Obama's first failed appointment

[classicman]

Not really a fail, but ...

Republican Gregg withdraws from commerce post consideration

"I realize that to withdraw at this point is really unfair in many ways," the three-term New Hampshire Republican said.
"But to go forward and take this position and then find myself sitting there and not being able to do the job the way it should be done on behalf of the president, 100 percent, that would have been an even bigger mistake."
Gregg said Obama had been "incredibly gracious" during the process, and that it was "my mistake, obviously, to say yes." He added that he would "probably not" seek re-election in 2010.
Gregg would have been the third Republican to join the Democratic administration.
"Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic," he told State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois. "But ultimately, I think, we're going to just keep on making efforts to build the kind of bipartisan consensus around important issues that I think the American people are looking for."
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement late Thursday afternoon saying "we regret that he has had a change of heart."
"Once it became clear after his nomination that Sen. Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama's key economic priorities, it became necessary for Sen. Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways."