OK, who put the horse's head in Judd Gregg's bed?

How else do you explain this?

Senator Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican, withdrew this afternoon as President Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary, saying he had too many difference on the stimulus package and the Census.

“However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy," Gregg said in a statement.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Gregg said it became clear to him that he could not be "100 percent behind the team" and that it was "his mistake" to accept the nomination.

Using a football analogy, Gregg said it would be like blocking back who only pulls out to block for every second or third play.

"I've been my own person for 30 years...It really wasn't a great fit," he said. "Bottom line, it was a bridge too far for me."

Gregg acknowledged that "to withdraw at this point is unfair in many ways," but he said staying on would have been a bigger mistake .

Gregg praised Obama for reaching out to Republicans and including diverse views in his cabinet and said he will be an effective president.

The White House response suggested that Gregg was the one who forced the divorce -- and should have known about the policy differences.

“Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce," press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart”.

We've already seen how Republicans regard "bipartisanship" as "Democrats capitulating to us in all things". It doesn't mean "Our guys working in a Democratic Administration." I suspect someone said to him, "You do this and you're done. Finished. You'll never be able to so much as eat lunch with one of us ever again.

If I were Judd Gregg, I'd have called their bluff. Because why on earth would he even WANT to ally himself with this bunch of troglodytes and theocrats and Greedy Republican Bastards?