Not so bright president-elect

Mr. Obama continues to deplete the newly elected (and yet to be seated) Democratic majority in the Senate. To date, these are the states that will have vacancies to fill: Illinois, New York, Delaware, Colorado. Granted that the Democratic governors of these states will appoint Democratic successors (except possibly Illinois--how a successor will be chosen is anybody's guess). However, these appointments are temporary and valid only until the next general election in 2010. History tells us (but apparently not Mr. Obama) that when the same party owns both the White House and one or both houses of Congress, mid-term elections tend to reduce (or eliminate) that party's majorities in Congress. All four states now appear to be in play for Republicans in 2010; with their current incumbents they were safe seats for the Democrats. I'm confident predicting that Mr. Obama's selection of senate colleagues for his cabinet will not serve him well; his cabinet and vice-presidential picks will be duds and Democrats will lose several, maybe all, of these seats in 2010. Mr. Obama had plenty of good alternatives to choose his cabinet from, but he passed them up for political cronies and pals. The Old Chicago Political Machine has moved to the Potomac.