More Poaching

The President announced that Republican John McHugh (NY-23) will be nominated as Secretary of the Army. That's basically an administrative job as I understand it, not necessarily a policy job. So I'm fine with it.

And, this opens up another special election in a district where Democrats and Republicans are pretty closely divided. Obama won here 52-47. The Cook PVI is R+1. Down the road, I agree with Matt Yglesias that even if a Republican wins, he will have little clout to save his seat after 2010 redistricting, when New York is likely to lose a district based on population.

Obama has displayed a knack for increasing Democratic Congressional power and disarming opponents through these appointments.