Many of my diehard Republican friends were very disappointed with the results of last November’s election.  They were, though, happy to hear that President Obama would keep Secretary Gates on as Secretary of Defense.  Now, Obama is busy filling those “lesser” positions.

The most recent rumor – being reported by NPR here – is that Obama may possibly name Congressman John McHugh as Secretary of the Army.  Why does this surprise anyone?  This type of an appointment is political strategy at its best.  New York’s congressional delegation has only three Republicans in it.  McHugh, one of those three, was re-elected in November with over 65% of the vote in his upstate district.  He has been in the House of Representatives for 17 years and is the ranking member on the Armed Services committee.

So, why is this strategic?  First, Obama is banking on being able to get a Democrat elected to replace McHugh in a special election for the NY-23rd.  The NY-23rd is a huge district, covering most of upstate NY and being over 14,000 square miles in size.  Obama has already proven that he can get Democrats elected in NYS by helping virtual unknown Scott Murphy to win a special election for the congressional seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand upon her appointment to the US Senate.

By chipping away at the three GOP members in the NY congressional delegation, Obama will create a force to be reckoned with within NYS, possibly strengthening the chances of a democratic governor being elected in 2010.  The current Democrat in the governor’s office – David Paterson – was not elected but took over from Eliot Spitzer in March of 2008 and has an extremely low approval rating with NYS voters.