Tuesday randomness

Just a few things that caught my eye:

• David Gregory has been named as Tim Russert’s replacement on ‘Meet the Press.’ I think David Gregory is an excellent choice to carry on the tradition of tough, smart, but fair moderating on ‘Meet the Press,’ and I think he’s a more than worthy successor to Tim Russert.
• The ballots are being counted in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff election. Obviously I’m hoping for a Jim Martin win, but at this point I don’t think Senate Democrats need to get to sixty seats in order to have a filibuster-proof majority. There are a few moderate Republican Senators (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine both come to mind) that will likely vote with Democrats on some issues to allow Democrats to avoid filibusters on some issues without needing 60 Democratic votes.
• Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida isn’t running for reelection in 2010, citing a desire to return to work in the private sector and spend more time with his family. Call me a cynic, but I’m willing to be Sen. Martinez’s sagging approval numbers and weak reelection numbers had as much to do with his decision as a desire to return to work in the private sector.
• Who will succeed president-elect Obama as Illinois’ junior U.S. Senator, and who will succeed Sen. Hillary Clinton as New York’s junior U.S. Senator? In New York, my money is on Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo. I don’t presume to know a lot about New York’s political inner workings, but I know Governor David Paterson is said to be strongly considering appointing someone from upstate New York to Sen. Clinton’s seat. In Illinois, I’m going to go ahead and predict Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. as Governor Rod Blagojevich’s choice to succeed Barack Obama. Rep. Jackson might not have a lot of name recognition outside the Chicago area when it comes to a statewide race, but I’m not sure Barack Obama was too well known outside of Chicago before he launched his U.S. Senate campaign, and that seemed to turn out okay for Obama.
• In light of yesterday’s announcement by the NBER that we’ve been in a recession since December 2007, here’s a cartoon:

  

• Gov. Sarah Palin is still making news, and this time it involves current Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski warning Gov. Palin to leave her U.S. Senate seat alone. Obviously it’s been widely speculated that Gov. Palin is going to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, and I think it’s hilarious to see fellow Republicans attacking Gov. Palin on and off the record.
• I’m still looking for a few brave folks who would like to be active contributors here at Blogging Blue. Sure, this blog may have only three loyal readers, but I’d like to be able to provide those three readers with more than one point of view on any given issue. Shoot me an email if you’d be interested in contributing and I’ll hook you up!