It’s a pick destined to be a Democrat, most likely a congressional house member from New Hampshire like Paul Hodes.

Now there are those who claim that Lynch might exercise his “independent streak” and appoint a Republican, but that’s total nonsense.  Lynch is as doe-eyed for Washington as Gregg is, and being the democrat who could have given Obama a filibuster-proof senate but decided not to because of some ‘independent streak,’  is not something he wants on his resume.  Lynch would appoint a democrat given the chance and I suspect Obama knows this.

So if Judd Gregg is on the short list, and he gets a shot at being Commerce Secretary, he has a big decision to make.  Will he kick his party to the curb and give the liberals their shot at a utopian collectivist agenda, or stand tall for the resistance?